Many UX researchers struggle to keep their insights organized and accessible. But what if there was a way to turn that chaos into order?
Let’s get into building research repositories, with a spotlight on the Airtable research repository.
What is a research repository?
A research repository is like a digital filing cabinet for all your research findings. It's a centralized place where you store, organize, and access your research data. Think of it as your research home base, where every insight, interview transcript, and user observation lives.
But it's more than just storage. A good research repository helps you make sense of your data. It lets you tag, categorize, and link insights, making it easy to spot patterns and draw conclusions. Instead of sifting through endless folders and documents, you can quickly find the information you need to inform your design decisions.
Why do you need a research repository?
Imagine trying to find a specific quote from a user interview you did six months ago. Without a research repository, you'd be digging through folders, files, and notes for hours. With one, you're just a search away from what you need.
A research repository saves you time and headaches. It helps you keep all your research in one place, making it easy to find insights quickly when you need them. This centralized approach also makes sharing findings with your team a breeze. You can easily spot patterns across different studies, building on past research instead of starting from scratch each time.
What are the different types of research repository?
Research repositories come in various flavors, each with its own strengths. Let's explore two main types:
- Dedicated research platforms: These are tools built specifically for managing research data, examples include Looppanel and Aurelius. They often come with features like automatic transcription, tagging systems, and analysis tools. These platforms are designed with researchers in mind, offering specialized features that cater to the unique needs of qualitative research.
- Adaptable productivity tools: These are more general-purpose tools that can be customized to serve as research repositories, like Notion, Confluence or Airtable. They're often more flexible but might require more setup. These tools allow you to shape them to fit your specific research workflow and organizational style.
An Airtable research repository falls into this second category. It's a flexible tool that you can shape to fit your research needs, offering a balance between structure and adaptability.
Creating and organizing a research repository
How to create a research repository?
Creating a research repository isn't about finding the perfect tool. It's about setting up a system that works for you and your team. Here's a process to get you started.
- First, choose your tool. Pick a platform that fits your needs and budget. Consider factors like ease of use, collaboration features, and integration capabilities.
- Next, define your structure. Decide how you'll organize your data. This might involve creating separate sections for different research methods or projects.
- Then, set up your categories. Create tags or labels for easy sorting. Think about the key themes in your research and how you might want to filter your data in the future.
- After that, import your existing data. Bring in all your past research. This might take some time, but it's worth it to have everything in one place.
- Finally, create guidelines. Establish rules for how to add new data. This ensures consistency and makes it easier for everyone on your team to use the repository effectively.
Here’s a more detailed guide on building a user research repository.
Remember, your research repository will evolve as you use it. Start simple and adjust as you go. The key is to create a system that's intuitive and easy to maintain.
How to organize an UX research repository?
Organizing your UX research repository is like setting up your ideal workspace. It needs to be intuitive, efficient, and tailored to your needs. Start by using clear, consistent naming conventions. This might seem small, but it makes a big difference when you're trying to find information quickly.
Create a tagging system for easy filtering. Think about the different ways you might want to sort your data – by project, research method, user demographic, or key themes. These tags will be your best friends when you're trying to find specific insights or spot patterns across different studies.
Linking related insights is another powerful way to organize your repository. This allows you to see connections between different pieces of research, potentially uncovering new insights.
Don't forget to include metadata like date, project, and research method. This contextual information can be crucial when you're trying to understand the relevance and applicability of different insights.
Lastly, make it easy to add new data quickly. If adding to your repository is a hassle, you'll be less likely to keep it up to date. Consider creating templates or quick-entry forms to streamline the process.
The key is to make it intuitive for you and your team. If it's a hassle to use, you won't use it. Keep refining your organization system based on how you and your team actually use the repository.
Can Airtable be used as a database?
Absolutely! An Airtable database is a flexible tool for managing all kinds of information, including research data.
With Airtable, you can:
- Create custom fields for different types of data. This means you can tailor your database to fit the specific needs of your research. You might have fields for participant demographics, key quotes, research methods, and more.
- Link related information across tables. This feature allows you to create connections between different pieces of data, mimicking the complex relationships often found in qualitative research.
- Filter and sort data, it’s a breeze. You can quickly sift through your research to find exactly what you need, whether that's all interviews with a particular user group or all insights related to a specific feature.
Its flexibility makes it a popular choice for those setting up an Airtable research repository. You can start simple and gradually add complexity as you become more comfortable with the tool and as your research needs evolve.
When Airtable might not be the best fit
While Airtable is versatile, it's not always the perfect solution for every research team. There are circumstances where a more specialized tool might be a better fit.
