User research assets: treasure or trash? (by Kate Towsey at #NUX6)

It’s meta.

@katetowsey

2013. 40 user researchers. 1 content strategist.

videos. audio. survey data. panelist data. stuff stuck in websites. transcriptions. consent forms. prototypes. sketches. user journey maps. reports. walls. users needs. spreadsheets. notes. research plans. diary study data. physical artefacts. photos. discussion guides. recruitment briefs. screeners. show and tells. et cetera. et cetera.

99% of people feel they’re failing at filing.

User research assets: treasure or trash?

1. Help you understand that it’s not just you.

2. Give some context for the problem.

3. Show you how I think we can simplify the problem.

4. Make what I know ‘open-source’.

Emotion and context. Not technology.

1. Guilt.

2. We care.

3. Trust.

4. Insecure.

5. What if?

6. We want to know first hand.

7. We don’t look back.

8. Self-focused. Now-focused.

9. Overwhelmed.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDP).

ico.org.uk

1. Project organisation kind of stuff. 2. Research data. 3. Outcomes.

1. Do an audit.

• What it is. • Where is it. • Why you keep it. • How much you’ve got.

• What it is. • Where is it. • Why you keep it. • How much you’ve got.

2. Mark what’s personal data and what’s anonymous data.

3. Decide what you want to keep and why.

4. Anonymise.

5. Delete.

6. Makes friends with IT and infosec.

Maintenance.

1. Throw stuff at it. 2. Secure. 3. Granular admin rights. 4. Butt ugly and simple is fine.

1. Throw stuff at it. 2. Secure. 3. Granular admin rights. 4. Butt ugly and simple is fine.

What about making outcomes useful?

“At first we tried to fix this problem with technology and got very bogged down trying to make tools work in the way we needed. We've now decided to try a simpler approach, focusing on what artefacts researchers create and how they store their work. It's more about what they store, than where they store it.”

- Katy Arnold, Home Office

Go forth! and file.

Thank you. Questions?