Watch this WaysConf session, then continue with related talks or explore the current programme.
Weronika Denisiewicz, a Senior UX Researcher, shares a case study from her time at Lifespace, a CRM software company, demonstrating how rapid UX research can pivot a company's product and business strategy. When Lifespace's initial desk-research-driven focus on the photovoltaics sector failed because field-based sales reps struggled with a desktop-centric CRM, the team shifted to a user-centric approach. Facing a tight three-week deadline, Denisiewicz used quantitative North Star metrics to identify high-value customers, conducted 13 in-depth interviews, and leveraged a suite of modern tools—including Google Calendar, Tango, TLDV, ChatGPT, Survicate, and NotebookLM—to accelerate recruitment, transcription, and analysis, saving six days of work. By actively engaging cross-functional stakeholders through live observation, Slack highlights, and video reels, she ensured company-wide buy-in. The research revealed a brand-new persona, defined ten key behavioral differentiators, and led to immediate strategic changes: marketing tested new messaging, customer success designed a new consultative service, and the product team completely reprioritized its roadmap.
Relying solely on industry categories like photovoltaics can obscure critical user contexts, such as whether sales representatives work in the field without desktop access.
Watch from 1:38When working under tight deadlines with a highly specific customer list, offering gift card incentives can drastically speed up recruitment and secure crucial interviews.
Watch from 7:19Involving heads of marketing, IT, and other departments as interview observers and sharing bite-sized video reels builds immediate organizational alignment.
Watch from 8:11Using AI tools like ChatGPT, Survicate, and NotebookLM to categorize transcripts and suggest patterns can save days of manual synthesis without replacing human analysis.
Watch from 13:57Deep user insights should extend beyond product design to influence marketing messaging, customer success services, and high-level roadmap prioritization.
Watch from 19:45These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.
When Lifespace needed to redefine its target audience, the team initially relied on desk research and decided to target the photovoltaics industry. It seemed like a perfect match because the sector was growing rapidly and sales representatives managed high volumes of clients. However, they overlooked a critical operational detail: these sales reps worked primarily in the field without laptops. Since Lifespace was a desktop-centric CRM, reps resorted to taking notes on paper or mobile phones and resisted manually copying them into the system later. This mismatch showed that industry labels alone are insufficient for defining a product's target audience.
Watch from 1:38UX research is often pigeonholed into local design validation, such as testing prototypes, or tactical feature development. However, there is a third, strategic level of research that can alter the entire direction of a company. When research operates at this level, it provides deep contextual understanding that influences multiple departments to align their goals and take action in a unified direction. Recognizing this potential, Lifespace's leadership gave the research team a challenging three-week window to demonstrate how qualitative insights could drive company-wide strategy.
Watch from 3:40To ensure the research findings were actually adopted across the company, the research team focused heavily on stakeholder engagement rather than just delivering a final report. They invited heads of marketing, IT, and other departments to join the interviews as silent observers, which allowed different teams to bring their unique perspectives to the post-interview debriefs. Additionally, they shared quick Slack updates with curated highlights and created short video reels of emerging patterns using recording tools, making the insights highly accessible and engaging from day one.
Watch from 7:54To meet the aggressive three-week timeline, the researcher utilized a modern stack of tools that saved approximately six days of manual work. Google Calendar's built-in scheduling automated the booking process, while Tango facilitated global gift card distribution for participant incentives. For analysis, TLDV provided instant transcriptions and video clipping, while ChatGPT helped categorize raw transcript data under specific research questions. Finally, tools like Survicate and NotebookLM acted as virtual research assistants, suggesting patterns and ensuring no critical insights were overlooked.
Watch from 11:10The qualitative study yielded actionable insights that immediately translated into strategic actions across Lifespace. Marketing and sales teams began testing tailored communication for a newly discovered persona. The customer success department started developing a consultative service to help clients optimize their internal sales processes. Meanwhile, the product team completely overhauled its roadmap, shifting priorities to focus on features that directly support sales process adjustments. This case study proves that UX research can successfully drive high-level business strategy when integrated across all departments.
Watch from 19:45
