15 customisable OKR examples for Research
What are Research OKRs?
The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.
Formulating strong OKRs can be a complex endeavor, particularly for first-timers. Prioritizing outcomes over projects is crucial when developing your plans.
We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Research to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.
If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read our OKR guide online.
Building your own Research OKRs with AI
While we have some examples available, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. You can use our free AI generator below or our more complete goal-setting system to generate your own OKRs.
Feel free to explore our tools:
- Use our free OKR generator
- Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives, including a GPT-4 powered goal generator
Our customisable Research OKRs examples
You'll find below a list of Objectives and Key Results templates for Research. We also included strategic projects for each template to make it easier to understand the difference between key results and projects.
Hope you'll find this helpful!
1. OKRs to elevate productivity in academic research
Elevate productivity in academic research
Implement and maintain a research schedule, ensuring minimum 5 hours of effective work daily
Draft a dedicated 5-hour daily research schedule- Regularly evaluate and adjust schedule for effectiveness
- Implement routine to follow the established research schedule
- Submit two high-quality research pieces for publication review
- Conduct comprehensive research on chosen topics
- Submit papers for publication review
- Write and edit two research papers
- Attend at least 3 professional development workshops related to research methods or practices
- Ensure participation in each workshop attended
- Register for the chosen professional development workshops
- Identify suitable workshops focused on research methods
2. OKRs to hire top-level Senior UX Researcher
- Hire top-level Senior UX Researcher
- Screen and shortlist at least 10 suitable candidates by week 4
- Launch a comprehensive job ad campaign immediately
- Shortlist 10 suitable candidates by week 4
- Review all received applications daily
- Conduct interviews and make an offer to the selected candidate by week 8
- Compile a list of potential interview candidates
- Schedule and conduct interviews
- Select and make offer to chosen candidate
- Define clear job description and requirements for the UX Researcher role by week 2
- Detail daily responsibilities and tasks for role
- Outline necessary qualifications and skills for UX Researcher role
- Include long-term goals and expectations for position
3. OKRs to enhance knowledge and understanding through qualitative research
- Enhance knowledge and understanding through qualitative research
- Review and analyze 10 relevant scholarly articles per week
- Systematically read and make notes on each article
- Analyze each article's content, context, and conclusions
- Select 10 scholarly articles related to the research topic
- Conduct 3 interviews with industry experts
- Identify and reach out to three industry experts for interviews
- Prepare comprehensive interview questions relevant to their expertise
- Schedule and conduct the three interviews
- Submit one comprehensive research report for peer review
- Conduct thorough research on chosen topic
- Write comprehensive report incorporating research
- Submit report for peer review
4. OKRs to secure local channels and gain market insights
- Secure local channels and gain market insights
- Conduct regular market research to gather local market data and information
- Conduct surveys or interviews to gather insights and preferences of local customers
- Identify key competitors and their market share in the local market
- Monitor industry trends and analyze data to identify emerging opportunities in the local market
- Establish partnerships with local stakeholders to enhance channel security
- Collaborate with stakeholders to develop and implement strategies for enhancing channel security
- Identify key local stakeholders with expertise in channel security
- Initiate meetings with stakeholders to discuss potential partnership opportunities
- Increase security measures on local channels to reduce unauthorized access
- Implement two-factor authentication for all user accounts on local channels
- Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing on local channels to identify and resolve vulnerabilities
- Regularly update and patch software on local channels to address security vulnerabilities
- Implement data analytics tools to analyze market trends and consumer behavior
- Train and educate the team on how to effectively use the selected data analytics tools
- Research and compare various data analytics tools available in the market
- Determine key metrics and indicators to track market trends and consumer behavior
5. OKRs to enhance product-market fit by conducting customer research and implementing user feedback
- Improve product-market fit by leveraging customer research and user feedback
- Measure the impact of the improvements on product-market fit by tracking user metrics
- Conduct in-depth interviews with 50 potential and existing customers
- Implement the top 3 product improvements within 3 weeks
- Analyze user feedback and identify the top 3 product improvements
