✎ Centralizing knowledge with a UXR Repository | DesignOps
Claudia Szabuniewicz
User Researcher
DesignOps
Design Decisions made easy
I had the privilege of leading a small team of three designers in establishing efficient design processes. However, as our design team grew, we encountered a significant challenge: the dispersion of research findings. It became a major obstacle for our team. We were conducting user research studies, but with no centralized location to store and organize the findings, it was challenging to access and use the research to inform design decisions.
PROBLEM
Fragmented and disorganized research
As we conducted more and more user research studies - across projects and domains, the problem of disorganized research findings became increasingly apparent.
✺ Scattered research findings
Each designer worked on a different pillar of the same product but in different domain areas. Moreover, user research data was scattered across various platforms like spreadsheets, emails, and note-taking applications, making it difficult to collate and derive meaningful insights.
Each designer had to search through multiple locations and platforms to find the research they needed, leading to frustration and wasted time. Valuable information started become scattered across multiple locations and difficult to access.
✺ Insight discovery impeded
With the sheer volume of user research data and no way to easily access and organize research findings, it became challenging to use the research to inform design decisions. Furthermore, the absence of concrete metrics hindered our ability to gauge the effectiveness of design changes and justify the value of user research to stakeholders.
✺ Collaboration bottlenecks
Team members had difficulty collaborating and communicating about the research as each designer had their own set of findings and insights. This led to duplication of research, missing out on important insights, and ultimately a sub-optimal user experience.
Collaborating on user research findings was cumbersome, leading to a lack of alignment and delayed decision-making.
Not only this, but, tracking the progress of research studies and actions taken based on findings was difficult. This led to a disjointed design process, and it was clear that a centralized repository was necessary.
A NEED FOR CHANGE
Moving from chaos to clarity
I knew that our current system for managing user research was not optimal. The disorganized state of our research findings was causing delays and hindering our design process. I was determined to find a better solution that would improve workflow and knowledge sharing among the team.
A user research repository solves this problem by providing an organized and easily searchable location for research findings.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Expand and simplify access to users, reduce friction to accomplish user research, and collaborate to provide resources and education that support a culture of human-centered design
SOLUTION
A centralized hub to help us to organize, track and use our user research
I began researching different options for a centralized user research repository, evaluating multiple tools and platforms, looking for one that would meet the needs of our team and improve our workflow. I considered factors such as ease of use, collaboration and communication tools, progress tracking, and reporting capabilities.
After careful consideration, I determined that Dovetail was the best option for our team.
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Harnessing the power of user research for better design outcomes
The implementation of Dovetail provided the team with several benefits, including:
✶ Easy access to research findings
✶ Better decision-making
✶ Ability to track progress of research studies
✶ Increased efficiency and effectiveness of the design process
IMPACT
Benefits beyond the Design Team
Implementing a user research repository using Dovetail not only improved our internal design process - but also had a wider impact on the organization, by providing benefits beyond just the design team. This includes benefits for product managers, developers, business stakeholders, and other teams in the organization who rely on user research to inform their decisions and strategies.
✲ Improved design and development decisions
Make informed decisions, by providing easy access to research findings and insights.
✲ Enhanced knowledge sharing
Share research findings with stakeholders, build support for decisions and strategies, and demonstrate the value of research.
✲ Increased collaboration and communication
Allows teams to collaborate and communicate more effectively, by sharing research findings and insights in real-time.
✲ Greater efficiency and productivity
Streamline the research process, by tracking progress of research studies, and making it easy to access, analyze and use research findings.
✲ Better alignment with customer needs
Align product decisions with customer needs, by providing them with a clear view of customer needs and priorities.
✲ Improved user experience
Make data-driven decisions, by identifying patterns and trends in user feedback, which can inform product decisions and strategy.
