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
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Research repositories not only store data but also speed up analysis by reducing manual manual back-and-forth processes.
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Both raw data and synthesized insights should be stored in a repository to support different user needs.
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Video and audio clips in repositories increase stakeholder empathy more than text alone.
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Convincing leadership to invest in repositories can be accelerated by detailed evaluation matrices and demonstrating value to product teams.
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Tagging structures should balance flexible, project-specific tags with controlled global tags to maintain usability and relevance.
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Stakeholders use repositories differently, from deep transcript review to simply reading summary findings.
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Implementation ease, such as seamless import of old data and SSO integration, is critical in repository tool selection.
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Researchers often need to encourage stakeholders repeatedly to use repositories to reduce one-off requests.
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Collaborative features like integrated affinity diagramming sessions within the repository tool save considerable time.
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Repositories evolve over time, requiring ongoing adjustments to tagging and user engagement strategies.
Notable Quotes
"If we wanted to scale and continue to grow, we were going to need something to help us."
"The biggest thing for us was speed to insight—cutting down on how long it takes to analyze videos and transcripts."
"Having video and audio in a conclusion, so we can share a URL, cuts down a lot of work for researchers."
"Sometimes stakeholders ask one-off questions and you have to retrain yourself to send them back to the repository."
"It helps a lot if we give stakeholders a framework of tags and then let them play in there to get comfortable."
"Security and participant management were tipping points in choosing our repository tool."
"Seeing the aha moment of product managers when they realize the tool really helps was a great moment."
"We found it critical to over-communicate with stakeholders about the repository—almost annoy them with reminders."
"The taxonomy or tag structure is a balancing act between usefulness and not letting things get out of control."
"Short-term learnings often roll into long-term insights by continuously tagging and iterating over time."
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