Implementing user research on a long-term basis: Atomic Research
By: Mathilde Philippe
Tags: User Experience Design, User Research, User Experience, Atomic Research

Credit: Idean

Observations: Loss of time, dissipation of information, and lack of rationalization.

Most of the studies carried out on the projects are driven by short-term needs: research is intended to answer a specific question or hypothesis.

Some of our customers, for example, have already carried out studies, several times, on the same subject, but with different teams within a 1–2 month gap.

Likewise, within the agency, we realized that we were confronted with a large amount of data and lessons learned from field studies — and that we too, may have to “reinvent the wheel”!

These situations seemed senseless to both clients and the Idean team because they lead to :

A waste of time : doing and redoing the same studies is pointless.

: doing and redoing the same studies is pointless. Dispersion of information between teams and over time. Files get lost in shared folders and through time.

A lack of reflection on the collection and rationalization of information for all.

How can we establish research over the long term, in order to stay in permanent contact with users, continually enrich our learnings, and work in an optimal cross-team or cross-product manner?

Atomic Research, to optimize user research

We turned to the work of Daniel Pidcok and Tomer Sharon on Atomic Research. It is a new model to organize knowledge. It allows us to dismantle the UX knowledge acquired into different elements that can then be capitalized and spread to the largest audience.

Here are 2 main steps to set up Atomic Research in your organization

1. Working with a simple tool for everyone…

Atomic Research can take several forms: a simple excel file that redirects to the studies, a system of maps on a mapping tool, a knowledge aggregation platform such as Airtable, etc. Ask yourself which system is best suited to your organization and its constraints — remembering that this model will have to live over time and be accessible to everyone.

What can be retained from the good practices we have put in place?

set up easy and flexible tagging for your studies

for your studies use the same decomposition of knowledge for each study.

for each study. use a platform accessible to all: whether to collaboratively enrich the tool or to consult the latest studies.

2. Review your organization…

Very early on, start by asking yourself the right questions about the governance that will necessarily be linked to Atomic Research. What is your structure: do you already have an entity that can carry and sustain this project or is it necessary to create it? Who will be the guarantor? How can it evolve over time?

The good practices we select:

have a process known and respected by all

by all have a shared mindset of proven approach . With Atomic Research, no more conclusions drawn without lessons learned and therefore without facts.

. With Atomic Research, no more conclusions drawn without lessons learned and therefore without facts. switch from a short-term to a long-term vision. Plan your research no longer with a micro objective in mind, but think about your overall long-term problem and the various ways to support your conclusions.

…To reap the full benefits

The objective of Atomic Research is to set up a tool that brings meaning to the products and services delivered by reinforcing the coherence of the different works carried out. Thanks to this approach you will be able to rationalize your data, transpose it to other projects, and thus have a better knowledge of the users. In short, Atomic Research is an answer to move from punctual/directional research to fundamental research!