Building a UX research foundation

How do you build an effective UX research practice with limited research tools and almost no access to users?

I was brought in to support the UX team at a robotics company where tools were restricted, user access was limited, and information was hard to find. For this project, I focused on building the systems, processes, and relationships needed to make research easier to conduct.

Overview

Role: Strategist & UX Researcher

Timeline: 6 months 

Tools used: Slack, company-specific documentation systems

Methods: Repository creation, stakeholder interviews, lightweight user feedback collection, internal research enablement

Internal Team: 6 UX Designers, 3 UX Researchers

Client Stakeholders: UX team (3 UX designers), UX Design Director

Note: This project is under an NDA. I can’t disclose the name of the client that I worked with or show deliverables and screens that tie back to the client in any way. The images used here are purely for illustrative purposes.

Problem Statement

The client’s internal UX team needed to improve several user interfaces, but faced major barriers to conducting effective research for testing. There was limited access to users, few research tools, no centralized documentation, and little existing research to build on. Without foundational systems and processes in place, it was difficult to gather user insights or support product design decisions in a scalable way.

Project Goals

  • Establish a research repository to organize and share research findings across teams.

  • Create lightweight processes to enable in-person research with hard-to-reach users.

  • Empower designers to conduct their own research.

  • Build a system to manage incoming research requests.

The Context

I was brought in as a UX researcher to support a small internal design team at a robotics company. The company had built a suite of dashboards and software tools used to manage and monitor robotic systems, and their UX team had a long list of improvements they wanted to make across different products.

At the same time, they were looking to build stronger research practices across the organization. Up to this point, research had been done inconsistently, and there was no centralized way to document findings, share insights, or make research easily accessible to product teams.

My role was twofold: deliver tactical research support to help improve the user experience across existing products, and set up foundational systems and processes that would make research easier to conduct and more impactful over time.

The Challenge

After onboarding, it became clear that research was not going to be easy. This was a complex space with different user types, products, and internal teams. No one person fully understood how everything worked together. Information was scattered, and very little user research had been done. Stakeholders often jumped straight to solutions without testing, which created a lot of friction for users.

There were also tool restrictions because of privacy concerns. We could not use platforms like Dovetail, Google Suite, or other common research tools. On top of that, some key users did not have laptops and could not easily participate in research sessions. Access was limited, tools were restricted, and the problem space was large.

My Approach

Start with a research repository

The first thing I focused on was creating a custom research repository. This gave us a centralized place to store all research planning docs, findings, and documentation. I set up a folder structure organized by user groups and workstreams, added clear naming conventions to make files easier to find, and built templates and best practices to guide future research. This helped our small team stay organized and made it easier to share insights across teams.

Get feedback from hard-to-reach users

Getting feedback from factory workers was a major challenge. They did not have laptops and could not be contacted outside of work. Through internal conversations, I learned that the customer success team sometimes gathered informal feedback from these workers. I built a relationship with that team and worked with them to create a simple process. Our UX team would send them feedback requests, and they would collect user feedback during their regular site visits. This enabled our team to hear directly from users we otherwise could not reach.

Unexpected Turn

One of our key stakeholders made a public announcement encouraging teams across the company to prioritize user research. My earlier work setting up the repository caught attention, and within a week, I received seven new research requests from different teams, many from senior leaders who needed to get insights quickly for their work streams. Research had suddenly become a priority, but we did not have enough people or processes in place to handle the demand.

This sudden surge in research demand was exciting, but it quickly became clear that we needed a better system to manage the work.

Building a System for Research at Scale

To manage the new wave of research needs, I created a lightweight system to organize and prioritize incoming requests. I set up a simple Slack form that could help stakeholders provide me with all the necessary information. Each request was added to a shared tracking document where I could prioritize based on urgency and impact.

For high-priority efforts, I scheduled short scoping meetings to gather the right context before moving forward. I also started sharing the templates and best practices I built earlier in the project with more designers and stakeholders. This gave them a starting point to run their own studies when needed and kept the quality of research consistent.

Outcomes & Impact

By the end of the project:

  • The company had its first centralized research repository which was adopted by multiple teams

  • Designers and PMs were more confident running their own research using shared templates and best practices

  • The customer success team became an ongoing channel for gathering feedback from factory workers

  • Research requests were scoped, prioritized, and handled more systematically

  • User research became a regular part of the product development process, not just a nice-to-have

The client now has a research repository, guides, templates, and clear processes to follow. They are ready to leverage research to improve their user interfaces.

Reflections

This project reminded me that building a research practice is about much more than running studies. It is about creating the systems, relationships, and processes that make research sustainable. In low-maturity environments, setting up the right foundations is often the most valuable work a researcher can do. This experience strengthened my skills in research operations, stakeholder collaboration, and building scalable systems that help organizations reach their goals through user research.