Nextdoor's Maggie On Asking a Business Question, Not a Research One

Hi there, it's Steph 👋

Welcome to Takes from the Field, our interview series with research leaders pulling back the curtain on how research really works inside today’s most influential companies. Each edition, we’ll share candid conversations with leaders shaping strategy, navigating chaos, and pushing the industry forward (offering the kind of truths you’ll never hear on stage).

For this issue, we sat down with ​Maggie Howley​, Research Lead @ Nextdoor.‍

Note: The perspectives shared below are Maggie’s own and don’t represent those of Nextdoor or any other employer, past or present.

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The TL;DR

When research speaks the language of the business, it stops being a deliverable and it starts driving real decisions and impact.

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Takes from the Field:
‍Maggie on Asking a Business Question, Not a Research One

Maggie Howley is a seasoned research leader who has built her career at the intersection of human insight and brand strategy. Now leading research at Nextdoor, she’s spent over a decade uncovering what drives connection, creativity, and decision-making inside fast-moving tech companies and global brands alike. Her experience spans platforms like Twitter, creative consultancies like The Sound, and agencies like Hall & Partners. Maggie’s work stands out for its mix of rigor and intuition, and for her belief that good research doesn’t just inform decisions, it shapes culture.

‍Two Cents Team: From your perspective, what separates research that drives real business outcomes from research that simply produces deliverables?

Maggie: Research that drives real business outcomes has a few things in common:

1. It answers a business question, not a research question. It can be directly tied to a business objective like retention, growth, conversion or satisfaction. It’s referenced throughout the decision-making process because research is brought in early to shape problem framing, hypotheses, and success metrics.
2. It provides decision-ready language for stakeholders. The "so what" statements connect the dots between what users need, what the business can offer, and what teams should do next
3. It has legs because of the relationships built along the way. The Researcher brings XFN partners in continuously, co-creating understanding and making the insights feel shared. They use narrative, emotion, and evidence to make data memorable.

Two Cents Team: How has working both in agencies and in-house shaped the way you approach research and stakeholder engagement today?

Maggie: Most tactically, it was a crash course in personality and time management! Working on such a wide array of business challenges with such a diverse set of clients helped to both show the varied impact that research can have, but also showed me different ways to package and present research.

It also helped to show golden threads that unite people regardless of the platform, the cereal they're eating or jeans they're wearing. There are human truths learned during those years that are still the bedrock of the cultural context I build upon today.

Two Cents Team: In moving into senior research roles, what shifts (whether in mindset, skills, or habits) have helped you effectively influence at greater scale?

Maggie: The largest shift has been in mindset: I'm a strategic thinking and problem solving partner. There is an immeasurable amount of data available to companies today. Senior research leadership is about translating that into something that can help the business make better decisions.

Additionally, I've worked on communication, particularly celebrating concision. Leaders are pulled in so many directions, so it's critical to share my POV in the right forums and at the right altitude.

Two Cents Team: What practices or frameworks have you found most effective in making insights truly actionable for product and business teams?

Maggie: Co-creation over presentation to build shared ownership.

Plus, using the “Insight → Opportunity → Action” framework to bridge the gap between understanding and doing.

Two Cents Team: Looking back, what one or two pivotal moments in your career influence how you lead your team today?

Maggie: My time at Twitter and, more specifically, my manager Brittney Huntington. She taught me so much about ruthless prioritization, designing research for impact, relationship nurturing and creative deliverables. I still hear her in my mind when I'm supporting ICs and presenting to the Board!

Two Cents Team: Looking ahead, what guidance would you offer to researchers who want to grow into roles where their work has clear business impact?

Maggie: Here’s my list:

1. Make the business' problems your problems! Be able to draw a pretty thick line from your work to a business objective, even if it's a lower level OKR.
2. Invest in relationships internally. Put time on that leaders' calendar and share the TL;DR from your recent study that you think is relevant to them. ASK and LISTEN TO what's keeping your stakeholders' up at night.
3. Deeply understand the business metrics that are shaping decision making. Speak the language that executives speak.
4. Be a team player. If you can't prioritize a research request for primary research, summarize an adjacent study, do some quick desk research, or share a relevant article.
5. Find one area of the business and become the irrefutable "voice of the user" expert. Know that audience so well and so completely that you become an indispensable source of knowledge.

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The Take™ from the Two Cents Team

Every project and conversation leaves sparks. The Take™ is where we add our Two Cents: the interpretations, debates, and connections that stuck with us.

What I took from Maggie’s perspective is how powerful things get when research actually drives the business, not just informs it. When insights are translated into the language of growth, revenue, or customer value, everything clicks. You can feel the difference between teams reacting to data versus being guided by it. The way Maggie connects human understanding to business strategy is exactly where research earns its seat at the table.

Nylea Rosenberg

‍Chief of Staff

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What I love about Maggie’s perspective is how clearly she sits at the intersection of research and business. She’s not talking about data as output, she’s talking about research as strategy. That’s the shift I think we’ll see more of as AI changes the game: researchers who can move fluidly between human insight and business decision-making. Her idea of “decision-ready language” really stuck with me since that’s what makes research matter.

Steph Kumar‍

Founder

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