The Gap Between Conducting Research and Informing Decisions

Research teams conduct studies. Product teams make decisions. The assumption is that good research will naturally find its way to the right decision at the right time. It does not. A study about pricing sensitivity concludes in March. The pricing decision it should inform is made in February, or in May when nobody remembers the study exists.

Where the Gap Shows Up

Research is produced but not connected to decisions.

Ask your team: "For the last ten completed studies, show me the decision that followed each one."

Decisions are made without available evidence.

Ask your team: "When a product decision is being made, how does the decision-maker check whether we have relevant research?"

Research arrives too late.

Ask your team: "In the last quarter, did any study produce findings that arrived after the relevant decision had already been made?"

Why It Persists

Connecting research to product decisions spans multiple teams, which means it belongs to none of them.

Ask yourself: Is the connection between research and decisions maintained by a system, or by a person?

What Closing the Gap Requires

Decision protocols before studies begin. Every brief should state what decision this research will inform.

Structured connections between research and objectives.

Ask your team: "Can you show me every study connected to our Q3 objective of improving retention?"

Findings surfaced at the point of decision. Searchable by product area, customer segment, and business objective, accessible to anyone.

The Question That Matters

The question is not "are we conducting good research?" The question is "is research changing decisions?" The gap between research and decisions is where programme value goes to die.