DRC works with product teams across the globe, remotely and on-site, to wrangle complex problems and shape strategic initiatives.
The consultancy is built on a decade of establishing research programs in growing startups. "Research" alone doesn't get us anywhere: the system that produces products must learn how to ground decisions in data and insight.
About Dave
Practicing brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, amateur winemaker, reading widely and avidly — I'm fascinated by the creative process and the notion of skill.
Larger questions drive my work and play:
- How do we make good things?
- How does that work when groups of people are involved?
- What does it mean to master a craft?
- How do we effectively teach and share our understanding?
Consulting as DRC, I work with interesting people, learn how to enable quality work, and help teams and organizations work effectively.
I reflect and write about what I learn in Loops and Cycles and occasionally post longer-form articles on the site. Each year I hold time for a craft-sabbatical — wine harvest or sake season — and a good, long walk.
Conference / Speaker Bio
Dave Hora is an independent strategy and research consultant, working with design and product leaders around the globe.
Starting in 2010, Dave worked as the first user researcher at six different companies including ResearchGate, PlanGrid, and Instacart. In 2020, he founded Dave's Research Company in Porto, Portugal.
Along with consulting he writes about designing and delivering good software, and each year he takes a sabbatical to work the wine harvest or sake brewing season.
Talk and Workshop Index:
- Rethinking Interviews: Two Perspectives on Navigating Conversations Talk with Dr Lisa Koeman — April 2025, UXInsight Festival
- The Future of UX Research Podcast with Judd Antin and Christiana Lackner — June 2024, Awkward Silences
- The evolution of user research Podcast — April 2024, The Optimal Path
- Navigating the future of UX research Podcast — April 2024, Insights Ulocked
- Our Discomfort with Research Democratization Podcast — October 2023, Scaling Research
- Re-integrating Research into Product and Design — Miro Design Talk (internal), August, 2023
- Research That Influences Workshop — Rosenfeld Media Advancing Research, March 2023
- Advice for Establishing Research — December 2022, Rosenfeld Media Advancing Research
- Research Ops: Research Skills Framework Workshop— May 2022, UX LX Conference
- A Research Skills Evolution — March 2021, Rosenfeld Media Advancing Research
- The Research Skills We Need to Succeed — February 2021, UXRConf Anywhere
- The Power of Pattern Language — September 2020, EuroIA Conference
- Working with the Research Skills Framework workshop — September 2020, UXinsight Festival (with Tomomi Sasaki)
- Tools for the Trek — February 2020, Interaction 20 Milan (w/ Tomomi Sasaki)
- Shaping Effective Research — October 2019, IXDA Berlin
- Elevating Design: Create a strategic plan to increase your impact — September 2019, EuroIA 19 (w/ Alissa Briggs)
- Considering Research: function & impact — June 2019, User Research London
- Research: Goal, role, having an impact — June 2019, Strive UX Research
- Lean Learning: Applied UX Research — October 2018, Develop Denver
- "Maps & Markers: enacting a strategy to transform your design team" — August 2018, Adaptive Path UX Week (w/ Alissa Briggs)
- Lean Learning: Applied Product Research — May 2017, NASDAQ's "The Center"
- UX Research for Live Products — January 2015, ConveyUX
