Research Kit Template

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Research Kit – A Starter Template for Human-Centered Discovery

Great design begins with understanding people. Whether you're exploring user needs, identifying pain points, or developing a new product or service, research is the foundation that supports thoughtful and impactful solutions. The Research Kit is a ready-to-use Miro template designed to help individuals and teams plan, conduct, and organize both primary and secondary research methods with clarity and confidence.

This board serves as your research companion—from forming early questions to analyzing and synthesizing insights. It supports beginners who are just stepping into research as well as experienced professionals who want a structured and collaborative space to work in.

🔍 What’s Inside the Kit?

The Research Kit is divided into two main types of research: Primary Research and Secondary Research. Each section includes structured templates, guiding prompts, and clear instructions to help you move through the process smoothly.

🧠 Primary Research Methods

Primary research is all about gathering firsthand data directly from users or participants. This helps you learn about their behaviors, experiences, and needs in their own words and contexts. The Research Kit supports the following key primary research methods:

1. User Interviews

Use this section to plan and document your interviews. You’ll find templates for writing discussion guides, note-taking formats, and ways to synthesize the conversations afterward. Interviews allow you to dig deep into users’ motivations, preferences, and frustrations, revealing valuable insights that are often hidden beneath the surface.

2. Surveys

For collecting data at scale, the survey section helps you define your goals, draft strong questions, and organize incoming responses. Whether you’re doing quick pulse checks or detailed questionnaires, this tool helps you spot patterns and validate hypotheses with larger sample sizes.

3. Observations

Here, you can capture what users do—not just what they say. Observation templates guide you in structuring your field notes, mapping user behaviors, and recording contextual factors that might affect user experience. This is especially useful when studying how people interact with physical products or spaces.

4. Focus Groups

Sometimes it’s powerful to gather a small group of users and explore a topic together. The board includes tools for preparing and running focus groups—facilitation tips, note-taking sections, and post-session reflection boards. Use this to understand group dynamics, shared attitudes, and emotional responses around a product or problem space.

Each method is designed to work independently or together, depending on your research goals and timeline. Whether you’re running a design sprint or a long-form discovery phase, these tools help you collect meaningful data that’s grounded in real human experiences.

📚 Secondary Research Methods

While primary research gathers new data, secondary research focuses on analyzing existing information—and it’s just as critical. The Research Kit includes a section for desk research, competitor analysis, and internal knowledge reviews.

1. Desk Research

This section guides you in gathering insights from articles, academic studies, trend reports, analytics, support tickets, or existing user feedback. You’ll find templates to organize your sources, highlight key takeaways, and compare findings across multiple data sets.

✨ Who Is This For?

Beginner researchers who want step-by-step guidance through the process
Designers and product teams needing a collaborative research workspace
Facilitators or design sprint leaders preparing user discovery activities
Researchers looking to organize and visualize research findings with their team

Whether you're working alone or as part of a cross-functional team, this board adapts to your workflow.