Using Customer Journey Mapping and Design Thinking to Understand the Library’s Role in Supporting the Research Data Lifecycle

Objective: Customer journey mapping and design thinking were identified as useful tools for identifying deeper insights into the research data service needs of researchers on our campus with their direct input. In this article we discuss ways to improve the process in order to identify data needs earlier in the project life and at a more granular level.

Methods: Customer journey mapping and design thinking were employed to get direct input from researchers about their research processes and data management needs. Responses from mapping templates and follow-up interviews were then used to identify themes to be explored using design thinking. Finally, a toolkit was created in Open Science Framework to guide other libraries who wish to employ these techniques

Results: Outcomes from the customer journey mapping and design thinking sessions identified needs in the areas of data storage, organization and sharing. We also identified project-management lessons learned. The first lesson was to ensure the researchers who participate adequately represent the range of data needs on campus. Another was that customer journey mapping would be more effective if the responses were collected in real time and researchers were allowed more flexibility in the mapping process.

Conclusions: Modifications to the customer journey mapping and design thinking techniques will provide real-time responses and deeper insights into the research data service needs of researchers on our campus. Our pilot identified some important gaps but we felt that more subtle and useful outcomes were possible by making changes to our process.