DR2023 Naomi Civins - More than a filing cabinet: building a flexible, useful research repository

Transcript

1. MORE THAN A FILING
   CABINET: BUILDING A
   FLEXIBLE, USEFUL
   RESEARCH
   REPOSITORY
   Naomi Civins
   UX Australia, Design Research 2023
   

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2. How we built a research
   repository at Redbubble
   on a shoestring,
   and what we learnt along
   the way
   

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3. Invest time upfront in learning from industry
   Understand the role of research in your org
   Be realistic about time & effort
   When gathering content, start small, set limits
   Be proud of your team's work
   

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4. ABOUT ME
   ex-Redbubble
   PhD in virtual ethnography
   Love organising and categorising
   

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5. Let's talk definitions
   1
   The Redbubble story
   2
   The repository
   4
   Planning & building
   3
   5 Launch & impact
   

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6. LET'S TALK
   DEFINITIONS
   1
   

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7. A place for your
   research work
   To make it
   accessible to
   people who need it
   And to promote
   research as broadly
   as possible
   IN A NUTSHELL
   

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8. Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
   DATA
   REPOSITORY
   TYPES OF REPOSITORIES
   (THANKS, RE+OPS)
   The data itself
   Helps with
   analysis &
   synthesis
   

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9. RESEARCH DATA REPOSITORY
   

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10. Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    TYPES OF REPOSITORIES
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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11. INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    

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12. Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    TYPES OF REPOSITORIES
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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13. RESEARCH REGISTER
    

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14. RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    A public front
    door
    TYPES OF REPOSITORIES
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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15. RESEARCH LIBRARY
    

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16. TYPES OF REPOSITORIES
    Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    A public front
    door
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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17. A place for your
    research work
    To make it
    accessible to
    people who need it
    And to promote
    research as broadly
    as possible
    Which work?
    IN A NUTSHELL
    

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18. A place for your
    research work
    To make it
    accessible to
    people who need it
    And to promote
    research as broadly
    as possible
    Who, exactly?
    Which work?
    IN A NUTSHELL
    

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19. A place for your
    research work
    To make it
    accessible to
    people who need it
    And to promote
    research as broadly
    as possible
    Promote how?
    Who, exactly?
    Which work?
    IN A NUTSHELL
    

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20. Not to mention...
    On which tool?
    Maintaining it?
    Who's building?
    

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21. On which tool?
    Maintaining it?
    Who's building?
    Promote how?
    Who, exactly?
    Which work?
    

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22. Invest time upfront in
    learning from industry
    

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23. THE REDBUBBLE
    STORY
    2
    

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24. CPO
    RESEARCH AT REDBUBBLE
    Embedded in Product
    Product
    Design
    Product
    Management
    Research
    

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25. CPO Data
    Science
    RESEARCH AT REDBUBBLE
    Embedded in Product
    Product
    Design
    Product
    Management
    Research
    Customer
    Success
    Strategy
    Artist
    Success
    Marketing
    Physical
    Product
    Partnering across the business
    

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26. CPO Data
    Science
    RESEARCH AT REDBUBBLE
    Embedded in Product
    Product
    Design
    Product
    Management
    Research
    Customer
    Success
    Strategy
    Artist
    Success
    Marketing
    Physical
    Product
    Partnering across the business
    And a desire to share even more broadly
    

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27. WHY A REPOSITORY?
    Lost half our team
    

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28. WHY A REPOSITORY?
    Lost half our team Major reorganisation
    

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29. WHY A REPOSITORY?
    Lost half our team Major reorganisation Influx of new people
    

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30. WHY A REPOSITORY?
    Lost half our team Major reorganisation Influx of new people
    WE COULD NO LONGER RELY ON THE STATUS QUO
    AND WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE
    

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31. OUR GOAL
    Make it easy for people (including
    new people) to find the right insights
    to help them make the best decisions
    

