Abstract
Objective: Customer journey mapping and design thinking were identified as useful tools for identifying deeper insights into the research data service needs of researchers on our campus with their direct input. In this article we discuss ways to improve the process in order to identify data needs earlier in the project life and at a more granular level. Methods: Customer journey mapping and design thinking were employed to get direct input from researchers about their research processes and data management needs. Responses from mapping templates and follow-up interviews were then used to identify themes to be explored using design thinking. Finally, a toolkit was created in Open Science Framework to guide other libraries who wish to employ these techniques Results: Outcomes from the customer journey mapping and design thinking sessions identified needs in the areas of data storage, organization and sharing. We also identified project-management lessons learned. The first lesson was to ensure the researchers who participate adequately represent the range of data needs on campus. Another was that customer journey mapping would be more effective if the responses were collected in real time and researchers were allowed more flexibility in the mapping process. Conclusions: Modifications to the customer journey mapping and design thinking techniques will provide real-time responses and deeper insights into the research data service needs of researchers on our campus. Our pilot identified some important gaps but we felt that more subtle and useful outcomes were possible by making changes to our process.
Highlights
Our IMLS Sparks! funded project consisted of working with a cohort of 27 faculty across STEM and social sciences fields, and an Advisory Board selected from a diverse set of institutions to act as consultants
The first lesson was to ensure the researchers who participate adequately represent the range of data needs on campus. Another was that customer journey mapping would be more effective if the responses were collected in real time and researchers were allowed more flexibility in the mapping process
Our pilot identified some important gaps but we felt that more subtle and useful outcomes were possible by making changes to our process
Summary
Why we chose these approaches: We chose these methodologies to gain direct insight into researcher challenges, pain points, and perspectives and to provide us with a way to identify themes at a deeper level than surveys would allow us to do. The customer journey maps represented the first step of the design thinking process which would allow us to identify what challenges researchers faced when working with project data. Please describe your experiences surrounding the use of open source tools to share your data These sessions were great at pinpointing the difficulties they were facing, but we found it challenging to identify solutions. The outcomes supported efforts to generate funding for file sharing services and cloud data storage and contributed to long-term strategic planning They did not produce many quick answers and in most cases, by the time that the project participants were engaged in the design thinking sessions they had largely found at least short-term solutions for the immediate problems that they were facing. Framing can be difficult with the free-flow of ideas and conversation that are generated with this type of qualitative methodology
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