Education-tech leader ProQuest enhanced its research capabilities by training 56 product managers, boosting their user research knowledge by 33%.

The challenge

How might a global leader in EdTech explore the needs of their 26,000+ clients?

About the Project

ProQuest serves researchers, librarians, and 130+ million students across 150 countries. Over 9,000 publishers and providers deliver content through the company’s vast collection of products and services. To support such an expansive array of offerings, the company focuses its efforts on exploring the current and future needs of stakeholders and users.

Key Impacts

33%

Quantified improvement

Training 56 product managers boosted their user research knowledge by over 33%, raising average confidence scores from 3.16 to 4.21 out of 5.

Self-Sustaining Propagation

A "train the trainers" approach equipped internal facilitators to independently extend the program, ensuring self-sustaining organizational growth rather than reliance on external trainers.

Reusable Research Infrastructure

The curriculum provided a comprehensive, tailored suite of reusable tools—including discussion guides, question banks, and a 12-section guidebook—creating a durable infrastructure rather than a one-time event.

Standardized Knowledge Integration

Establishing a shared vocabulary and synthesis framework across a distributed team likely improved the comparability of findings, preventing isolated efforts from producing incompatible data.

Photo of Edward Stull leading a exploratory research training session with a global team of product managers

Edward Stull and global team of product managers

In partnership with the company's product leadership team, Edward Stull Consulting built an exploratory research curriculum to train a diverse and global team of 56 product management professionals. The curriculum covered how to plan, conduct, and analyze qualitative research. It included everything from boilerplate interview discussion guides, research question banks, workshop scripts, design thinking exercises, best practices checklists, multiple synthesis frameworks, and exploratory research guidebooks – all tailored to ProQuest’s specific exploratory research goals.

radar chart emphasizing research and strategy

How to build an exploratory research practice

Exploratory research develops our empathy and deepens our understanding of whether there is a sufficiently worthy problem to solve. After all, the world is full of countless issues to tackle, only some of which happen with enough frequency or severity to rise to our attention. And an even smaller number of these issues are solvable in a commercially viable way.

The exploratory research training ranged from how to conduct interview users to how to synthesize research findings. For example, we conducted mock interviews, where participants could practice interviewing and note-taking within a safe and supportive environment.

All training and workshops were conducted remotely. Edward Stull Consulting built the curriculum with trainers in mind. Such a “train the trainers” approach enabled future facilitators to extend the exploratory research program across the organization.

One of many facilitation tips in a workshop script ( View image )

An activity involving mock interviews ( View image )

Excerpt from the 12-section exploratory research guide ( View image )

Program Success

Three cohorts of project-manager-researchers presented robust findings to the company's leadership, revealing insights and clarifying several problem definitions. The cohorts prepared discussion guides, conducted dozens of interviews, and synthesized research findings using frameworks provided by Edward Stull Consulting.

Cumulatively, participating product managers rated their acquired knowledge of exploratory research as 33%+ higher upon the program's completion when compared to program's start (4.21 vs 3.16 out of 5).

Impact

Quantified Knowledge Growth: Across 56 global professionals, participating product managers reported a 33%+ quantified improvement in their exploratory research knowledge by the program's end.

Self-Sustaining Propagation: A "train the trainers" approach equipped internal facilitators to independently extend the program, ensuring self-sustaining organizational growth rather than reliance on external trainers.

Reusable Research Infrastructure: The curriculum provided a comprehensive, tailored suite of reusable tools—including discussion guides, question banks, and a 12-section guidebook—creating a durable infrastructure rather than a one-time event.

Practical Skill Building: Mock interviews provided practical experience in a safe environment, converting abstract methodology into repeatable skills before participants engaged with actual users.

High-Quality Documentation: Delivering remote training to 56 people globally necessitated rigorously documented, self-explanatory materials. This constraint likely produced a higher-quality curriculum by replacing in-person improvisation with explicit instructions.

Elevated Accountability: Having cohorts present to company leadership created meaningful accountability. Knowing decision-makers—not just trainers—would evaluate their work likely elevated participants' investment in the research quality.

Standardized Knowledge Integration: Establishing a shared vocabulary and synthesis framework across a distributed team likely improved the comparability of findings, preventing isolated efforts from producing incompatible data.