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32. CHOOSING THE RIGHT REPO
    

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33. 250+ over 4 years
    70+ reports, in 2020
    No dedicated
    ResearchOps
    SIZE
    

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34. RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    SMALL TEAM, MUCH WORK
    A public front
    door
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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35. CHANGE
    2 researchers left in 2020
    New C-suite early 2021
    Many new starters in 2021
    2 new researchers in 2021
    

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36. Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    FOCUS ON STORIES
    RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    A public front
    door
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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37. MESS
    Confluence & Google
    Docs
    Lost tools - Notion,
    Mural, Dropbox
    New tools - Dovetail,
    Miro
    

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38. Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    TOO MESSY TO NUGGETISE
    RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    A public front
    door
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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39. SHARE OUR STORIES, EASILY
    Research Repositories: A ResearchOps Community Program of Work
    RESEARCH
    LIBRARY
    RESEARCH
    REGISTER
    INSIGHTS 'HUB'
    DATA
    REPOSITORY
    A public front
    door
    Easy for anyone in
    the business to
    use
    The spreadsheet
    or list
    Good for small
    teams, and small
    collections
    The nuggets
    Gets to the
    'answer' quickly
    The data itself
    Helps with
    analysis &
    synthesis
    

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40. On which tool?
    Maintaining it?
    Who's building?
    Promote how?
    Who, exactly?
    Which work?
    Stories & reports Everyone Guide & educate
    Research team Research team
    

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41. Understand the role of
    research in your
    organisation
    Be realistic about time &
    effort - both upfront and
    over time
    

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42. OUR PROMISE TO
    THE REPO USERS
    

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43. We want to make it easier for you
    to find value in what we create,
    and for our work to have impact
    We believe our institutional
    knowledge should be shared
    widely and freely, with no
    bottlenecks, siloes or gatekeepers
    

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44. PLANNING &
    BUILDING
    3
    

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45. Learn from industry
    Learn from users
    1 2 3 4
    PROJECT PLAN
    Learn Audit Build Launch
    

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46. Product
    Design
    19 USER INTERVIEWS
    Physical
    Product
    Supply Chain Engineering
    Data Science Marketing
    Creative
    Design
    Customer
    Success
    Strategy
    Product
    Management
    Artist Success
    

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47. Product
    Design
    19 USER INTERVIEWS
    Physical
    Product
    Supply Chain Engineering
    Data Science Marketing
    Creative
    Design
    Customer
    Success
    Strategy
    Product
    Management
    Artist Success
    

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48. "I don't know how to go
    beyond searching in
    Confluence, other than
    asking someone"
    Don't know where to go
    

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49. "I don't know how to go
    beyond searching in
    Confluence, other than
    asking someone"
    "I wouldn't go to Confluence
    - I know it's a struggle to find
    Engineering material there"
    Don't know where to go Frustrated with current set-up
    

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50. "I don't know how to go
    beyond searching in
    Confluence, other than
    asking someone"
    "Nobody thought that
    maybe the answer
    already existed"
    "I wouldn't go to Confluence
    - I know it's a struggle to find
    Engineering material there"
    Don't know where to go Frustrated with current set-up
    Little historical knowledge
    

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51. "I don't know how to go
    beyond searching in
    Confluence, other than
    asking someone"
    "Nobody thought that
    maybe the answer
    already existed"
    "I wouldn't go to Confluence
    - I know it's a struggle to find
    Engineering material there"
    "I'm lazy and it's easier to
    message you on Slack"
    Don't know where to go Frustrated with current set-up
    Little historical knowledge Relying on personal networks
    

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52. USER WISHLIST
    Subscribe for news Include in onboarding Interpret old content
    Link through to data Explain "research" Exec summaries
    

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53. FUTURE STATE USER JOURNEY
    1. Find the
    Repository in
    the first place
    2. Successfully
    search, if you
    know what
    you’re looking
    for
    3. Enjoy
    browsing, if
    you don’t
    4. Access
    anything that
    is provided
    (everything is
    openly shared)
    5. Know who
    to contact for
    any follow-up
    questions
    

