Newsela
Overview
Note: In compliance with my non-disclosure agreements, I have omitted confidential information about my work at Newsela.
My Role
Determine research strategy (i.e., what projects to run and when)
Manage research operations (e.g., processes, budget, optimizations)
Conduct research
Write screeners
Recruit, select, and pay participants
Write the study plans (e.g., discussion guide) and prepare assets
Run/moderate the sessions
Analyze and organize the data
Create reports for multiple audiences with insights and recommendations
Present results to stakeholders
Manage a senior researcher’s output and professional development
I collaborate with executive leadership, product managers, designers, content teams, the customer team, the marketing team, the data analytics team, software engineers (including machine learning and AI teams), and (occasionally) external agencies.
Methods
All methods I use at Newsela are remote:
Moderated interviews (with teachers, administrators, students)
Unmoderated tests (with teachers)
Surveys (with teachers, administrators)
Usability tests (with teachers, students)
Competitive analysis
Impacts
Insights from my studies heavily influence multiple areas, including business strategy and product direction.
Business strategy examples: Multiple acquisitions (e.g., Formative, EveryDay Labs), major product expansions and additions, influence on objectives and company-wide focus, influence on messaging/positioning.
Product direction examples: Directional feedback for new features and designs (e.g., AI features, homepage, interactive graphic organizers), iterations to later-stage designs, data to inform ML/AI development.