A UX research repository is crucial as it is your go-to place for organizing, storing, and managing valuable insights gathered from all your UX research operations.
Well-organized repositories make it easy for cross-functional stakeholders to help themselves to data and insights without relying on tribal knowledge. Every research team should have one, whether a team of 1 or 100
In this article, we are going to explore UX research repositories, the different types as well as the best research repository tools to hit the ground running with your first repository.
What is a research repository?
A UX research repository is a place, which usually takes the form of a digital platform, where UX teams store and manage the data and insights that they have gathered throughout the different research studies.
Research repositories act as an archive for accessing and sharing research insights at any given time that help to adopt a systematic approach towards UX research.
Why is a research repository important for UX research?
Here are the top 3 benefits that a research repository has to offer:
- Systematization of UX research: UX Research repositories can be a great place to start having a more systematic approach to UX research and the valuable findings stemming from it.
- Centralization of insights: The centralization of insights ensures that research findings are accessible to anyone at all times. This streamlined approach to UX research insights can greatly enhance the efficiency of the UX research team.
- Fosters collaboration: UX research repositories serve as platforms for co-creation and collaboration not only within the research team but also across cross-functional teams, promoting the democratization of UX research.
What should be included in a UX research repository?
A comprehensive UX repository should include the following:
- Research methods: Detailed documentation around the UX research methodologies that were used to conduct each of the research studies, including any data analysis techniques as well as information about the participants of the study.
- UX research artifacts: Include any visual artifacts of the user’s interaction with your product such as user journey maps, user personas, or other artifacts that you might have developed.
Watch this video to better understand the significance of user journey maps:
- Quantitative data & qualitative insights: Store all the raw data and insights from the different research studies as well as synthesized insights and notes on those.
Why use UX research repository tools?
Here is why it is highly beneficial to use a UX research repository tool:
- Structured approach: UX research repository tools offer a structured approach to gathering, storing, and managing insights making it easy to navigate and retrieve the right information.
- Data Security: Have your mind at peace as sensitive user data are securely stored in the tools making compliance and security feel like a breeze.
- Time-saver: UX research repositories can help you save so much time as they enable stakeholders across the board to easily access research findings at any time anywhere promoting speedy decision-making.
15 Best UX research repository tools
Here is a list of our top UX research repository tools:
- UXtweak
- Marvin
- Miro
- Notion
- Maze
- Dovetail
- Chisel
- Productboard
- Condense
- UserVoice
- LoopPanel
- CoNote
- UserTesting
- Tetra Insights
- UserBit
1. UXtweak
UXtweak is the only research platform you will ever need boasting a wide range of tools for UX research, tailored analytics, and research repository capabilities. All the data from your studies is stored in one place which allows easy access to insights to all team members.
Features:
- Moderated Testing
- Website Usability Testing Tool
- Card Sorting Tool
- Session Recording with Website Heatmaps (Click, Scroll, Move, Tap)
- Mobile App Usability Testing
- Prototype Testing (Figma, Invision, Axure)
- Tree Testing Tool
- Preference Tests
- 5 Second Test
- First Click Test
- Online surveys
- Competitive Usability Testing
Pros:
- All the research tools you need in one place
- Handy dashboard storing your research data
- For smaller tasks, there is a free plan available, or you may design a custom plan to meet your needs
- Intuitive UI
- It provides powerful analytics that are simple to understand and digest into actionable insights
- Custom PDF reports and multiple data export options
- Help with recruiting participants for your studies
Cons: Only supports 10 languages
User Reviews: This tool is highly rated for its intuitive interface and the comprehensive customer support that it offers.
Pricing & Plans: UXtweak offers a free trial as well as a range of different subscription plans to choose from based on the needs of your business.
2. Marvin
Marvin is another great tool to consider for your research repository. This tool gives a great focus on qualitative research and offers a range of comprehensive tools for organizing the different insights while promoting collaboration among the research team. Among others what stands out here is the note-taking capabilities during the user sessions as well as the ability to tag insights and categorize them allowing for the identification of trends and themes at a glance.
Features:
- Note-taking tools
- Tagging of insights and categorization options
- Robust analytic capabilities.
- AI Research Assistant
- Research Repository
Pros:
- Automation of the tedious parts of research
Cons:
- The integration might be tricky
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.9/5.0
- Customer Service 4.9/5.0
- Features 4.6/5.0
- Value for Money 5.0/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Marvin features a forever free plan ideal for small teams and 3 other plans ranging from 50-100 dollars.
3. Miro
Next up on our list is Miro, although this is not a purely UX research tool, we highly recommend it as it can be a great platform to store and share UX insights with cross-functional teams due to its great collaboration tools and simple to use templates for user journey mapping. One infinite online whiteboard to visualize ideas, great collaboration capabilities as well as super comprehensive templates to crack on with UX activities.
