DfE user research community principle 4

We are adaptable and collaborative, and focus our research in the right places

This principle is about the way we work in our teams and with other user researchers to help deliver DfE’s goals.

It means that we treat UR as a team sport, guiding our teams to do the right research for the right reasons. We work in an agile way, continuously building up insight over time, and adjusting our plans based on what we learn. We avoid repeating research, and we collaborate with user researchers in related teams to maximise our insight. We always understand the strategic direction and mission of our area of work, the policy around it, and how our research ultimately contributes to the Department’s goals.

How you know you're meeting this principle

As a user researcher at DfE, you’ll know you’re successfully doing this because:

  • You can clearly explain the rationale for your research, and how it will help your team meet the policy goal informing your service or project
  • Your team understands agile user research, and is working in a way that enables it to happen
  • You adjust your research plans based on the insights you gather
  • You always check for similar research that has been conducted in the past
  • You join up your insight with other user researchers in your programme area, and those outside your programme with similar users
  • You are aware of the different research and data disciplines in DfE, and collaborate with them to complement your own research

How we support you

Right now, we help you to meet this principle with:

In the future (see our profession roadmap), we want to have:

  • Lead user researchers in every portfolio
  • Playbooks to help you work productively with different professions
  • Recommended ways of working across different types of project and phase

Discuss our principles

Give feedback or suggest changes to this principle by using the 'give us feedback' link at the top of this page.