Occasional research doesn't build user knowledge. A process does

ResearchOps is an organised research process inside a company: a research rhythm, methods and one place where the team finds what is already known about the user. A single study answers a single question. Without a process, findings get lost in folders and the next project starts from zero, even though the company has already paid for the research.

A research repository is one place where research findings are recorded, tagged and easy to search. It lets the team check what is already known about the user before commissioning another study. In ResearchOps we build the repository and train the team to use the findings in day-to-day product work.

ResearchOps sets up the process and the findings repository, while User interviews is a single study: in-depth interviews and tests, ending with a report of findings, quotes and recordings. We run individual studies in that service or as part of a UX/UI audit. ResearchOps makes sure the findings from each study end up in one place.

ResearchOps is needed when research happens ad hoc and nobody can find earlier findings when a similar question comes back. A second signal is several product teams researching independently and duplicating work. A third is scaling the product, when decisions made without knowledge of the user become expensive.

The work starts with an audit of the current research approach, priced according to the size of the organisation. Further maintenance of the process and research support is optional and billed monthly. We give an initial estimate after the first call about how the company runs research today. The decision on ongoing work is made only after the audit.

Setting it up takes five steps: an audit of the current approach, agreeing who researches, how often and with which methods, a findings repository, training the team to use it, and recurring support in keeping the process going. The result is a process in which findings are not lost after one project and product decisions rest on growing knowledge of the user.

The time depends on the size of the organisation and the number of product teams that run research. The scope and schedule are agreed after the audit of the current approach, in which we check whether and how the team researches today and where findings get lost. Only then is it clear how much has to be built from scratch.

Yes. A single team also loses findings when research happens alongside projects and nobody organises it. The process delivers the most value, however, when several teams research independently of each other and duplicate work. The scope is set after the audit of the current research approach.

To start, we need the existing research materials: reports, recordings and notes, with information on where they are stored, and conversations with the people who run research today. The audit of the current approach is run remotely, so it also covers teams spread across several locations.

ResearchOps as a separate service is new and does not have its own case study yet. It builds on research run in audits and product workshops: qualitative and quantitative data, benchmarks and user interviews.