Creating and using research plans

It’s important that we carefully plan the research we do.

Teams create the best services when research activities provide reliable answers to their most important questions. And we do our best research when we do it in ethical, inclusive and sustainable ways.

Planning research activities #

We want to create plans that help us Find the truth, and tell the truth. And allow us to Learn, share and adapt as we go.

We choose appropriate research methods for the context and apply them well. We make sure our research activities are inclusive and accessible, and safe for our participants and ourselves.

We want to involve our colleagues and other stakeholders in creating research plans, so they understand and can contribute to research activities.

And we find peer review is a great way to help improve our plans, and a great opportunity for us to learn from each other.

The guide to planning user research for your service in the Service Manual sets out a good approach to creating a plan.

Research plan templates #

Creating and sharing a short research plan document is a great way to get everyone aligned. And to address any concerns that clients and stakeholders may have.

We have a research plan template (Google Docs) and a research plan template (Google Slides), that you can use as a starting point. But feel free to adapt it and add sections that may be important for your project.

Last updated: 29 January 2024 (history)