Webinar recording · Recorded Wed, Oct 21, 2026
Research Beyond the Researcher: Inside ERGO NEXT's Research Model
Jordan Brinkman, Lead UX Researcher at ERGO NEXT Insurance, and Kate Towsey of The Research Ops Review on reaching a whole product org with a lean research team: what to hand to PMs and designers, what stays researcher-led, and where AI moderation earns its place. Jordan demos how he uses Strella today and the tradeoffs behind each call. Hosted by Maya Kennedy from the Strella team.
Watch the recording
Jordan Brinkman
Lead UX Researcher,
ERGO NEXT Insurance
ERGO NEXT Insurance
Kate Towsey
The Research Ops Review
What You'll See
1
A model for what to hand off
Which research PMs and designers can run on their own, which stays with the research team, and how Jordan draws the line.
2
A live look at the tradeoffs
Jordan walks through a real study in Strella on screen: where AI moderation helps, where he steps in, and what he doesn't delegate.
3
A first step you can take
Kate's crawl / walk / run path to provide insight into whether AI moderated interviews are the right first step for your team.
Speakers
Jordan Brinkman
Lead UX Researcher, ERGO NEXT Insurance
Sole UX Researcher owning end-to-end research and operations across all teams.
Kate Towsey
The Research Ops Review
Author of Research That Scales and editor-in-chief of The ResearchOps Review.
Maya Kennedy
Host · Strella
Customer Operations at Strella. Former UX Researcher at Hatch & True Ventures.
Agenda
0:00
Welcome & intro. The capacity problem, and why expanding research needs guardrails.
0:05
Inside ERGO NEXT Insurance's model. What research owns, what PMs and designers run, and how enablement works today.
0:25
Live demo. Jordan walks through a real study in Strella, from setup to analysis to what goes to stakeholders, and the tradeoffs along the way.
0:40
Boundaries and lessons. From Jordan alongside Kate's ResearchOps lens. What to enable, what stays researcher-led, and how to check quality.
0:50
Your questions. Open Q&A with Jordan and Kate.
Who It's For
- UX researchers and insights leads who support more teams than they can personally serve
- Research and Research Operations leaders deciding what tools would best serve their teams
- Product and design leaders who want their teams to start doing more research
- Anyone weighing AI moderation and unsure where it fits into their research workflows
Recorded Wed, Oct 21, 2026 · 60 min