Proving the ROI of research: How to build a business case for user research

Learn how to quantify and clearly communicate the value of research using a simple tool and decision framework - one that helps you and your team understand how research reduces risk, increases confidence, and directly impacts product outcomes.

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Imagine your team is about to make a major product decision.

It could mean months of work and a significant investment in engineering, design, and product resources. You know this decision should be backed by research, but when it comes to actually making the case - how do you quantify its value?

How do you clearly communicate the risk of getting this wrong?

How do you present research as a high-impact investment in your business goals - not just another line item?

Too often, teams move forward based on assumptions, internal opinions, or a handful of anecdotal insights. Research is seen as helpful - but hard to justify.

And when stakeholders ask, *“what’s the ROI of doing research?” *the answer can feel frustratingly vague.

In this workshop, we’ll move beyond that ambiguity. You’ll learn how to quantify and clearly communicate the value of research using a simple tool and decision framework - one that helps you show how research reduces risk, increases confidence, and directly impacts product outcomes.

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About this event

In this workshop, we’ll explore a practical way to frame research as a tool for reducing the risk of expensive product decisions - and making a clear, compelling business case for investing in it.

Instead of treating research as a vague “nice to have,” we’ll break down real product decisions:

• the investment behind them
• the cost of getting them wrong
• and the level of confidence teams actually have when making them

From there, we’ll use a simple, interactive tool to estimate and communicate the ROI of research - showing how even small research efforts can significantly de-risk decisions and improve outcomes.

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What you’ll learn

✔ Why research often struggles to prove its value inside organizations

✔ How to clearly frame and communicate the ROI of research

✔ A simple tool and framework for evaluating confidence in product decisions

✔ How to estimate the cost and risk of moving forward without research

✔ How small research efforts can meaningfully increase confidence and improve outcomes

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What we’ll do

We'll walk through a realistic, high-stakes product decision - starting from a familiar place: We know this decision should be supported by research, but without a clear way to justify or scope it. From there, we'll -

✔ Use our ROI calculator and step-by-step process to break the decision down - including risk, investment, opportunity, and current level of confidence

✔ Quantify what’s at stake: the cost of getting the decision wrong, and the potential upside of getting it right

✔ Define specific research initiatives, estimate their cost, and map how they would meaningfully reduce risk and increase confidence

✔ Walk through how to clearly and concretely communicate this to stakeholders - turning “we should do research” into a strong, data-backed business case tied to real product outcomes

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Who should attend?

This workshop is ideal for UX researchers, product designers, UX designers, and product managers who want to strengthen the strategic impact of their research work - especially if you’ve struggled to justify research investment, communicate its value, or secure stakeholder buy-in.

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Meet your instructor

Joe is the Design Advocate at Lyssna, where he leads workshops, creates educational content, and helps teams run better, more impactful research. With over 10 years of experience in UX and education, Joe focuses on helping teams connect research insights to confident product decisions and meaningful business impact.

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Reserve your spot today!

Spots are limited - don’t miss this opportunity to strengthen your ability to quantify, communicate, and advocate for the impact of research on product decisions.

Can’t join live? Register anyway and you’ll receive the recording after the session.