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54. Interview far & wide -
    look for people who will
    challenge you
    

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55. Learn from industry
    Learn from users
    Locate all work
    Build a spreadsheet
    1 2 3 4
    PROJECT PLAN
    Learn Audit Build Launch
    

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56. Finding the content will
    build your empathy for
    users of your repo
    

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57. A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
    

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58. Don't exhaust yourself
    Find the quiet times, and
    give yourself enough time
    

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59. There is no silver bullet for
    old content - approach
    with caution
    

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60. Be balanced in risk assessment - risk of misuse, and, risk of losing history
    Set yourself some clear guidelines - eg no older than 4 years
    Keep the research in context
    Show who to ask for more info
    Risk comes in many forms
    

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61. When choosing which
    content to include, start
    smaller, and set limits
    

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62. Each artefact type (eg reports, templates, briefs) needs its own taxonomy and
    has its own audience
    Start with the type that will drive best uptake of the repo
    One artefact type
    

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63. When starting your
    taxonomy, set sensible
    limits
    

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64. Start with more fields
    "Research method", "Topic", "Research objective", "Product area", "Project title"
    - in 2/3+ of repos
    Start with more fields - you can always remove some
    "How to build a clean taxonomy for your UX repository" by Marianne Carpentier
    

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65. Question Answer
    Should we proscribe specific
    documentation methods?
    Yes - what is included in a piece of work, to provide full context
    and enable the reader to explore
    Can this become a repository
    for data science as well?
    In the long run, yes, but no action on this until mid 2023 at
    least
    What can we do about sharing
    survey data?
    I think we should have a page which links to all the surveys. No
    this is going to be crazy workload. Emphasis is on providing
    link to survey dashboard in any report from a survey
    ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS
    

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66. DESIGN & BUILD
    4
    

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67. Learn from industry
    Learn from users
    Choose a tool
    Design the solution
    Locate all work
    Build a spreadsheet
    1 2 3 4
    PROJECT PLAN
    Learn Audit Build Launch
    

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68. An existing platform is
    easiest for users
    (But if you have budget,
    have fun!)
    

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69. CONFLUENCE OR
    GOOGLE DRIVE?
    

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70. CONFLUENCE
    Labels for taxonomy
    Website - navigation, pages, UX
    Product teams work there already
    Research work there already
    Can't search Google Drive content
    Search is unreliable
    

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71. Also widely used
    Bigger, more strategic researcjh
    Can't tag
    Can't create the library front door
    Can't search Confluence content
    Search is unreliable, no browse
    DRIVE
    Labels for taxonomy
    Website - navigation, pages, UX
    Product teams work there already
    Research work there already
    Can't search Google Drive content
    Search is unreliable
    CONFLUENCE
    

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72. DRIVE
    CONFLUENCE
    Also widely used
    Bigger, more strategic researcjh
    Can't tag
    Can't create the library front door
    Can't search Confluence content
    Search is unreliable, no browse
    Labels for taxonomy
    Website - navigation, pages, UX
    Product teams work there already
    Research work there already
    Can't search Google Drive content
    Search is unreliable
    

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73. PAGES & IA
    

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74. We kept it shallow and
    visible, so it's fast and
    easy to find any topic
    

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75. A SIMPLE TAXONOMY
    HOMEPAGE
    CUSTOMER ARTIST TOPIC
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    

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76. Confluence can show a list of
    pages which have a specific label
    We used labels to make sure each
    page showed the correct content
    LABELS
    Recent pages labelled "research"
    

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77. Nothing had to be moved
    into the repo. No teams
    were disrupted
    We just added a few
    labels
    

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78. A LABEL
    TO...
    1. Get content into the repo - make it
    findable in the repo search
    HOMEPAGE
    CUSTOMER ARTIST TOPIC
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    

