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Remote work has created many new opportunities for R&D teams, but it also presents unique challenges. Research requires a high degree of collaboration, which can be difficult when distributed research teams are spread across different locations and time zones.
The classic research process, often relying on in-person whiteboarding and face-to-face discussions, can feel disconnected when team members are miles apart. However, with the right collaborative tools, R&D researchers can overcome these obstacles and also improve their workflow and uncover even more valuable insights.
With a shared visual workspace, teams can conduct user interviews, synthesize data, and align on findings, all from a distance. The shift to remote work requires teams to adapt to new ways of working that leverage technology to its fullest potential. A visual platform like Mural gives the tools to keep people engaged and creating together, no matter where they are.
Key Highlights:
- Remote research is simplified with the right collaborative tools, providing a single source of truth for all research findings.
- A visual digital workspace serves as a central hub for research, streamlining workflows and accelerating breakthrough discoveries.
- Modern R&D collaboration software empowers teams to work visually and asynchronously, leading to a more efficient and inclusive research process.
How visual tools transform remote research
Conducting remote research can present a variety of challenges, such as communication breakdowns and isolated information. When a team isn’t in the same physical space, it can be tough to keep everyone updated on the latest findings, or to collectively make sense of large amounts of qualitative information. Research insights can be lost in email chains or scattered across different documents.
A visual workspace brings research to life. Working together in virtual, visual environments can help reduce misunderstandings and delays in projects. It also keeps all team members on the same page, whether they’re working from home, in the office, or in a hybrid environment. Plus, teams benefit from the flexibility and creativity that remote environments offer.
Related: The future of work is multimodal
Bringing the research lab to the team
A visual, digital workspace serves as a virtual lab where all research activities can take place. It's an infinite canvas where every piece of data has a home, from interview transcripts to competitive analysis. Researchers can host discovery sessions and stakeholder interviews using a shared canvas. Murals act as single sources of truth for all research data, from the first results to the final recommendations.
For example, when a researcher conducts a user interview, they can capture key quotes and observations on digital sticky notes. These notes can then be moved, grouped, and tagged by the entire team, making the data synthesis process collaborative from the start. This method helps teams to see patterns more easily and to build a collective understanding of the research findings.
Digital workspaces are key to keeping distributed research teams engaged and aligned. It removes the friction of distance and helps to replicate the feeling of working together in person.
Related: 6 best practices that make virtual collaboration easy
Managing remote research for big discoveries
Managing remote research demands a structured process for handling the entire research lifecycle. With a clear framework for collaboration, teams can dramatically shorten the time it takes to go from a raw idea to a validated concept.
Here are a few examples of how a shared visual canvas can streamline your process:
- User and customer interviews: Conduct interviews and capture key quotes and observations on a digital whiteboard to ensure everyone has access to the information. Prepare with a template for user and customer interviews.
- Stakeholder interviews: Document stakeholder conversations in a dedicated space with a template for stakeholder interviews.
- Discovery sessions: Kick off new projects by outlining goals, research questions, and scope in a collaborative space. Use a discovery session template to keep everyone on the same page from the start.
- Affinity mapping: After gathering a large amount of data from interviews or surveys, a visual platform allows your team to perform affinity mapping. You can easily group digital sticky notes with similar themes or ideas, helping to reveal patterns and key insights.
- Customer journey mapping: Map out the end-to-end customer experience in a shared visual space. This helps the entire R&D team empathize with the user and identify pain points and opportunities for innovation.
By providing a visual, structured way to conduct these activities, you can dramatically improve the efficiency of your research process. This approach is fundamental to best practices for remote research because it helps teams move from scattered data points to a cohesive narrative that everyone can understand and act on. It helps to turn individual findings into a collective understanding, which is the foundation of true innovation.
Related: For a firsthand look at how a design strategist uses Mural, read this interview with Stefanie Owens. Her experience highlights how these tools enable deeper collaboration and more meaningful outcomes.
Revolutionizing remote research with a unified digital workspace
To successfully manage a distributed research team, you need a comprehensive solution that centralizes all information and tools. A single digital workspace makes it less likely to lose important information. It also gives everyone on the team access to the latest versions of documents, which is important for projects with long lifecycles.
A unified platform also provides a space for brainstorming and other visual activities, creating a more cohesive workflow. The result is a more efficient research process, from initial planning to final delivery.
Integrating your favorite tools and templates
The best R&D collaboration software integrates with the other tools you already use, creating a seamless workflow. For example, a platform like Mural can be integrated with tools like Microsoft Teams, and Jira, allowing you to move from brainstorming to execution without missing a beat.
Make sure your visual workspace doesn't exist in isolation; it should become a key part of your team's broader operational ecosystem. The ability to pull in data from other platforms and work on it visually helps to accelerate the research process and keep the entire team aligned.
A library of customizable templates for everything from project kickoffs to brainstorming sessions helps to standardize your research processes. Templates provide a starting point for any activity, helping teams to work more efficiently and consistently across projects.
Mural for modern R&D teams
The modern R&D team can thrive regardless of distance. By embracing visual collaboration in a central digital workspace, you can move beyond the limitations of proximity and build a more efficient, aligned, and innovative research process. The key is to find the right collaborative tools that not only streamline your workflow but also help your team uncover breakthrough discoveries.
Want to learn more about using Mural to conduct effective and insightful research sessions? Request a free demo today.
FAQs
Q: How can a visual collaboration platform help my team synthesize a large volume of research data?
A: A visual platform provides a central, shared space where your team can organize and analyze data. Using features like digital sticky notes, you can easily tag, group, and rearrange research findings, making it simple to perform affinity mapping and identify key themes or patterns that might be hard to see in a traditional spreadsheet. This process helps your team move from raw data to actionable insights more efficiently.
Q: My R&D team is spread across multiple time zones. How can a tool like this help us collaborate effectively?
A: A visual digital workspace is built for both real-time and asynchronous collaboration. Team members in different locations can contribute to a shared canvas at any time, adding their ideas and research findings. When you do have live meetings, everyone can work on the same canvas, seeing changes as they happen. This flexibility helps to bridge the gap caused by different time zones and keeps your project moving forward.
Q: We already use several tools for our research. Can a visual collaboration platform integrate with our existing workflow?
A: Yes, the best R&D collaboration software integrates with the tools you already use, such as Microsoft Teams, and Jira. This capability ensures that your visual workspace doesn't exist in isolation. Instead, it becomes a key part of your workflow, allowing you to easily transfer information and keep all your project data centralized. This integration helps to create a seamless and more efficient process.
