Create a research plan around decisions and uncertainties
Connect a studio-service decision to research questions, methods, participant situations, access needs, data handling, and follow-up so the plan supports learning rather than a predetermined solution.
Begin with the decision and uncertainty
A research plan should explain what a team needs to learn and how that learning will inform a decision. For a studio-access service, the uncertainty may concern preparation, eligibility, or finding available sessions. Naming a method first can narrow attention prematurely. Begin with the decision and the assumptions that could change it.
Match research questions to methods
Turn assumptions into answerable research questions, then choose methods suited to those questions. Existing records may explain operational patterns, interviews can explore experience, and task-based sessions can examine an interface. Define who needs to be included, how participation will be accessible, and what information will be collected and protected. Choose a level of detail that supports the current decision without turning preparation into a substitute for action. Too little detail leaves collaborators inventing the missing conditions; too much can make an uncertain proposal look settled. State the boundaries and name the questions outside them. If another discipline owns an important condition, involve that person early instead of treating the design document as permission to invent an operational answer.
Plan an induction-service investigation
Plan research for a proposed induction-booking service. List uncertainties about readiness, session suitability, and confirmation. Match each to a method and identify what that method cannot establish. Add a schedule of activities only after checking participant availability, team capacity, and the time needed to analyze and act on findings. Keep a brief record of the conditions used for the exercise: the task, information available, roles involved, and artifact version. This makes a later revision easier to compare without relying on memory. Capture questions in the moment, but resist converting every comment into a requirement. Afterward, decide which questions concern the method, which concern the proposed product, and which require an operational owner before work can continue.
Include analysis and challenging questions
If the plan contains only validation of a favored solution, add questions that could challenge it. If the same broad question appears under every method, narrow the inquiry. If analysis is omitted from the schedule, sessions may generate material that nobody can interpret before the decision. Treat synthesis and follow-up as real work. When the activity produces ambiguity, identify whether the problem lies in the question, the material, the facilitation, or an unresolved product decision. Changing the visual format alone may leave the same uncertainty intact. Return to the purpose and repair the relevant part. Record the change and its reason so collaborators can distinguish a clearer method from a genuinely different interpretation of the underlying evidence.
Agree responsibilities and limits
Review the plan with the people who will use the findings and those responsible for participant welfare and data handling. Agree how unanswered questions will be recorded and when the plan can change. The finished document should make the learning purpose, method choices, and practical responsibilities clear without implying that planned research has already supplied evidence.
Worked decision
Use interviews to investigate preparation experiences and task sessions to examine a proposed booking route; keep the questions and limits distinct.
References & further reading
- GOV.UK Service Manual: planning user research ↗
- GOV.UK Service Manual: capturing research questions ↗
Examples and exercises in this guide are original teaching scenarios.
