The Power of Community: An Interview with Emma Boulton
This article is based on a ResearchOps Community Podcast — Episode 13: Emma Boulton: ResearchOps Keynote, hosted by our Chair, Holly Cole. Article summary by Talia Chakraborty, Vivian Navele, and Megan St Andrew.
Introduction to Emma Boulton
Emma Boulton, a Senior Research Leader in Meta’s commerce division, is a research tour de force. Prior to joining Meta, she made significant contributions at Babylon Health, the BBC, and as a freelancer and entrepreneur, including co-founding a business later acquired by Monotype.
Emma has played a pivotal role in defining research operations as it exists today. During her time on ResearchOps’s Cheese Board, she designed a survey for the “What is ResearchOps?” project, an effort that ultimately culminated in The Eight Pillars of User Research.
This article narrates Emma’s journey, from finding a home in ResearchOps as a contributor to overcoming challenges with the support of the ResearchOps community.
You can listen to the original conversation in full here.
Finding a home in ResearchOps
About four years ago, I hit a rough patch. I had just been made redundant and I was feeling completely burnt out with no support system in place. There was no community of fellow research managers or leaders that I could turn to for guidance or just to vent about what I was going through.
In the midst of this challenging time, I decided to take a break and really reflect on my next steps. I knew I wanted to get back into research, but I felt lost and uncertain about where to go from there. I considered freelancing, coaching, or pursuing a leadership role, but honestly, I was feeling directionless at that point. So I started writing. It was a way for me to get some things off my chest that I had wanted to share for a while.
During that time, I came across an interesting tweet from a friend, which led me to reach out to Holly Cole (now the current head of ResearchOps), one of the earliest connections I made in the ResearchOps community. At that time, the community was much smaller than it is today, but Holly and I immediately bonded over the shared traumas we had experienced throughout our careers in different companies.
So I started getting involved in early research projects. At the same time, I began to find my footing again and started freelancing. ResearchOps was a great partner during this time and helped me meet lots of like minded people and build the new community I had been initially missing.
Contributing to the ResearchOps community
When I officially joined the community as a ResearchOps board member I had the privilege of working with an incredible group of people on a wide range of projects. Together, we organized workshops, curated valuable content, and engaged in meaningful conversations about research.
One of the projects I had the opportunity to contribute to was “The Eight Pillars of User Research” — an industry how-to article that many have found useful in setting up or updating their own research ops programs. However, I couldn’t have done it alone. It was truly a team effort spanning survey design, taxonomy development, and team workshops. I was fortunate to work alongside talented colleagues from the ResearchOps community, including Holly Cole, Brigette Metzler, Tomomi Sasaki, and Kate Towsey, who played instrumental roles in the project’s success.
I’m continuously grateful for the collaborative spirit that permeates the ResearchOps community. Working with others on workshops and content curation felt like doing good research at a massive scale. Witnessing that level of interest and willingness to contribute from so many individuals was truly inspiring.
Overcoming new challenges with the help of community
Having a community around you is crucial, especially when you find yourself as a lone researcher or part of a small research team without a dedicated research ops position. This was particularly evident during my time at Babylon Health, where I worked with a small but mighty team of researchers who had a lot of initiative and great ideas. Together, we were able to build on the power of the community of researchers, support one another, and scale our impact across the organization. By relying on each other’s strengths, we achieved remarkable things.
Just as my experience at Babylon underscored the significance of community, my involvement in and support from the ResearchOps community have played a similarly pivotal role throughout my career’s ups and downs. It’s been like a rock for me, sparking connection and conversation with like-minded individuals all over the world.
This sense of community was particularly important during the unique and challenging year of 2020 when I held a research leadership role. I faced numerous pressures during that time, but unlike my earlier experiences where I felt lacking in support, navigating those challenges with the support of the ResearchOps community made a significant difference. Knowing that I was not alone and having people in the community who could offer their support and understanding provided immense comfort and reassurance.
The ResearchOps community has truly been a cornerstone throughout my journey, empowering me to navigate the various aspects of my career with a profound sense of belonging and unwavering support that I deeply cherish.
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