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How Dropbox scale its design research

· 2 min read

Dropbox's design research team grew from 4 members to 30+ today. How do they scale the efforts healthily, even when the headcount for the team is limited? More researches usually mean more harm if they are done improperly.

And the major challenges for the scaling process are

  1. Untrained researchers will ask bad questions, misinterpret data, and make bad decisions.
  2. User researches happen anyway, with or without the research operation team.
  3. What kind of user research should be done by non-professionals, and what should be done by professionals?

Dropbox's Solution​

  1. Provide the right tool for unmoderated research. e.g. UserTesting, UserZoom, Lookback.
  2. Real World Wednesday. Like research speed dating, 5 researchers meet 5 users for 15 mins for each.
  3. Provide internal consultancy.

How to provide internal consultancy?​

  1. Documentation: logistics, templates, privacy and security, tips and best practices (a lot of how-tos).
  2. On-on-one consulting

Result​

  • For professional research operation team
    • they get more time and energy to focus on bigger strategic projects
  • For teams and products
    • they conduct more researches
    • they build better products
    • they are less blocked by the research operation team
    • they respect the research operation team more
  • For users
    • they get more empathy

Risks​

  • Still, bad researches result in bad decisions.
  • It's hard to ensure the quality.

How Dropbox Scales Its User Research

· 2 min read

Dropbox's user research team has grown from 4 members to over 30 today. How can they scale their efforts healthily when the team size is limited? If research is done improperly, more user research often leads to more harm.

The main challenges faced during scaling are:

  1. Untrained researchers may ask the wrong questions, misinterpret data, and make incorrect decisions.
  2. User research will still occur, regardless of whether there is a research team.
  3. What type of user research should be conducted by non-professionals, and what type should be conducted by professionals?

Dropbox's Solutions​

  1. Provide appropriate tools for unregulated research, such as UserTesting, UserZoom, Lookback, etc.
  2. "Real World Wednesdays." Like speed dating, 5 researchers meet with 5 users for 15 minutes each.
  3. Offer internal consulting.

How to Provide Internal Consulting?​

  1. Documentation: logistics, templates, privacy and security, tips and best practices (a wealth of how-tos).
  2. One-on-one consulting.

Results​

  • Professional user research team
    • They have more time and energy to focus on larger strategic projects.
  • For the team and product
    • They can conduct more research.
    • They create better products.
    • They are less blocked by the research team.
    • They have greater respect for the research team.
  • For users
    • They receive more empathy.

Risks​

  • Poor research can still lead to incorrect decisions.
  • It is difficult to ensure quality.

About Tian Pan

Solutions architect and tech entrepreneur specializing in enterprise SaaS and Web3 platforms. Led development of high-throughput distributed systems handling millions of transactions. Full-stack expertise with a track record of architecting cloud-native solutions that scale seamlessly from startup to enterprise scale.

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