Features:
- Online whiteboard
- Data Visualization tools
- Handy templates
Pros
- Great Integration Capabilities
- Great for collaboration across teams
Cons:
- Due to its endless capabilities, sometimes users might find it overwhelming.
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.5/5.0
- Customer Service 4.3/5.0
- Features 4.6/5.0
- Value for Money 4.4/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Miro provides a free starter plan as well as more subscription plans starting from 10 dollars and ranging based on the number of projects you are working on!
4. Notion
Notion is a great platform to store, share, and manage your UX research repository. It is an all-in-one workspace with robust project management and note-taking capabilities.
Features:
- Note-taking tool
- Data Storage for Insights
- Tools to tag and organize your research insights
Pros:
- It offers highly customizable boards
- It has a super intuitive user interface.
- Great for start-ups
Cons:
- As this is not a UX-focus tool, it lacks synthesis and analysis capabilities.
- Not fit for more mature businesses
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.3/5.0
- Customer Service 4.4/5.0
- Features 4.6/5.0
- Value for Money 4.6/5.0
Pricing & Plans: This tool provides tiered subscription plans based on the needs of your business starting from 10 dollars/month, as well as premium plans offering extra features on demand.
5. Maze
Maze is another comprehensive research platform offering robust usability testing capabilities with great tools for collecting insights. This is a great tool to gather metrics and analytics surrounding your user research as it features comprehensive prototype testing tools and A/B testing capabilities.
Features:
- Prototype Testing
- Survey
- 5 Second Testing
- Card Sorting
- Tree testing
- Screen recording
Pros: Its robust analytics capabilities and metrics.
Cons: This tool needs to be integrated to be able to take advantage of it to the fullest.
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.3/5.0
- Customer Service 3.8/5.0
- Features 4.2/5.0
- Value for Money 4.1/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Maze offers a free trial period and different subscription plans to meet the different demands of each team or project. The plans have a starting place from 99 dollars a month.
6. Dovetail
Dovetail is another great platform for collecting UX insights and research data with robust insight synthesis capabilities as well as tools for team collaboration. An insights repository template to store and manage your insights as well as tagging of insights capabilities.
Features:
- Insights repository template
- Insight tagging feature
Pros:
- Easy to organize and share research insights!
Cons:
- Limited reporting.
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.5/5.0
- Customer Service 4.6/5.0
- Features 3.9/5.0
- Value for Money 4.4/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Dovetail offers a range of plans based on the number of users and projects used. This tool features a free version and a free trial to get you started!
7. Chisel
Chisel is an agile product management software that also provides tools for organizing user feedback. This platform boasts a feedback curation tool to analyze feedback at scale and built-in alignment tools.
Features:
- Feedback curation tool
- Research Repository templates
Pros:
- Robust analytics capabilities and customizable boards.
- Simplifies customer connection and team collaboration.
Cons:
- Steep learning curve!
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.7/5.0
- Customer Service 4.9/5.0
- Features 4.8/5.0
- Value for Money 4.9/5.0
Pricing & Plans: You can choose between the essential and the premium subscription plan. The essential plan is free forever.
8. Productboard
This is a robust project management tool that helps you centralize user feedback and synthesize insights at scale. This tool boasts a range of tools such as a project management board, research repository boards that allow for analysis and prioritization of insights, and more.
Features:
- Project Management Board
- AI for product management
- Customer Portal
Pros:
- Categorization and prioritization of customer insights.
Cons:
- Focus more on project management rather than UX research.
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
- Ease of Use 4.4/5.0
- Customer Service 4.7/5.0
- Features 4.3/5.0
- Value for Money 4.3/5.0
Pricing & Plans: It offers 4 different subscription plans ranging from 0 to 59 dollars to cater to different organizational needs.
9. Condens
Condens is one of the most popular research repositories which makes storing and analyzing insights feel like a breeze. This tool offers a range of features such as interview transcriptions and tagging of insights.
Features:
- Interview transcriptions
- Insight tagging
- AI-assisted tagging
- Build and manage your participant panel
Pros:
- Streamlines the process for your research repository.
Cons:
- Focuses mainly on qualitative insights.
User Reviews:
According to G2 this tool has an overall rating of 4.8/5.0.
Pricing & Plans: Offers a free trial for 15 days and it covers 4 different subscription plans ranging from 15-1000 euros per month.
10. UserVoice
Uservoice is the ultimate tool for product discovery helping teams collect and prioritize customer feedback. Popular for its simplicity in managing feedback loops and involving users in shaping product features. Users value its straightforward approach to collecting and prioritizing customer feedback.
Features:
- Voting system for prioritizing insights
- Team collaboration tools.
Cons:
- Slow loading times
- This tool specializes in managing and prioritizing feedback.