If your research heavily relies on user interviews, Airtable's lack of native video and audio handling can be a significant drawback. You'd need to store your recordings elsewhere and link to them, which can be cumbersome. Specialized research tools often offer integrated media handling, making it easier to manage and analyze audio and video data.
Another scenario where Airtable might fall short is when you need advanced analysis features. While Airtable is great for organizing data, it doesn't offer built-in tools for qualitative analysis like coding or theme identification. Dedicated research tools often include features like automatic coding, sentiment analysis, and theme detection, which can significantly speed up your analysis process.
Lastly, if you're working with a team that's not particularly tech-savvy, Airtable's flexibility can be overwhelming. The need to set up and maintain your own system might be more of a burden than a benefit. Specialized research tools often provide more structured, out-of-the-box solutions that are tailored specifically for user researchers.
Looppanel as a research repository
If you’re interested in trying out a specialized repository tool that can make your research process 10x faster, give Looppanel a shot. We’re not saying this just because we built it. Our customers can vouch for it..
Here are a few reasons why Looppanel makes for a greeeat research repository tool.
- Best transcripts and AI notes in the biz: Looppanel can automatically upload user interview recordings, generate transcripts with over 90% accuracy and generate notes on your calls, like the best research assistant ever. Everything you need—notes, call recordings, sentiment analysis and an affinity map of key themes, are all generated, organized and ready for review by the time you’re done with interviews.
- Repository Search: Looppanel allows you to run Google-like search across all your research data, including transcripts, notes, and tags. This means you can quickly find relevant insights, even if you don't remember exactly where they're stored. You can search for specific phrases, participants, or themes across all your projects, making it easy to spot patterns and retrieve information.
- AI summaries: You can ask Looppanel a question on your research, and the AI can answer it, with citations pulled from relevant data! It can save you hours of manual analysis and help you quickly get an overview of your research findings.
- Sentiment analysis and automatic tagging: Looppanel's AI can perform sentiment analysis on your transcripts and automatically tag your data into common themes and issues. While you always have the option to review and edit these tags, this feature can significantly speed up your initial analysis process.
Looppanel can turn your research repository from a simple storage system into a powerful tool for generating and accessing insights. It's designed to work with the way researchers think, making it easier to manage, analyze, and leverage your research data effectively.
Setting up an Airtable research repository
Ready to dive into creating an Airtable research repository? Here's a short guide to get you started:
- Begin by creating a new base (Airtable's term for a database). Think of this as the foundation for your research repository. You might name it something like "My UX Research Repository" or "Product Insights Database."
- Next, set up tables for different types of data. You might have separate tables for interviews, surveys, usability tests, and secondary research. Each table will house a specific type of research data.
- Within each table, create fields for important information. For an interview table, you might have fields for the date, participant name, key quotes, and main insights. For a survey table, you might include fields for the question, response options, and aggregate results.
- Use Airtable's 'Link to another record' feature to connect related data. This is where Airtable's power really shines. You can link an insight from an interview to a related survey response, or connect all research related to a specific product feature.
- Set up views to filter and sort your data in useful ways. You might create a view that shows all research conducted in the last month, or all insights related to user onboarding. These views make it easy to focus on specific subsets of your data.
5 Best Research Repositories
While Airtable is a popular option, it's not the only game in town. Here are five top-notch research repository options.
1. Looppanel
Looppanel is a UX research repository that automates recording user interviews, provides accurate transcripts, facilitates collaborative note-taking, and simplifies analysis.
Analysis
Looppanel’s analysis tools save you from the hassle of copying data into tools like Miro and avoid the complexity of intricate tagging systems. It automatically consolidates all your notes from various calls into a single view. You can organize notes by question or assigned tags.
Collaboration
Designed for easy stakeholder collaboration, Looppanel offers free sharing features. Stakeholders can join live note-taking sessions during interviews, watch clips (embed clips directly into Jira for engineers), or review insight reports.
Integration
Looppanel seamlessly integrates with Zoom, GMeet, and Teams for automatic interview recording and time-stamped note-taking. It also allows embedding video clips and reports into Jira, Confluence, Notion, and more, so teams can access insights directly within their preferred tools.
Pricing
Looppanel offers a 15-day free trial, with paid plans starting at $30/month for solo users, $300/month for teams, and $1,000/month for businesses. Custom enterprise options are also available.
Book a free demo of Looppanel today, try it out yourself.
2. Airtable
Airtable is a connected apps platform that lets you create apps using shared company data, making it a powerful option for building scalable research repositories.
Analysis
While Airtable can store and organize large amounts of data, it lacks specialized UX research analysis tools, such as automated tagging or transcription features. However, it offers flexible data structures, allowing teams to build customized repositories that connect with broader product workflows.
Integration
Airtable supports External Sync, enabling seamless integration with other platforms and databases. This keeps product workflows connected across tools, reducing silos and allowing research data to inform product decisions.
