What things do we already know about our users? Collecting information from everyone in the organization and creating a UX repository can be a valuable resource for the entire UX/UI team to organize and share research findings, guidelines, and design assets. Before creating it, you need to define the purpose. What are the specific needs and goals in the organization that you need to address?
Don't forget to update regularly. The specific content of your UX repository depends on the needs and priorities of your organization. Simply customize it, expand it, and align it with your team's needs.
Speeding up
One benefit of a UX repository is the acceleration of all process steps. The repository serves as a repository for future and past insights/reports. Include some raw data - this could help the UX team when they receive a new request to give them a good starting point of what they already know about users. When collaborating as a team during research, it can be helpful to have everyone working together in one template rather than making ten copies. It's also helpful to allow the UX team to bookmark key moments and take notes at that moment - it's then easier for analysis to find the relevant parts of the interview.
Once the repository is in place, the team can collaborate on insights. With everyone involved in the research process, it's easier for the UX researcher to leverage their findings.
The consistency I created with a UX repository helps ensure that all design elements are consistent throughout the product. Also, having a central repository makes the work environment more efficient. It saves time and effort, and allows designers to focus on solving unique problems rather than reinventing the wheel. When adding new team members, having a repository makes it easier to do a quick onboarding. Designers, product managers, and developers can quickly become familiar with design guidelines and research findings.
Better collaboration
UX research is a team sport. Ideally, it should also be shared across the organization outside of the UXR team. A well-organized UX repository encourages collaboration between designers, developers, and other stakeholders. Developers can easily access design assets and specifications, which reduces the risk of misunderstandings and speeds up the development process.
Once the repository is successfully implemented, anyone in the organization can access it. This makes it easier for everyone to find what he/she needs.
Collaborative analysis may produce thoughts that researchers did not expect. Some of these will be insights that other teams would not have come to on their own.
Input from the customer-success team can help further improve the product, you can connect with external users and see what they are complaining about.
To stop being the bottleneck, the UXR team could create a framework that allows all employees to do their own quick research. It won't all happen in a day, but it could increase your UX maturity.
No more redundant research
You have many places where research results are stored. Mostly in Sharepoint, Confluence, Miro, Figma, FigJam and many more.
There is a lot of data and insights, but other teams can't find anything. A UX repository makes it easier to find results and prevents you from having to redo the same investigation. Also, if you have multiple UX designers all working on different teams, it's easier to keep track of what they're working on and researching.
The results are centralized and searchable - all relevant information at a glance and in just a few clicks.
They can be more flexible, learn about new design trends, technologies, and user trends. It's important to document everything. It helps to share the understanding of design decisions and the reasons behind them. This keeps the user at the center of design decisions.
What platform should be used to store insights? There are several options such as Sharepoint, Confluence, Notion, Miro, Figma, etc. - Consider the features and accessibility and discuss with your team where best to store the information. I personally like the Notion Template for UX repository, which you can find online. But Confluence could also be a good place to store these results.
The next step should be to create a logical folder structure in the chosen platform to effectively organize the content and consider all the different categories the UX repository should contain, such as guidelines, design patterns, research findings, case studies, etc. Make sure the structure is intuitive and easy to navigate.
Also, for each item in the repository, create clear and concise documentation in the form of descriptions, guidelines, implementation details, and best practices. Each of the UX designers and researchers should collaborate on this. Encourage them to do so and collaborate with them. Update and maintain it regularly to ensure the content is relevant and current.
Promote awareness and usage within your organization and raise awareness among your team. Perhaps some workshops can help them use the repository effectively. Don't forget to ask for feedback and iterate. This will help you learn if it is effective and usable. Try to improve your UX repository on a regular basis.
Ultimately, the key to a successful UX repository is user feedback, iteration, and improvement.
The biggest advantage of a UX repository - consistency and efficiency - creates a virtuous cycle that benefits both the design team and end users. It fosters harmonious collaboration, frees designers to focus on innovation, and ensures that users can seamlessly interact with a product that feels polished, professional, and user-centric.
The combination of consistency and efficiency leads to a powerful synergy:
User satisfaction increases because a consistent and efficient design process leads to a smoother user experience. Users appreciate a product that is easy to use, predictable, and visually coherent. The reduced need for redundant design work and clearer communication lead to lower project costs and shorter development cycles.