The UX Research team at the Wikimedia Foundation, formerly known as Design Research and Design Strategy, seeks to understand the needs, motivations, goals and challenges of people who consume and/or contribute to free knowledge. We employ a variety of research methods to understand how individuals in diverse contexts use our products and other technologies to interact with Wikimedia projects. Our research informs the design of products, programs, and strategies that serve our users and enhance their experience on our platforms. We collaborate with product teams, designers, engineers, data analysts, global research partners, users, and Wikimedia communities around the world to ensure rigor and reliability in our work. Our goal is to support the creation of meaningful positive experiences for the millions of readers and contributors who use Wikipedia and its sister projects every day.
Overview
UX research helps us learn about the needs, motivations, and contexts of the people we design and build for, and to iterate on solutions that fit within their workflows rather than break them. We combine qualitative and quantitative methods across generative and evaluative approaches.
Generative research — including contextual inquiry and unstructured interviews — surfaces the needs, goals, constraints, and contexts of people who consume or contribute to free knowledge. It typically runs at the beginning of a product cycle to inform direction.
Evaluative research — including usability testing and concept testing — assesses concepts, prototypes, and current functionality with users. It runs inside product cycles in close collaboration with product teams, and is generally faster and lighter on participants than generative work.
Initiatives
Contact
Reach the team at desresadmin@wikimedia.org. We also host regular office hours where the Wikimedia community can discuss research methodologies or receive guidance on their own research.