Analyze Previous Research Studies

[elimarietta]

Overview

We need to analyze previous research studies so we have a better sense of what questions have already been answered as well as assist in onboarding future UXR team members.

Background

I was inspired by Khanh's message to Gala on April 14th where she asked for insight on how we should proceed with research after phase 1 of the universal design system template update and realized I couldn't create a robust opinion for how we should proceed (which is informed by which questions we'd like to answer) when I didn't already have a solid grasp on which questions had already been answered by previous research studies.

Action Items

Setup

• Create a Google Doc
• Make a cohesive layout with sections, headings, etc.

Initial Analysis

• [2021/08] Audit of HfLA Figma files & wikis
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2021/09] Design system secondary research
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2021/10] The first interviews
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2022/05] Figma Kit usability tests
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2022/06] Audit of internal workflows
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2022/07] Interviewing designers in breakout rooms
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2022/08] Figma file walkthroughs
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2022/10] Design team observations
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)
• [2023/01] Figma Kit post launch user testing
  • Goal(s)
  • Method(s)
  • Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)
  • Outcome(s)

Other Updates Based on 5/3/23-5/10/23 Feedback on the "Research Studies Analysis" Google Doc

• Delete the first goal for "[2021/08] Audit of HfLA Figma files & wikis"
• Replace all mentions of HfLA Figma Kit with Figma Compass
• Add links for "Artifact(s) & Deliverable(s)" section
• Verify dates via Github
• Add relevant images (e.g., those from Yas' website)

Resources/Instructions

"Research Studies" Google Drive Folder
"Research Studies Analysis" Google Doc
Design Systems Figma Folder

[allthatyazz]

@elimarietta This is a great start! I moved the issue to In Progress. One potential outcome of this issue would be a new section for our Wiki page. Unfortunately, our project does not utilize the Wiki feature of GitHub. But if we start by adding the outcome of this issue to our wiki, we can have a Wiki Page/section so the new UXRs can read a summary of the previous research with the link to the designated Drive folder.

[Leah0996]

@allthatyazz

[allthatyazz]

@Leah0996 Hi there,

I noticed your mentions on several issues related to our project. While we appreciate your interest in our work, we are unable to provide access to all the studies we've conducted unless you become an official team member (Unfortunately at this time, we are not accepting new UXRs). Moreover, given the complexity of our project, we don't have documents on all the areas you're interested in, like user personas, user flows, and user journeys.

However, I'd be happy to assist you with your project by helping you write a research plan. User interviews could be the most relevant research study for your project, and we have a research plan and user insights report for designers that I could share with you. I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

[elimarietta]

5/3/23-5/10/23 Feedback on the "Research Studies Analysis" Google Doc

• @GalaStojnic
  • I'd just clarify shared by whom (i.e. for whom is the audit made)
  • similar to previous comments, I'd add a sentence or so about how this benefit the team (it's more specific, e.g. Learn best practices for creating a design system which helps the DS project achieve "X")
  • Can we link these documents (presentations, files) in here, so that the readers can also directly see the outcomes?
    • @elimarietta Yes!
  • Maybe just a little bit on why (why did they do it, how does this benefit the DS team?)
    • @elimarietta My intention was for the why to be covered by the Goal(s) section but let me know if you think it didn't address this adequately. For this one specifically, I also don't know exactly what the researchers' thinking was behind researching React UI components because I believe there's no documentation of how they specifically decided on React.
  • I think an outcome should be a result of the type of research that was used (so, the method was secondary research, and the outcome of that research was "X")
    • @zeaslan Agreed
      • @elimarietta Yes!
  • Do you know if these outcomes were incorporated into (or affected) any of the products of the team? Because most of them are presentations and documents, but ideally research should bring about more concrete outcomes, like advancing the product somehow.
• @zeaslan
  • Maybe the specific methods used by the researchers can also be detailed under a separate heading.
    • @elimarietta Yes!
• @allthatyazz
  • A very neat and consice process overal! I think for some of the info, we need to verify the dates and act like detectives :D A repo search on related issues can be helpful. For example you can see when some of the issues where created and based on the commnets, try to find out when people actuakky started on working stuff. Like for example, I think Figma/Wiki Audit was done in in the span of Oct-Dec 2021. But the name of the folder, says August which is not accurate
    • Also, one suggestion for documentation, you can copy and paste some of the comments from this google doc to the GitHub issue you are working on.
      • @elimarietta Thank you! That's super helpful.
    • How did you now? I think there was only one presenation by Ryan in december that covers both figma audit and wiki audit.
      • @elimarietta In the "[2021/08] Audit of HfLA Figma files & wikis" folder, there are 2 more presentation files about the Wikis audit by Anh Hoang ("HfLA Design System - Wiki Audit (Anh)") and Bernard Adesina ("HackforLA Design System - Wiki Audit (Bernard)").
    • I do not believe that was one of the goals. Also, I think it would be better to specify that this research was done designers on the team.
      • 👍 I had no idea it was done by designers so thank you.
    • I do think it was part of developers research not the Figma Audit.

[elimarietta]

Yas gave extensive feedback during the 5/10/23 Research meeting that informed each of the Outcome(s) sections