Repository Retrospective: Learnings from Introducing a Central Place for UX Research
Summary
While many researchers see the value of a central research repository, how to introduce one in an organization is still a big question. Today we have the chance to learn from two researchers who have done it. Taylor Jennings, Senior UX Researcher at Chili Piper, and Joe Nelson, User Experience Researcher at MasterControl, will share their process and experience gained from implementing their research repository. We’ll cover how they realized the need for a repository, how they convinced stakeholders, evaluated solutions, and what they’d do differently in hindsight. Join us live as we leave plenty of opportunities for the audience to ask questions.
Key Insights
-
•
Building a research repository early, even as a small team, sets a scalable foundation for future growth.
-
•
A centralized repository drastically reduces time spent on analysis and synthesis compared to scattered document storage.
-
•
Including both raw data (interviews, transcripts, surveys) and polished insights enables flexible stakeholder usage.
-
•
Video and audio clips within repositories significantly increase stakeholder empathy and understanding of user pain points.
-
•
Well-designed tagging systems balance flexible project-specific tags with a controlled set of global tags for cross-project insights.
-
•
Stakeholders often hesitate to adopt new tools, so researchers must continuously promote and guide repository usage.
-
•
Implementing participant management features prevents redundantly contacting the same users and improves coordination.
-
•
Security, legal, and privacy considerations are critical when choosing repository software, especially for participant data.
-
•
Migration and implementation ease, including single sign-on and importing legacy data, are important evaluation criteria.
-
•
Repositories support long-term insight building by allowing retrospective access and iterative tagging of findings.
Notable Quotes
"If we wanted to scale and continue to grow, we were going to need something to help us."
"Setting up a repository as a team of one or two is actually the prime time to establish processes like that."
"Having a place for people to self-serve insights is really big, so they don’t ask us to repeat research."
"Slides are hitting a brick wall; video clips make findings much more interactive and engaging for stakeholders."
"Cutting down on the analysis time was huge for us, speeding up speed to insight significantly."
"We had to convince our director and executives by showing how the repository added real value for the product team."
"Drag and drop ease, and collaborative affinity diagramming in the tool, were unexpected but very welcome advantages."
"Seeing product managers and designers’ aha moments when they realize how impactful the tool is was great."
"Tags are a balance; project tags are wild and flexible, global tags must be controlled to avoid chaos."
"Short-term learnings kind of roll into long-term ones as you iterate and build on historical findings."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Doing nothing is not a neutral act. Ignorance may be bliss, but it doesn’t absolve you from responsibility."
Craig VillamorDesign Systems for Ethical Design
January 26, 2023
"Diverse teams help you ask better questions about who might be missing from the table or the project."
Joi FreemanA New Vantage Point: Building a Pipeline for Multifaceted Research(ers)
March 30, 2020
"We send out surveys weekly, but respondents have two weeks to answer, accommodating different time zones and bandwidth."
Wyatt HaymanGlobal Research Panels
August 8, 2020
"Putting on your oxygen mask first is a metaphor for self-care we often neglect in professional life."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 3: Introduction
June 10, 2021
"Every digital touchpoint is an opportunity to learn more about an individual’s needs, behaviors, interests, and priorities."
Angy Peterson Bob AinsburyMore Than Technology: Personalized Public Sector Experiences
December 10, 2021
"There's always something to learn from a time study, no matter how mature your design ops team is."
Kristin Sundermeyer Tygre MorehartDesign Ops Metrics
September 30, 2021
"Climate change is bad. Probably worse than we all think."
Sara ConklinExit Interview: 20 Years of Tech, One Very Big Bet, and a Lot of Heat Pumps
April 10, 2026
"Hiring specs for federal designers don’t exist as we expect—jobs are often classified as public affairs or other unrelated titles."
Michael LandEstablishing Design Operations in Government
February 18, 2021
"There’s no need to take notes; we’ve got session notes, sketch notes, and a resource list all provided."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
September 29, 2021
