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Research Repositories Reconsidered
Summary
In this talk, Michelle Merritt shares her extensive experience working with the Polaris research repository developed alongside Benjamin and Tomer at WeWork. Polaris was recognized as groundbreaking for aggregating diverse types of user research data into a single, interactive system that empowered users to identify patterns across multiple research methodologies and data sources. Michelle emphasizes the importance of detailed, evolving taxonomies to accurately tag physical and digital artifacts, such as distinguishing between types of computers and monitors, to better represent research realities. She also discusses how the repository was more than just a database: it involved a strong human element of curation to maintain institutional memory, provide relevant context, and synthesize findings, ensuring the data remained actionable and trustworthy. Michelle recounts challenges such as the tension between uncovering uncomfortable truths (e.g., employees squatting in conference rooms) and organizational readiness to act on such insights. She compares various tools used over the years, like Quickbase, Airtable, Confluence, and SharePoint, noting their pros and cons regarding integration, scalability, workflow fit, and search effectiveness. The conversation highlights the emerging role titles like research librarian, research curator, or research office manager to capture the synthesis and stewardship work critical to mature research repositories. Michelle also previews her current role at CBRE, focusing on expanding research practices and repositories in real estate, and guests demonstrate how tools like real-time board enable live, distributed collaboration on research artifacts. The session wraps with community discussion about best practices, tool adoption, and organizational challenges in building and scaling effective research repositories.
Key Insights
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Polaris combined multiple user research methods and evidence types into a single interactive repository enabling pattern discovery.
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Taxonomies must be flexible and evolve as new research details emerge, such as differentiating computer types rather than using generic tags.
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Research repositories require a strong human curatorial role to maintain institutional memory and contextualize data.
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Sharing uncomfortable research findings risks negative perception but is crucial for driving organizational improvements.
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Many organizations rely on shared drives or wikis like Confluence, but these tools vary widely in usability and scalability.
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Integrating customer support tickets, survey data, and qualitative user feedback into repositories remains a key challenge.
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Research librarians or curators often act as gatekeepers and synthesizers of data, though the role lacks standardized job titles.
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Tools like Airtable or Quickbase offer searchable databases but struggle to merge diverse datasets or scale across large companies.
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Collaborative digital whiteboards (e.g., real-time board, Mural) facilitate distributed research synthesis but have limits.
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Successful adoption of research repositories depends on embedding curation and synthesis practices into researcher workflows.
Notable Quotes
"Polaris was not just a database but a system involving humans and a strong curatorial role."
"We had to update our taxonomy because 'computer' was too broad; we needed to capture monitors, laptops, and other devices separately."
"People sometimes squatted in conference rooms too long, and sharing that was controversial but necessary to highlight real issues."
"I was probably tormenting Tomer and Benjamin by pushing the edges of Polaris with unusual data like photos of pianos in offices."
"The biggest challenge is not the tool itself but building the research practice around collecting, tagging, and curating evidence."
"Confluence was great because everybody in the company was already using it, making it a natural place to store research."
"Many people keep all their research in shared drives, but without strict naming conventions, it gets harder to find anything."
"I was trained to isolate very specific data points and only assert what was backed by evidence."
"You need a research librarian or curator—someone who can merge various inputs and help synthesize insights."
"Real-time board is amazing for asynchronous collaboration because you can see other people's cursors in real time."
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