Mhaire Fraser, Ph.D.

Ways I
Investigate

The method changes with the question.
The responsibility doesn’t.

Every engagement begins with a real decision, a real uncertainty, and real people. I choose the approach that will reveal what matters most and move the work, and the business, forward.

Watercolor illustration of Mhaire reflecting on research in Charlotte.

Listen for
the story♡

The journey from question to impact.

  1. ?

    1. Question

    We begin with the question.

    What needs to be improved, created, understood or produced?
  2. ⌕

    2. Evidence

    Use the right methods

    Interviews, data, observation, tests, analysis and synthesis.
  3. ✦

    3. Insight

    Patterns reveal what matters.

    What does the signal in the noise tell us?
  4. ⌁

    4. Opportunity

    Insight exposes the possible.

    New directions. Better questions. Stronger choices. Direct application
  5. ↗

    5. Strategy

    Evidence shapes the direction.

    Priorities. Roadmaps. Investments. Focus.
  6. ⚑

    6. Impact

    Better decisions, real change.

    For people. For teams. For the business.For the future.

The method depends on the question.

My tookit:

  • Qualitative research
  • Quantitative research
  • Behavioral analytics
  • Data analysis
  • Statistical modeling
  • Experimentation
  • Concept and usability testing
  • Journey mapping
  • Jobs to be Done
  • Heuristic review
  • Workshops and synthesis
  • Strategic frameworks
  • Humor
  • Empathy
Watercolor illustration of Mhaire presenting research evidence and opportunities to a leadership team.
Insight becomes useful when a team can see where it might take them.

Where research can take us.

Product Strategy
What should we build — and what should we stop building?
Experience Strategy
How can the experience create more value?
AI Strategy
Where will automation help — and where should humans remain central?
Organizational Strategy
What capabilities, ways of working, and culture support the goals?
Business Strategy
Where should we invest, grow, enter, partner, or exit?
Innovation Strategy
What becomes possible?

The most important methodological decision happens before the study begins:

What problem are we trying to solve?

What the work looks like in practice.

Curiosity opens the door. Rigor carries the evidence. The team acts on it.

Mhaire listening during a research interview.
Listen deeply
Mhaire writing and organizing field notes.
Capture & organize
Synthesized research evidence.
Synthesize & translate

Curiosity opens the door.
Rigor moves us through. ♡

Research doesn’t create strategy.

It creates the understanding that makes better strategy possible.

The question determines the methods. The evidence reveals the opportunities. Strategy determines what happens next. ♡