A UX research repository is your digital library for user insights. It's where you store, organize, and share all your research findings. It helps you:
- Keep track of what you've learned
- Find information quickly when you need it
- Allow your team to access user knowledge anytime
Notion for research has gained significant traction recently. This versatile collaborative workspace is becoming increasingly popular for creating UX research repositories. Its flexibility lets you organize research in ways that fit your team's unique needs. Whether you're flying solo or part of a big team, a Notion research repository can help you build a robust system that evolves with you.
Here's a very helpful guide to setting up a repository for your research, from scratch.
How to set up a research repository
Setting up a research repository isn't just about dumping all your data in one place. It requires thought and planning. A regular productivity or organizing tool like Notion, Airtable or Confluence can be useful for this. However, they often lack specialized features for UX research. AI-powered repository tools like Looppanel can be incredibly useful for this.
Key components of a UX research repository
- Research projects: Details about each study you've conducted.
- Participant information: Data about the people you've interviewed or surveyed.
- Raw data: Interview transcripts, survey responses, usability test recordings.
- Analysis and insights: Your interpretations of the data.
- Tags and metadata: Information that helps you categorize and find your research easily.
What to keep in mind when crafting the taxonomy for your UXR repository
Your taxonomy is the backbone of your repository. It's how you'll organize and find information. Here are some tips.
- Keep it simple. Don't overcomplicate your categories. Start with broad topics and refine as needed.
- Use consistent naming. Decide on naming conventions and stick to them.
- Think about searchability. How will you and your team look for information? Use tags that reflect this.
- Allow for flexibility. Your research focus might change over time. Make sure your system can adapt.
- Get input from your team. They'll be using this too, so make sure it makes sense to everyone.
Here's a list of great UX research repository tools you should take a look at.
Using Notion as your UX research repository
Notion is a flexible tool that is like a digital notebook that can be anything you need it to be - from a simple note-taking app to a complex database.
Notion features for UX Research
When it comes to creating a robust notion research repository, the platform offers a wealth of features that can transform your UX research process. A UX research repository Notion setup can be incredibly powerful, thanks to the tool's flexibility and wide range of capabilities. Let's explore how Notion's unique features can be harnessed to create a dynamic, efficient, and collaborative UX research hub.
- Databases: Organize your research in flexible, sortable databases.
- Templates: Create reusable templates for different types of research.
- Kanban boards: Great for visualizing your research process.
- Embedding: Embed files, videos, and even live websites in your pages.
- Collaboration: Share pages, leave comments, and work together in real-time.
How do I create a repository in Notion?
Setting up a UX research repository Notion-style isn't just about dumping all your data in one place. It requires thoughtful planning and structure. Start by creating a main page in Notion for your UX research repository. This will serve as your hub. From here, you'll want to create sub-pages for different aspects of your research, such as a projects database, participants database, insights database, methods and templates, and a research calendar.
Building your projects’ database
The projects database is the heart of your Notion for research setup. Create it as a full-page database and include properties like project name, status, research questions, methods used, dates, team members, and key findings. This gives you a bird's-eye view of all your research activities.
Tracking participants
Next, set up a participants database to keep track of who you've talked to and when. Include properties like name, contact info, demographics, participation history, and notes. This helps you maintain a comprehensive record of your research participants.
Capturing insights
An insights database is crucial for storing all the nuggets of wisdom you've gleaned. Create it as another full-page database with properties such as insight description, related project, date discovered, tags for easy filtering, and supporting evidence.
Creating templates and calendars
Developing templates for common research activities ensures consistency and saves time. Consider creating templates for user interview guides, usability test plans, and research reports. Use Notion's calendar view to set up a research calendar. This helps you keep track of upcoming research sessions, analysis deadlines, and presentation dates.
One of the strengths of a UX research repository Notion offers is the ability to link between databases and pages. Use this feature liberally to connect related information, creating a web of interconnected insights. Establish a consistent tagging system to make your insights searchable. Consider tags for product areas, user types, pain points, and feature requests.
Customizing views and permissions
Notion allows you to create multiple views of your databases. Set up views that will be most useful for your team, such as a Kanban board of project statuses, a calendar view of research sessions, or a gallery view of key insights. If you're working with a team, carefully consider who needs access to what information. Notion allows you to set permissions at a granular level, ensuring the right people have access to the right information.
Remember, the key to a successful Notion research repository is to start simple and iterate. Begin with these basics, and as you use the system, you'll discover ways to refine and expand it to better suit your needs. The flexibility of Notion for research means your repository can grow and evolve with your team and projects.
Notion Templates for UX Research Repositories
You can also take the easy route, and use an existing research repository Notion template. Here are our best picks to help you out.
UX Research Board + Repository - Notion Template
Odette Jansen’s Notion template is a good starting point for building a DIY UX research repository on Notion. It shows you an easy overview of all your projects, both open projects and finished projects, with detailed guidelines on documenting your research.
UX Research Repository for Startups - Notion Template
This popular Notion template by designer Caitlin Sullivan is especially great for non-researchers, along with helping the entire team find answers to their questions as quickly as possible. You can standardize requests for UX research support, give the full organization an overview of work done, in progress, and share regular updates on key insights easily.
User Research Tracker by Notion
This free Notion template is a great tracker for all your user research interviews across multiple projects. You can also embed interview recordings and transcripts, and call notes in the same place.
Remember, your research repository should work for you, not the other way around. Start simple, iterate often, and don't be afraid to change things up if they're not working. Happy researching!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to create a research database in Notion?
- On your main repository page, click '+ Add a new block'.
- Choose 'Database - Full page'.
- Select 'Table' as your database type.
- Name your database (e.g., "UX Research Projects").
- Add properties like "Project Name", "Date", "Research Method", "Participants", "Key Findings".
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