6. OKRs to develop a compelling game that engages and captivates players
- Develop a compelling game that engages and captivates players
- Develop a functional prototype of the game with polished graphics and intuitive controls
- Implement and refine intuitive controls based on user experience and usability testing
- Iterate on the game design based on user feedback and playtesting results
- Conduct user testing to identify any issues with the game controls
- Collaborate with an artist to create high-quality graphics for the game prototype
- Conduct user research to identify target audience preferences and game themes
- Develop a survey to gather user feedback on preferred game themes
- Use findings to inform game theme selection and prioritize target audience preferences
- Conduct interviews with target audience members to understand their preferences
- Analyze user research data to identify common themes and preferences
- Conduct playtesting sessions to gather feedback and iterate on the game design
- Create a detailed game design document outlining gameplay mechanics, levels, and objectives
- Outline basic gameplay mechanics that will define the core experience of the game
- Create clear and specific objectives for each level, ensuring they align with gameplay mechanics
- Design a series of diverse levels that challenge and engage players
- Research popular gameplay mechanics, level design techniques, and objective structures
7. OKRs to integrate UX testing insights into decision-making
- Improve decision-making with UX testing insights
- Increase user satisfaction rating by 10%
- Train 3 non-UX team members on conducting and interpreting UX tests
- Implement changes based on user feedback in 100% of cases
- Conduct 10 user tests for at least 2 features
8. OKRs to capture new tech trends in education and learning
- Capture new tech trends in education and learning
- Publish 5 articles analyzing the impact of these trends in relevant education forums
- Write 5 detailed articles on analyzed trends
- Identify and post articles on relevant education forums
- Research and analyze 5 current trends in education
- Attend two industry related, reputable webinars or conferences monthly
- Research and note down industry-related, reputable webinars or conferences
- Attend and participate in selected events
- Register for chosen webinars or conferences
- Identify and document 15 emerging tech trends in education by end of quarter
- Document each tech trend in detail
- Analyze and shortlist 15 emerging tech trends
- Research current trends in educational technology field
9. OKRs to increase AliExpress purchases
- Increase AliExpress purchases
- Research trending products weekly
- Browse popular e-commerce sites for current top-selling items
- Analyze Google Trends data for rising product searches
- Follow relevant industry influencers and note product recommendations
- Place orders for at least 5 items per week
- Review product availability and pricing from suppliers
- Submit at least 5 orders to suppliers each week
- Compile a list of desired products for purchase weekly
- Track delivery times and customer satisfaction
- Set up a system to record and monitor delivery times
- Analyze collected data and develop improvement strategies
- Create customer satisfaction surveys after product delivery
10. OKRs to investigate antibiotic resistance in human health
- Investigate antibiotic resistance in human health
- Conduct a literature review on 30 recent studies about antibiotic resistance
- Thoroughly review and synthesize each study
- Identify 30 recent studies on antibiotic resistance
- Write a conclusive report on the findings
- Identify and document three main causes of drug resistance in humans
- Write a clear, concise document outlining these causes
- Research literature on primary causes of human drug resistance
- Analyze study findings and identify three main causes
- Develop an action plan to spread awareness in two communities about antibiotic misuse
- Organize community education sessions/workshops
- Create informative material on antibiotic misuse
- Identify key influencers in both communities for partnerships
11. OKRs to enhance capability as an institutional research analyst in higher education
- Enhance capability as an institutional research analyst in higher education
- Attend 3 professional development webinars on higher education research analysis techniques
- Participate and take notes during each webinar
- Sign up for the chosen webinars
- Identify 3 webinars focused on higher education research analysis techniques
- Mentor and guide 2 junior research analysts to improve their capability development
- Provide direct training on necessary software/tools
- Develop a personalized growth plan for each analyst
- Establish regular weekly meetings for guidance and feedback
- Develop, present, and implement 1 strategic initiative to improve research methodologies
- Identify weakness in current research methodologies
- Create strategic initiative for process improvement
- Present and implement strategy to team
12. OKRs to enhance product research systems and procedures
- Enhance product research systems and procedures
- Reduce product research errors by 15% through revamped procedures
- Establish a strict quality control protocol
- Develop a detailed research checklist
- Implement more rigorous product research training
- Increase process efficiency by 25% using improved research systems
