Background
The Strategies (Data and Design Tools) department at Sasaki is a start-up-sized team focused on developing spatial technology products and experiences that support decision-making in the built environment. As part of refining the UI/UX design process, the team sought to systematize the user research workflow.
Breakdown of Issues
The project aimed to address two key tasks:
Defining a user research workflow aligned with the communication style and collaboration dynamics of the Sasaki team.
Building a centralized user research repository within the Notion platform to improve accessibility, organization, and usability.
My Role
I led the development of the user research pipeline, starting with an analysis of the existing product processes and previous user research examples from the team. Throughout the project, I reported to the project manager and collaborated with a senior designer and user researchers from another office.
Development Process
Steps Taken
Understanding:
Conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the team’s goals, workflows, and collaboration styles.
Mapped out the service structure of the Strategies team to identify key touch points for user research.
Observation and Analysis:
Examined the team’s previous user research processes, including scope, methodologies, and presentation methods;
Identified pain points in the existing approach, particularly challenges with the Miro board—which made it difficult to centralize information and rapidly generate visual analysis.
Exploring and Prototyping Solutions:
Reviewed existing user research repositories as references;
Researched best practices for user research documentation and repository structuring;
Explored the Notion platform, analyzing its data structure and optimizing navigation for first-time users in the team.
Testing and Iteration:
Built a prototype of the Notion research repository using existing research data;
Conducted internal testing with team members, gathering feedback on usability, clarity, structure, and accessibility;
Presented the proposed workflow and repository design to the team for validation and further refinement.
Key Deliverables
A personalised Notion master page for user research depository
A research template for user interview
A report template in word and presentation format
A user research flowchart
Results and Reflections
Leading the user research pipeline project for Sasaki’s Strategies (Data and Design Tools) department was a learning experience and a challenge. Unlike traditional UI/UX projects, this task required me to design both an experience and an interface within a dynamic environment: Notion.
The platform presents a unique operational logic—lacking nested folders and relying instead on databases. I had to rethink how research steps interconnect and translate them into an intuitive, navigable system. Designing the repository forced me to consider information architecture deeply, ensuring that the relationships between different research phases were clear and actionable. Additionally, the platform’s steep learning curve required me to write clear, structured instructions for team members unfamiliar with its logic.
The project strengthened my ability to design workflows in non-traditional UX contexts (a knowledge management system), pushing me to refine my organization ability.