Pros:
- Easy to integrate support ticket system
User Reviews:
According to Camterra: https://www.capterra.co.uk/reviews/135908/uservoice
- Ease of Use 4.2/5.0
- Customer Service 4.1/5.0
- Features 3.8/5.0
- Value for Money 3.8/5.0
Pricing & Plans: This tool offers a free trial and 4 subscription plans to cater to a range of teams and different project needs.
11. LoopPanel
LoopPanel is the only platform you will ever need to have your UX research insights in one place. Highly rated among UX research teams that appreciate its super helpful tools.
Features:
- Auto-generated transcriptions
- Session recording
- Tagging capabilities
- AI-powered note-taker.
Pros:
- A simple Google-like search on your research repository.
Cons:
- Integration with other tools might be tricky!
User Reviews:
According to Product Hunt reviews this tool has an overall rating of 4.8/5.0.
Pricing & Plans: This tool has 4 different plans to choose from ranging from 30 to 1000 dollars per month.
12. CoNote
CoNote is a research platform that can help you supercharge your UX research offering collaborative and sharable analysis tools. Highly rated for top-notch research notes taking (and sharing) amongst the research team.
Features:
- Sharable automated reports
- Session recording
- Note-taking tools
Pros:
- Streamlines the process of collecting and sharing insights amongst the team.
Cons:
- Might be lacking advanced analytical capabilities.
User Reviews:
- Ease of Use 4.6/5.0
- Customer Service 5.0/5.0
- Features 4.1/5.0
- Value for Money 4.8/5.0
Pricing & Plans: This tool offers 3 different plans ranging from 0 to 195 dollars per month to cater to the different needs of a project.
13. UserTesting
UserTesting is another great UX platform offering a range of tools to run and manage UX studies in one place. Centralize experience research findings in EnjoyHQ and share customer findings across your teams. Highly rated among the UX team for this usability testing capabilities. Valued for its usability testing capabilities and detailed feedback from users.
Features:
- EnjoyHQ
- Sharing insights tools
Pros:
- Offers real-time insights and highlights.
Cons:
- The price point can be higher than other similar platforms.
User Reviews:
- Ease of Use 4.4/5.0
- Customer Service 4.4/5.0
- Features 4.4/5.0
- Value for Money 4.5/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Upon request, starting at $30,000K/year. Annual subscription only.
14. Tetra Insights
Tetra Insights is a research platform to centralize and standardize your research processes to ensure the highest-quality research with custom templates. Highly rated for collecting and managing qualitative insights.
Features:
- AI-powered interview guide,
- Time-stamped live notetaking and tagging,
- Real-time transcription,
- AI-powered in-meeting feedback
Pros:
- Powered by AI!
Cons:
- Focused on qualitative analysis only
User Reviews:
According to G2 this tool has an overall 4.8 out of 5.0 rating.
Pricing & Plans: Flexible plans based on usage and storage with prices ranging from 60 to 500 dollars per year.
15. UserBit
Userbit is a UX research & design platform for agencies and freelancers. Highly rated by the freelance UX community.
Features:
- Source participants
- Conduct interviews
- Share insights
Pros: Option to publish your findings in simple organized themes and share them with your clients.
Cons: There might be a learning curve to know how to use the system.
User Reviews:
According to Capterra:
Overall 5.0/5.0
Ease of Use 4.8/5.0
Customer Service 5.0/5.0
Features 4.8/5.0
Value for Money 5.0/5.0
Pricing & Plans: Pay per client workspace.
Types of UX research repositories with examples
There are different types of UX research repositories out there depending on the needs of your team:
- Internal UX research repository: This is hosted within the organization and accessed by internal team members only.
- Custom-built UX research repository: This type of repository is tailored to the unique needs of a business with customizable features.
- Specialized UX research repository: This is a repository designed for specific research methods and has robust analysis tools integrated.
- Cloud-based UX research repository: This is a repository that is hosted on a cloud server, like Google Drive, that promotes accessibility and connectivity.
- Integrated UX research repository: This user research repository is integrated with other design or UX research tools promoting a streamlined workflow for UX teams.
Choosing a UX research repository: 3 Steps
If you are unsure what the right type is for your business follow these 3 simple steps:
- Identify UX research team requirements: Start by identifying the requirement based on the size of your types and the amount of UX studies you are tackling monthly.
- Check security & compliance: Make sure that the repository tools comply with the local data protection laws and that those are in line with the internal policies of your company.
- Ensure the tool’s scalability: Make sure that the tool that you choose is scalable to support future organizational growth.
If you still don’t know where to begin sign up for a free for UXtweak trail to kick-start your UX repository journey now!
The gist of it
UX research repositories are the alpha and the omega for a well-organizing research team as they consolidate insights and promote shared decision-making and collaboration across the whole team.
There is an abundance of UX research repositories out there but make sure to evaluate the needs of your team as well as check the tool’s scalability and data compliance before making the move!
If UXtweak made it to your final selection – don’t hesitate to give it a try! Register for our free plan and see for yourself how easy it can be to have all your research and insights in one place 🐝
