This document discusses conducting impartial research and mitigating biases. It provides strategies for avoiding biases like confirmation bias and implicit bias through developing an inclusive mindset, active listening, using quantitative data, communicating impartially, and continued learning. The document emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, noting assumptions, and practicing humility to conduct neutral research.

1. Conducting impartial research
Mitigating your biases (we all have them)
Yael Gutman

2. About me…
2
Privileged and Confidential
Research, Product Management,
Project Management,
20 years experience in digital
products

3. 3
Inspiration
Customer service
Indented with calls

4. 4
Inspiration

5. 5
Inspiration
Customer service
Indented with calls
Calls as expected

6. 6
Inspiration - recommendation
KPI:
Improve end user
conversion rates

8. 8
Privileged and Confidential

9. Opps
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Original reported issue continued:
● No change in ratio of calls
● No impact on types of questions

10. Retrospect
10
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● Arrogance
● Reporting user group disregarded
● Territorial and siloed ways of working

11. Research Cornerstone Violation
Empathy:
The ability to fully understand and share
another person’s expressions, needs,
and motivations.
Privileged and Confidential

12. Empathy Blocker
It was our own drivers and motivations that led to extreme
consequences on deliverables
Privileged and Confidential

13. Biases & Strategies to avoid them

14. Definition: when you have an interpretation,
and you adopt it, and then, top down, you
force everything to fit that interpretation.
Research context:
You adopt an hypothesis and you use data
to validate it, discarding or ignoring data
that challenges the hypothesis.
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Confirmation Bias

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Inclusive research think tanks
• Access to additional POVs,
experiences
• Better understanding of
business and users
• Increased breadth of research
and testing idea
Inclusive Mindset

16. 16
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Inclusive Mindset
Leverage partners experience
● Share areas of interest
● Access to learnings

17. Goal: Capture without commentary
● Listen more, talk less
● Mirror you understanding
● Observe affect, behavioral cues
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Active Listening
Privileged and Confidential

18. Supplement qualitative and quantitative data
● Provide holistic insights
● Clue to potential bias
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Use Quantitative and Quantitative Data
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Communicate impartially
Leading question Impartial question
Rate <org name> stance on
inclusiveness and social justice
What social issues do you
think <org name> cares
about?
● Non leading scripts
● Peer reviews

20. Definition: Attitudes and stereotypes we associate with people
without our conscious knowledge
Research context:
When we have preconceived notions and generalizations people
from certain groups - demographic, racial or ethnic groups.
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Implicit Bias

21. Periodic sync ups with Customer service
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Leverage Internal Teams

22. Neutrality through Self Awareness
● Identify existing defensiveness, ego
preconceptions
● Note down assumptions
● Regular reflection times
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23. Practice Humility
Your opinion fact
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24. Practice Humility
“Bet” which test variant will win
● Normalize being wrong
● It’s not about being right
● Fun
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25. Practice Humility
Celebrate learnings aka “Failures”
● Celebrate averted costs
● Acknowledge that we don’t know,
importance of analysis
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26. Privileged and Confidential
Continued Learning
● Learn a new skill: musical instrument,
hobby, foreign language.
● Develop a new professional competency
● Read
● Travel

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Key Takeaways
Emotions and biases may influence our work
unknowingly
● Self awareness
● Practice humility
● Inclusive mindset
● Active listening
● Use quantitative data
● Communicate impartially
● Continued Learning

28. Thank you.
Iinkedin | yaelgutman
Twitter | @Ygutman