# User research for an forge federation service (fedeproxy)

**URL:** <https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/user-research-for-an-forge-federation-service-fedeproxy/2471>\
**Category:** Design Lounge\
**Created:** [March 31, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/user-research-for-an-forge-federation-service-fedeproxy/2471 "2021-03-31T13:13:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dachary](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcedesign.net/dachary/32/503_2.png) [@dachary](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/dachary)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/user-research-for-an-forge-federation-service-fedeproxy/2471/1 "2021-03-31T13:13:35Z")

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Bonjour,

In the same spirit as **[User research for an open data publishing service](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/user-research-for-an-open-data-publishing-service/1361)** back in 2019, we’re bootstrapping a User Research for a [forge federation service](https://forum.fedeproxy.eu/t/fedeproxy-full-description/13), a Free Software project for which @Gawan recently [provided a logo](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/jobs-design-logo-for-our-tool/2319) 😍 The process will be fully [documented in the UX category of the fedeproxy forum](https://forum.fedeproxy.eu/c/user-research/8) and the final report will be published here as a conclusion. Everyone interested is of course welcome to join [the fedeproxy forum](https://forum.fedeproxy.eu) and discuss the details: only it seems a little too much to spam the OpenSourceDesign forum with all the legwork 😅

The [fedeproxy](https://fedeproxy.eu) applied for a grant [back in January 2021](https://forum.fedeproxy.eu/t/dapsi-call-deadline-20-01-2021/14) (all of which, including the application, is published for others to benefit from the experience). The User Research part of the workplan was a little difficult to reconcile with the requirements. There is a chicken and egg problem with projects that apply for relatively modest funding (75K€ in this case): **the milestones must be defined in advance for (roughly) the year to come. How can this be done when User Research comes first and defines what will be done?** This is probably one of the reasons why the **Project planning and value for money** part of the application got 3.75/5 which is not a great rating. Luckily the rest of the application got better grades and [the grant was approved](https://fedeproxy.eu/blog/2021/03/31/dapsi-step0/) 🎉

The project is relatively modest and I intend to keep the User Research part simple, with the following plan:

- [Prepare the research](https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/#prepare-your-research)
- [Find participants](https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/#find-participants) among software developers, organizations and forge maintainers
- [Prepare the research sessions](https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/#prepare-the-research-session)
- Create an intercept interview script
- Conduct interviews with the participants
- Organize an [affinity mapping session](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/affinity-diagram/) to identify [emerging themes](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Virginia_Braun/publication/235356393_Using_Thematic_Analysis_in_Psychology/links/00b7d52c9e6303d840000000/Using-Thematic-Analysis-in-Psychology.pdf)
- [Analyze the results](https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/#Analysis) and [write a report](https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/#communicate-results) with recommendations for the implementation of the **fedeproxy** user experience.

I have a few [personas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(user_experience)) in mind and will start by [writing a description down and reach out to people I know](https://forum.fedeproxy.eu/t/preparing-the-user-research/71), asking if they would agree to interviews. If you know anyone interested, please let me know. There certainly is a bias to be avoided when relying only on people you already know. Any advice you may have would also be most welcome, of course!

Cheers

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**Author:** ![dachary](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.opensourcedesign.net/dachary/32/503_2.png) [@dachary](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/u/dachary)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 8:17am UTC](https://discourse.opensourcedesign.net/t/user-research-for-an-forge-federation-service-fedeproxy/2471/2 "2021-06-20T08:17:35Z")

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The work was completed this week and the User Research report was published:

> **[2021 06 user research report · Wiki · fedeproxy / ux](https://lab.fedeproxy.eu/fedeproxy/ux/-/wikis/2021-06-user-research-report)**
>
> UX and User Research

Out of the ten interview transcripts, one will not be published because the interviewee preferred that it is kept private, [four are published](https://lab.fedeproxy.eu/fedeproxy/ux/-/wikis/home#interviews) and contain raw material that may be reused for further research and five are in the process of being reviewed by the participants.

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/opensourcedesign/original/2X/f/f39df02598f86f322d9378c1effc2b463dc7c0fa.jpeg)

Comments and criticism from seasoned user research professionals would be very welcome. This is one of the reasons why the entire process is documented publicly 🙂