- Evaluate and restructure inefficient parts of workflow
- Train team on strategies to fully utilize advanced systems
- Implement new, innovative research systems in existing processes
- Implement feedback mechanism to optimize product research process by the end of the quarter
- Integrate the feedback system into the current research workflow
- Design a feedback survey tailored to the product research process
- Analyze and apply the collected feedback to improve the process
13. OKRs to enhance service delivery through innovation and benchmarking
- Enhance service delivery through innovation and benchmarking
- Create and implement 2 innovative solutions to transform existing services
- Develop prototypes of the 2 selected solutions
- Implement and test these innovative solutions in live services
- Brainstorm new, innovative ways to enhance current services
- Benchmark against 5 industry leaders to identify and implement best practices
- Analyze their best practices and methodologies
- Identify top 5 industry leaders for benchmark comparison
- Incorporate identified best practices into our operations
- Increase service delivery efficiency by 30% using new technological advancements
- Investigate latest technology advancements in service delivery
- Monitor and evaluate tech system effectiveness regularly
- Implement new tech systems to streamline service processes
14. OKRs to improve knowledge of ozonation process
- Improve knowledge of ozonation process
- Review and understand five new research articles on ozonation every week
- Conduct two small-scale ozonation experiments for better comprehension
- Plan and prepare the experimental procedures
- Gather necessary equipment and materials for ozonation experiments
- Execute the two small-scale ozonation experiments
- Increase discussion and learning opportunities with experts by arranging four seminars/meetings
- Plan the logistics for the four seminars/meetings
- Invite the experts and promote the events
- Identify potential experts in the desired field
15. OKRs to successfully implement a coherent MYEO Theory of Change Framework
- Successfully implement a coherent MYEO Theory of Change Framework
- Conduct a detailed research on MYEO's needs for a Theory of Change Framework by month end
- Review existing internal documents about MYEO's goals
- Compile findings into a comprehensive report
- Identify key stakeholders within MYEO for research interviews
- Achieve 90% user acceptance of the new framework within the first two weeks of roll-out
- Regularly monitor and address user issues
- Implement a communication strategy for feedback
- Conduct thorough user training programs for the new framework
- Design a tailor-made Theory of Change Framework for MYEO in 6 weeks
- Construct and refine the theory framework
- Develop a strategic plan with action steps
- Identify specific, measurable goals for MYEO
Research OKR best practices to boost success
Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.
Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇
Tip #1: Limit the number of key results
Having too many OKRs is the #1 mistake that teams make when adopting the framework. The problem with tracking too many competing goals is that it will be hard for your team to know what really matters.
We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.
Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRsTip #2: Commit to weekly OKR check-ins
Setting good goals can be challenging, but without regular check-ins, your team will struggle to make progress. We recommend that you track your OKRs weekly to get the full benefits from the framework.
Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.
Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparencyTip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row
Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples above). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.
As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.
Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.
How to turn your Research OKRs in a strategy map
Quarterly OKRs should have weekly updates to get all the benefits from the framework. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:
- It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
- It will highlight poorly set OKRs
- It will surface execution risks
- It improves transparency and accountability
Spreadsheets are enough to get started. Then, once you need to scale you can use a proper OKR platform to make things easier.
Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRsIf you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.
More Research OKR templates
We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.
- OKRs to conduct thorough analysis of two main competitors
- OKRs to implement process for quicker ticket resolution in DACH region
- OKRs to achieve Product-Market fit
- OKRs to establish new, attractive OKR Consultancy firm for businesses
- OKRs to improve effectiveness in asset tagging across all devices
- OKRs to enhance technical solution delivery for customer projects
OKRs resources
Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.
- To learn: What is the meaning of OKRs
- Blog posts: ODT Blog
- Success metrics: KPIs examples
Create more examples in our app
You can use Tability to create OKRs with AI – and keep yourself accountable 👀
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