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79. A LABEL
    TO...
    1. Get content into the repo - make it
    findable in the repo search
    2. Show content on landing pages for the
    Redbubble user type - customer, artist
    HOMEPAGE
    CUSTOMER ARTIST TOPIC
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    

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80. A LABEL
    TO...
    HOMEPAGE
    CUSTOMER ARTIST TOPIC
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    JOB
    1. Get content into the repo - make it
    findable in the repo search
    2. Show content on landing pages for the
    Redbubble user type - customer, artist
    3. Show content on landing pages for a
    theme - topic, and framework jobs
    

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81. Think like a human - make
    content available
    wherever it might be
    relevant
    

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82. Draft wireframe with a designer
    1
    Address user needs & our goals
    2
    Look for plugins & workarounds
    4
    Learn Confluence, find issues
    3
    Build it out, and keep learning
    5
    PAGE
    DESIGN
    

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83. THE
    REPOSITORY
    4
    

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84. THE HOMEPAGE
    

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85. Repository brand
    

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86. Access to content
    Repository brand
    

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87. FAQs (only on Homepage)
    Access to content
    Repository brand
    

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88. FAQs (only on Homepage)
    Repository footer
    Access to content
    Repository brand
    

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89. Guided experience
    

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90. Search and browse
    

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91. Latest changes
    

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92. CONTENT PAGE - GOOGLE DRIVE
    

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93. Include Google Drive
    files in Confluence
    search
    No duplication of
    content across both
    Confluence and
    Google Drive
    Easy for the user to
    access everything
    from one place
    1 2 3
    OUR GOALS
    

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94. Each Google Doc had a
    Confluence page created
    Each page included:
    Contact details
    Exec Summary
    Embedded Docs file
    Labels to show it in repo
    

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95. LAUNCH &
    IMPACT
    5
    

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96. Learn from industry
    Learn from users
    Choose a tool
    Design the solution
    Soft & official launch
    Empower champions
    Locate all work
    Build a spreadsheet
    1 2 3 4
    PROJECT PLAN
    Learn Audit Build Launch
    

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97. Be proud of your team's
    work, be loud about it,
    and share far and wide
    

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98. Soft launch: Ask friendlies to test it
    1
    LAUNCH
    PLAN
    

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99. Soft launch: Ask friendlies to test it
    1
    Promote: WIP & launch showcases
    2
    LAUNCH
    PLAN
    

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100. WIP SHOWCASE - SEPT
     

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101. LAUNCH SHOWCASE - DEC
     

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102. Soft launch: Ask friendlies to test it
     1
     Promote: WIP & launch showcases
     2
     Advocate: Champions across teams
     3
     LAUNCH
     PLAN
     

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103. Soft launch: Ask friendlies to test it
     1
     Promote: WIP & launch showcases
     2
     Amplify: Constant plugs on Slack
     4
     Advocate: Champions across teams
     3
     LAUNCH
     PLAN
     

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104. Soft launch: Ask friendlies to test it
     1
     Promote: WIP & launch showcases
     2
     Amplify: Constant plugs on Slack
     4
     Advocate: Champions across teams
     3
     Normalise: Include in onboarding
     5
     LAUNCH
     PLAN
     

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105. Monitor usage stats on Confluence
     1
     Check in with teams new to research
     2
     Measure change in direct requests
     4
     Review processes with the team
     3
     MEASURE
     SUCCESS
     

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106. 2023...
     

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107. Naomi, I used your research repository! Someone was asking if
     there was research on a certain type of user. I went to the
     repository and searched, and found a relevant research summary
     in the first result. Took only a few minutes and was very easy to
     navigate. Thank you for the work you put in making this resource!
     It's completely different than when I first joined and couldn't
     find anything, always had to Slack a researcher for help.
     

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108. KEY TAKEAWAYS
     

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109. Invest time upfront in learning from industry
     Understand the role of research in your org
     Be realistic about time & effort
     When gathering content, start small, set limits
     Be proud of your team's work
     

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110. THANK YOU!
     

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