Collaboration
Airtable’s centralized, relational database provides real-time access to research for the entire organization. Its drag-and-drop interface and dynamic views allow stakeholders to create visualizations and track project statuses, helping cross-functional teams stay aligned throughout the product development process.
Pricing: Airtable offer a free plan with upto 1000 records and 5 collaborators, paid plans begin at $20 per user per month, billed annually.
3. Asana
Asana is a project management tool that can double as a research repository, excelling at breaking down complex projects into manageable tasks.
Analysis
While Asana is great for managing tasks and timelines, it’s not built for storing metadata or organizing non-task data, which can limit its usefulness as a full-fledged research repository. However, its advanced search and tagging features make it easy for UX teams to locate specific files within their project repositories.
Integration
Asana offers task-based integration with various tools, enabling easy collaboration across teams like marketing, UX, and development. Its structure suits smaller teams that don’t require extensive customization or diverse reporting options.
Collaboration
Asana simplifies collaboration with mentions, comments, and notifications. With the ability to link multiple teams, Asana ensures that everyone remains aligned on projects, reducing miscommunication and avoiding duplicated efforts.
4. Notion
Notion is an all-in-one workspace for everything from note-taking to project management, where you can list tasks, create product roadmaps, and even design research repositories.
Analysis
While Notion isn’t specifically a UX research repository tool, it can be adapted for this purpose if your team is already using it. However, it lacks built-in research-specific features like transcription, robust tagging, and dedicated analysis tools.
Collaboration
Notion offers strong collaboration capabilities, allowing unlimited users to work together in real-time. You can share workspaces with your team and control permissions, or even share pages with clients through a public URL for easy viewing.
Integrations
Notion integrates with tools like GitHub, Slack, and Zoom via its API, with additional connections available through partners like Zapier and Automate.io. These integrations help link Notion with other platforms your team uses.
Pricing: Notion’s free plan supports basic collaboration and workspace features. Paid plans start at $8 per user per month, with added permissions and user limits for small to large teams.
5. Condens
Condens is a research repository designed to store notes, recordings, images, and files all in one place, with built-in transcription and tagging features to streamline data organization.
Analysis
Condens offers automated transcription for audio and video in multiple languages, along with AI-assisted tagging for enhanced organization. These features make it well-suited for managing large volumes of research data and improving searchability.
Collaboration
Condens makes it easy to share research findings with stakeholders through link-based access to reports. You can embed multimedia like video clips, images, and audio, allowing stakeholders to view findings without needing to log in.
Integrations
Condens integrates with popular tools like Zoom, Slack, Miro, and Google Drive, and also offers Zapier support for additional connections, enabling centralized data management across platforms.
Pricing: Condens provides paid plans starting at $15/month for individual researchers. Team and Business plans add more researcher capacity, transcription hours, and advanced features for larger teams.
How to choose the best research repository
Picking the right research repository is like choosing a new home. It needs to fit your needs, your style, and your budget. Here are some things to consider:
- Start by thinking about your team size and structure. A small, close-knit team might be happy with a simple, flexible tool like Airtable. Larger teams or those spread across different departments might need something with more robust collaboration features, like Notion or Asana.
- Consider the types of research you do most often. If you primarily conduct user interviews, a tool with strong video analysis features like Looppanel might be ideal. If your research spans many different methodologies, you might prefer a more flexible tool like Airtable or Notion.
- Your budget is, of course, an important factor. Some tools offer free tiers that might be sufficient for small teams or individual researchers. Others require a significant investment but offer more advanced features in return. Think about the value the tool will provide and weigh that against its cost.
- The tech-savviness of your team is another crucial consideration. A tool like Notion offers great flexibility but has a steeper learning curve. If your team isn't particularly tech-savvy, a more straightforward tool might be a better fit.
- Think about the other tools you use in your workflow. A research repository that integrates well with your existing tools can streamline your process significantly. For example, if your team lives in Slack, a tool with good Slack integration could be a big plus.
- Lastly, consider how much customization you need. Some teams are happy with an out-of-the-box solution, while others need something they can tweak to fit their exact process. Tools like Airtable and Notion offer a high degree of customization, while others are more structured.
Remember, the best research repository is the one you'll actually use. It should make your life easier, not add to your workload. Don't be afraid to try out a few options before committing. Many tools offer free trials, allowing you to test them with your actual research data before making a decision.
We spoke to design leaders across organizations about why 80% of repositories fail. And what can be done to prevent it. Here’s what we learnt.
Whether you choose an Airtable research repository or another tool, the important thing is to start organizing your research. Your future self (and your team) will thank you for creating a system that makes your valuable insights accessible and actionable.
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