Discuss Employee Spotlight – Cristina

The “Discuss Employee Spotlight” is a Q&A series dedicated to showcasing all of the amazing talent at Discuss.

For this month’s profile, we talked with Cristina Jaffery, our Product Manager, who joined the Discuss team in March of 2024 and is based out of Winter Haven, Florida.

1. Tell our readers a little bit about your role at Discuss.
   I am the lead Product Manager for Discuss’ Engineering Services team, which handles custom development, integrations, and Single Sign-On implementations. Basically, this means that when customers tell us that they’d like to accelerate feature development within our platform, our internal teams reach out to me to start brainstorming solutions! I love this role, as it gives me a chance to work with customers directly, be creative, form a plan with our talented Engineers, and see really cool features come to life.
   
2. Which of Discuss’ core values are most inspired by? (Empathize, Collaborate, Obsess, Out Innovate, Excel)
   Collaborate, for sure. One thing that I really love about Discuss is that we’re a global team and that cross-team collaboration is really encouraged. This creates a really open and positive work environment and helps demonstrate how each of us brings value to our customers. Because I have the ability to brainstorm with coworkers all over the world, I’m able to get different perspectives and ideas, which makes me a stronger Product Manager.
   
3. Tell us about your mindset and approach in your role.
   As someone new to qualitative research, I’ve found that it gives me a fresh perspective as a Product Manager at Discuss. When a customer comes to me with a challenge or request, I see it as an opportunity to dive deeper and really understand their business, their needs, and the broader industry they’re operating in. I like to take what I call a “magic wand” approach — I encourage them to imagine the ideal solution, no limits. From there, I collaborate closely with our Engineering Services team to craft a solution that not only works for them but fits seamlessly with our platform. The best part? These solutions often end up benefiting our entire customer base, which is incredibly rewarding.
   
4. What project or initiative are you most proud of at Discuss?
   I’ve only been with Discuss for about 6 months, but in that time, have had the opportunity to work on some really cool features. Right now, I’m really excited about working on adding a Self-Scheduling tool to the platform, so that researchers can ask for their qualified candidates’ availability before scheduling sessions if they want to! In addition, respondents will have the ability to confirm, reschedule, or cancel their interviews without having to reach out to anyone – meaning that any changes they make will be reflected in the platform automatically! I think this will be a huge enhancement that will simplify the scheduling process across our clients.
   
5. What is something unique about you (a fun fact) that few people know about?
   In my late teens, I became obsessed with cooking! I love trying to recreate recipes from my favorite restaurants, experimenting with different cuisines, and sharing recipes with family and friends. I’m an absolutely horrible baker, though, and have had some pretty hilarious missteps when it comes to that!