How do you make your UX research reports and presentations impactful and avoid becoming just another "data dump"?
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Use verbatim comments from actual users to illustrate what the charts, tables and graphs mean in practice. If possible, leverage recordings of actual user interactions (users using your product or service) and user interviews as part of the reports.
Completely agree, the more you can humanize the source of the data and the more narrative you tell the story the more likely the results will be engaged with and empathy built.
The reason the data often fails to persuade is because there isn't a clear story. Especially with an executive audience, the story needs to come first and then the required data to evidence the story. I love the idea of tying recordings into the presentation so you can hear directly from the user and/or see their activity in the app.
Three to five minute video highlight reels of research. Never deliver UXR research without them. It's the proven method to consistenty engage the internal audience and make it memorable.