Deliver research insights that demand action, with zero guesswork

15 different techniques and approaches to make your reports more impactful

👋 Hey, Nikki here! Welcome to this 🔒subscriber-only 🔒 article from the User Research Academy’s Newsletter. I tackle reader questions about user research, impact, and accelerating your career.

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User research is only as valuable as the action it inspires. You might have deep insights and detailed data, but if your stakeholders can’t digest or apply them, your hard work goes to waste.

I know because this was my way of life as a user researcher for many years: huge projects with amazing (and admittedly abstract) insights that sat in a folder somewhere.

Then, I reached a point in my career where I couldn’t measure my impact because no one was doing anything with these stunning insights that no one could truly understand and act on. So, I stagnated.

And then, when I wanted to go freelance, I realized I had to up the ante. If I wanted good word of mouth and recommendations (read: a steady income), I had to deliver things my clients could actually do stuff with.

So, again, I hit a wall. It was a crappy wall that I didn’t enjoy banging my head against for about a year. Until I decided to try something new.

My stakeholders (both in-house and freelance) didn’t have time for complexity. They didn’t have time to sit and analyze everything that happened in a research study, to digest all the data and then figure out what to do with it.

They needed fast, clear insights they could act on immediately.

Actionability, actionable insights, action, action, action. When I focused on action, my reports changed, and so can yours.

Your insights need to do more than sit in a report. How do you make sure your research delivers impact? By simplifying your reports so that stakeholders can easily digest, understand, and act on your findings.

In this article, I’ll cover 15 proven strategies, new techniques, and creative approaches that will transform the way you present your research, ensuring your stakeholders are always clear on what to do next. You don’t need to try them all, but pick a few and have fun experimenting with them.

0. WTF is your goal

Before I get into the amazing strategies and techniques below, the first thing I need to point out is that is overwhelmingly missing from a report is a goal. What do I mean by this?

Whenever I used to struggle with putting together a report, it usually meant that I didn’t know what the point of the report was, which led to confusion on what to include and how to structure it, and typically made it feel disjointed and…useless.

So, every single time I put together a report/presentation/workshop, I ask myself the following questions:

1. What is the point of this report?

2. What do I want people to do with the information?

3. What do I want people to do during and after the presentation?

4. What are my expectations of people during the presentation? What do I want them to be thinking, feeling, doing?

5. What are the next steps for this report?

6. What is my ideal outcome for this report?

7. How relevant is this report for my audience? What are they empowered to do with the information?

If I can’t answer these, I go back to the drawing board until I can answer them. If I still can’t, creating a report probably isn’t the right move and I need to think of a different solution or wait until the report becomes more actionable and relevant.

1. Cut the clutter

I’ll be blunt because I’ve done it too: not everything in your research report is equally important. Your stakeholders are busy. They don’t need or want to be overwhelmed with every data point you’ve collected.

To get your insights acted on faster, prioritize only the most impactful findings. Instead of creating a giant list of everything your research uncovered, identify the 2-3 most important insights that will move the needle. Everything else can go in the appendix or be followed up on once the most important insights are acted on.

Start your report with a clear, bold statement like, “Fixing X will increase conversions by 20%.” Then, give them just enough data to support that claim. Everything else is secondary.

For example, imagine you’re working on a product with a problematic onboarding process. Rather than providing pages of data showing every issue, highlight the one step that’s causing the most friction:

“Step 3 in the onboarding process is confusing 60% of users, leading to a significant drop-off. Simplifying this step could improve conversion rates by 30%.”

That’s all they need. Prioritizing actionable insights will prevent your report from feeling like a data dump and will instantly get your stakeholders focused on the solution.

2. Structure your deliverables like a news article

People like to skim. Even your most engaged stakeholders are likely skimming through your research deliverables, looking for key points. To accommodate this, structure your insights like a news article—where the headline tells the most important part of the story.

Use bold headlines that clearly state the takeaway, followed by a brief explanation or supporting data. For example:

• Users are abandoning their carts at step 3. Confusion with the payment interface is causing 40% of drop-offs.

• Feature X is overcomplicated. 70% of users avoid it because instructions are unclear.

With this format, even if a stakeholder only reads the headlines, they’ll still get the key insights. If they’re intrigued, they can dive into the supporting details below.

Keep these headlines under 10 words, and avoid jargon. The simpler and clearer, the better. You can also utilize these headlines for your executive summaries.

3. Tell micro-stories

Data doesn’t stick with people, but stories do. One powerful way to simplify your research deliverables and make them more engaging is to turn your findings into micro-stories.

Stakeholders love stories because they provide context and relevance. But instead of long, drawn-out narratives, focus on micro-stories—short, impactful anecdotes that highlight user pain points and how your insights solve them.

Make your stakeholders the protagonists. Don’t just tell them what users are struggling with—show how it directly impacts the product and their decision-making.

For example, instead of sharing a generic data point like “40% of users abandon their carts at checkout,” say:

“Imagine a user named Sarah. She’s added products to her cart, but at the final step, she’s confused by unclear payment instructions. Frustrated, she leaves without purchasing. This happens 40% of the time. Now imagine we fix this issue. That’s a 20% increase in revenue and a potential 25% increase in satisfaction scores.”

Micro-stories turn data into a narrative that stakeholders can relate to—and more importantly, act on.

4. Create a risk heatmap

People are visual creatures. Charts, graphs, and infographics are often more effective at communicating complex data than paragraphs of text. However, many researchers are stuck using the same old visuals—bar graphs, pie charts, and basic flowcharts.

I absolutely love using risk heatmaps. In this case, the heatmap is structured around the severity of risk associated with different user touchpoints or features. You’d map each part of the user experience or product based on two factors: