The following are a set of operating principles that I apply to my own work. These were developed through years of practice and mistakes, and my goal in sharing them is making visible some of the invisible aspects of the work that I do in hopes that you better understand how I operate when considering me as a partner and, hopefully, think about these in your own practice.
All research has a cost. No one (that I’ve met) exists to give you feedback on your product. Research has a very real cost to you, to your participants, and to your team. Gathering and storing data (in whatever form) has a cost. Disruption to people’s lives has a cost. Be aware of and intentional about the costs of your work.
Teachers, not oracles. My job is not to have all the answers, but to help people make decisions correctly. I engage with people and teams in the ways that fit each project best, and I adapt my approaches as necessary. I accept that everyone I encounter has something to teach me, assuming I am open to learning from them.
Be a good steward. I want to be a good steward of participants’ experiences and stories. I want to work to balance the power dynamic that exists in a research-participant relationship and do my best to learn and experience with those who participate in research. One concrete example of what this looks like for me came from Jan Chipchase, who taught me that when you’re doing research, there are two distinct points you need to gather consent - at the beginning of an engagement you need consent to gather data and at the end you need consent to keep that data and use it for in your work. While this isn’t something that’s widely discussed, it’s hard to imagine that someone can give you informed consent to both record AND save a conversation before they know what’s discussed. Part of your job is making sure that you never exploit your research participants, and ensuring that they are okay with you saving, making use of, and sharing what they’ve shared with you is critical. If you plan to share the work publicly, you should make that explicit as well, and ask them how they would like to be named/referenced (if at all).
Be a good steward of research as a practice. There are times when I am not the best fit for a project or it’s not the right time for me to take it on. In both cases, I want to help that person/team/organization find the right person or people to help them, rather than take on the project and do work that reflects poorly on our practice.