In February, we announced that we’re building a user research lab in The Federation. We’ve now finished designing the space, confirmed our technical and furnishing suppliers, and we’re about to start building.
This post is about what we learnt about the needs of our users, and how our learnings informed the Federation Research Studio design.
Speaking to users
The studio will be available to Co-op teams including Digital, Brand and Marketing; Federation tenants and eventually, to external customers too. We spoke to a range of these people to find out about their current lab experiences and needs. We’ve also taken into account lessons learned from previous lab builds and we’ve asked for feedback from across industry too.
Two examples are:
What companies do you know of that have an in-house user research lab? I’ve got Guardian Tesco, Reuters, BBC, GDS, DVLA…
— Kate Towsey (@katetowsey) November 19, 2017
Identifying user needs
In the design, we considered the needs of participants, researchers and observers. Most of these needs weren’t out of the ordinary and match those documented in this post about how to build a great user research lab.
However, we also found a few needs not listed that are important to Co-op and other potential users too. These are:
1.Keeping data safe
User research labs have video and audio equipment to record users’ answers or interactions with what we’re testing. The recordings mean the responses can be shared with the rest of the team and viewed at a later date. In May, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – a regulation that’s designed to improve privacy around citizen’s data – comes into force, so making sure we keep recordings safe and secure will be a legal obligation.
We’re planning on integrating the lab’s audio visual (A/V) recorder with a media asset management solution. This will allow us to organise and securely store A/V content and, importantly, control and track who’s using it and how. Initially, the solution we choose may be simple, and we’ll iterate on it as we learn how the lab is used. We’ll share more about this in a future post.
2.A remote viewing capability
All good products and services are informed by research and making live user research easily accessible is important. Co-op is a national organisation and colleagues and stakeholders are scattered across the country, so there’s a real need for the lab to include equipment that allows for remote viewing. Having these capabilities will also help solve the ‘problem’ (a very good one to have) of an oversubscribed viewing room.
3.A flexible, multi-purpose space
Co-op teams, like Brand, often run sessions such as focus groups that are more space-needy than the one-on-one research sessions Co-op Digital researchers tend to do.
We need to use technology to make the most of the space we’ve got, so we’ll install cameras and microphones in both the viewing room and the user lounge. This way, the viewing room can be used for research activities that need more space (the tables can be folded way for even more space), and the research can either be viewed from the user lounge or from a remote meeting room. This also means that both rooms could simultaneously be used for research, with teams viewing from a meeting room, even in another building.
4.Suitable for tasks other than research
The Federation tenants expressed the need for a space to produce high-quality videos and podcasts. The lab will be a professionally soundproofed space with excellent A/V capabilities, so it’s not unimaginable that it could be used for this too.
Considering the interiors
Labs aren’t all about the technology. Getting the interior right is important too. Ideally, we want participants, user researchers and observers to feel relaxed and comfortable and the look and feel of the space is a big part of this.
The lab’s interiors will be plain and unbranded. This is to avoid distracting participants, and to ensure external brands can use the space without feeling defined by it. It’s also important that the space is neutral so that people taking part in internal research, ie, Co-op colleagues, don’t feel that they’re being tested by their employer, something that’s come up in previous research sessions.
A comfortable viewing room
Viewing rooms are often smaller and much less loved than user lounges. The more frequently team members and stakeholders watch research live, the better. Participants are generally in and out of the lab within 45 minutes, whereas observers can be in the lab for anything from 3-8 hours at a stretch. For this reason, we’re focusing on making the viewing room as comfortable as possible with dimmable warm-white lights, comfortable chairs, dark grey walls to reduce eye strain, and a large whiteboard wall for analysis and collaboration. It will be a working space.
We’ll use grey matt finishes on all flat surfaces to enhance contrast and avoid glare which will help make sure that the video image quality is the best it can be.
A lab made with users in mind
The building work will start soon and we’re confident we’ve designed the right thing for our various types of user. We’ll share more on the technology we’re using soon.
Kate Towsey
User research operations