Brave UX with Brendan Jarvis 🇺🇦

The episode contains substantial, non-obvious ideas about research waste, insight activation, and organizational systems for knowledge management. Jake presents a coherent three-part framework (preparation, motivation, integration) and discusses concrete challenges like timing misalignment and prioritization. However, there is moderate filler including biographical context, gratuitous self-promotion, and extended conversational warm-up that dilutes the insight-per-minute ratio.

“researchers are already doing amazing things in their study processes...what I'm really focused on, picking up the remainder...major insights that are directly in line with what leaders are talking about now that they have no idea exist”

“if you understand where the decisions you want to influence, all those insights that aren't making the cut where they could make the cut...you can take content that is sitting in digital junk drawers and various systems”

Jake articulates a genuinely fresh angle on research waste by reframing it as a systems and activation problem rather than a data collection or tool problem. The three-pillar framework and emphasis on organizational planning alignment represent non-obvious thinking. However, the core idea that research isn't being acted upon is not new; the originality lies primarily in the operational and strategic framing rather than fundamental insight.

“this is not a book about conducting research...this is about everything that happens after”

“repositories...can hold everything...what you're leaving things out of is a particular conversation...you're focusing a conversation”

Jake Burghardt is an exceptionally well-credentialed practitioner with 20+ years spanning research, product, and operations roles at Amazon (principal researcher, principal product manager), published work, and a forthcoming book. He has built systems and led large-scale initiatives at scale, making decisions that affected organizational strategy. He is not a career podcast guest or pure theorist; his perspective is grounded in hands-on execution at enterprise level.

“Jake is a veteran of the research, product and design worlds...spent the better part of two decades helping organizations close the gap between what they know and what they act on”

“he served as both principal researcher and principal product manager...led large scale meta analysis initiatives, built insight systems from the ground up”

Jake provides some concrete examples (Amazon, meta-analysis initiatives, repository structure, insight summaries) and discusses specific frameworks (preparation/motivation/integration, owning teams as metadata, tiered prioritization). However, he largely avoids naming competitor approaches, specific metrics, dollar figures, or detailed case studies. Many claims remain at the framework level without supporting numbers, timelines, or named organizational examples beyond Amazon.

“he's an advocate for what he calls activating insight and a sharp critic of the idea that building a repository or buying a tool is enough”

“I have some models of how to break down customer impact and business impact”

Brendan asks thoughtful, prepared questions that build on prior research (LinkedIn, Lou Rosenfeld interview, essays) and follow up with genuine curiosity about prioritization, organizational barriers, and practical implementation. However, he rarely pushes back on vagueness or challenges claims; the conversation remains warm and collaborative rather than probing. Some questions feel templated ("tell me about the title") rather than sharp.

“you suggested that...what would our competitors pay to know what we're forgetting...was that the way you intended that or is there, are there other ways that you've made those hard decisions?”

“How did you become comfortable with leaving things out”