Sharing Research Insights Across the General Services Administration (GSA)
A comprehensive research project that investigated the need for a GSA-specific insights library, focusing on user needs, challenges, and recommendations to improve research sharing and accessibility within the organization. [Slide Deck]
Objective
The primary goal of this project was to explore the feasibility and utility of an insights library for the General Services Administration (GSA). We aimed to uncover user needs around accessing and sharing research insights and to address concerns such as findability, relevance, and trustworthiness of research data. Ultimately, we sought to provide actionable design recommendations and prototypes for a centralized insights library tailored to GSA's unique challenges and opportunities.
My Role
As a UX Research Fellow in GSA’s Office of Customer Experience, I led this project from start to finish, conducting research, analyzing data, and creating design recommendations. I collaborated with cross-functional teams, including researchers, analysts, senior executives, and subject-matter experts (SMEs) across five GSA offices and five other federal agencies. I was also responsible for stakeholder communication and facilitating discussions on the research findings and next steps.
Timeline
This project was completed over a 12-week period.
Weeks 1–2: Literature review and competitive analysis
Weeks 3–7: User interviews
Weeks 8–9: Data analysis and synthesis
Week 10: Presentation of findings and recommendations
Introduction: Understanding the Problem
The General Services Administration (GSA) is a sprawling federal agency that manages federal properties, procurement, and customer services across various offices and programs. Given the vast amount of research conducted within GSA, stakeholders face significant challenges in accessing and sharing actionable insights. A senior executive noted, “We serve the same agency partners, but our interactions are fragmented. Insights often sit in silos, unused.”
The project was initiated to address these challenges by investigating the potential of a centralized insights library. This system would enable researchers, analysts, and decision-makers to locate and share findings, foster collaboration, and ultimately enhance decision-making across the agency.
Through this project, I sought to answer the following key questions:
What insights libraries exist in other organizations, and what can we learn from them?
Who are the potential users of a GSA insights library, and what are their needs?
What design considerations should we keep in mind to meet these needs?
What steps should be taken in the next phase of prototyping and testing?
Research Process
Literature Review and Competitive Analysis
To understand the existing landscape, I conducted a literature review and analyzed insights libraries from various organizations. I examined their structure, functionality, strengths, and weaknesses. While these systems often featured advanced search tools, tagging, and visualization capabilities, many failed to clarify their target audience or provide sufficient context for their research. This informed our design goals to prioritize user specificity and context transparency.
User Research
I conducted 27 one-hour interviews with participants across five GSA offices and five federal agencies. The interviews included three types of participants:
Users (e.g., researchers, analysts): Those who access research to support their work.
Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs): Those who conduct research and often develop or utilize insights libraries.
Hybrid Participants: Those who both produce and consume research insights.
The interviews were structured to delve into participants’ workflows, challenges, and aspirations regarding research sharing and use.
“Sometimes, it feels like spelunking through caves,” one researcher lamented about the difficulty of locating past research. Many echoed concerns about inefficiencies and duplication of efforts, underscoring the need for a centralized system.
Methodology
The data collected was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach:
Coding and Tagging: I transcribed all interviews and coded key excerpts based on emerging patterns aligned with research questions.
Affinity Diagramming: I used a virtual whiteboard to cluster similar codes into larger themes.
Persona Development: I synthesized the data into four key personas—researchers, senior executives, analysts, and academics—each with unique goals and pain points.
Findings and Insights
The research revealed five critical themes:
1. Findability
Users struggled to locate previous research due to a lack of centralized systems. Knowledge sharing often relied on word of mouth, leading to inefficiencies and duplication.
Key Insight: A researcher explained, “You don’t know what you don’t know. There’s no catalog or dictionary to guide us.”
Need: A centralized hub to store and locate past research.
Design Consideration: Create a single, searchable repository with filtering and tagging options.
2. Relevance
Participants needed research contextualized to understand its applicability to their work. Concerns about outdated or overly technical reports were common.
Key Insight: A senior executive noted, “If it’s not in plain language, I won’t have time to figure out what it means.”
Need: Insights written in plain language with clear metadata (e.g., methods, dates, authors).
Design Consideration: Summarize insights in accessible formats with detailed context for deeper dives.
3. Trustworthiness
Transparency was crucial for participants to trust and apply insights. Details such as the methodology, author, and purpose of the study influenced credibility.
Key Insight: An academic remarked, “We need to see how the sausage was made to trust it.”
Need: Documentation of research methodologies and author details.
Design Consideration: Provide metadata and contact information for authors or teams.
4. Communication and Culture
Silos and fear of criticism discouraged knowledge sharing. Participants emphasized the need for a cultural shift to incentivize transparency and collaboration.
Key Insight: A researcher noted, “No one wants to air their dirty laundry.”
Need: A safe, standardized sharing process.
Design Consideration: Offer a structured submission process with privacy safeguards and incentives.
5. Time
Participants lacked the time to comb through disparate sources, emphasizing the importance of efficiency.
Key Insight: A data analyst shared, “We’re busy. If it’s not directly relevant, we won’t dig into it.”
Need: Quick, intuitive access to insights.
Design Consideration: Include features like summaries, filters, and easy navigation.
Deliverables and Outcomes
To address these findings, I proposed the following:
Next Steps for Prototyping:
I created a short plan for the next steps of research that I would recommend. It includes the preparation process, interview structure, post-interview analysis, and follow-up that will need to be conducted.
Personas:
From this project, I created four types of user personas based on the different participants I interviewed: researcher, senior executive, data analyst, and academic. The researcher’s goal is to access existing GSA research in a single, centralized location to review what has already been conducted, but their pain point is there is not a lot of knowledge sharing and management across the GSA.
The senior executive’s goal is to understand the factors influencing GSA program outcomes and obtain a comprehensive view of stakeholder satisfaction. However, they have limited time available to make data-driven decisions and recommendations.
The data analyst’s goal is to identify previously asked questions in surveys and other quantitative data. Unfortunately, they spend excessive time searching for resources to support their work.
Finally, the academic’s goal is to create an indexed, current library that is easily searchable and provides a clear context for each research insight. However, the insights available in academic literature may be restricted or insufficient.
Conclusion and Reflections
This project highlighted the immense potential for an insights library to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration within the GSA. By deeply understanding user needs, I was able to outline actionable design recommendations that prioritize usability, transparency, and accessibility.
Moving forward, I recommend prototyping and testing potential solutions with GSA stakeholders to ensure alignment with real-world workflows. The insights library could transform how GSA manages and utilizes research, ultimately driving more informed decision-making and operational efficiency.
This project reinforced the importance of user-centered design: listening to users, iterating based on their feedback, and creating solutions tailored to their needs.