The User Research Toolkit

A resource for innovation researchers and their partners to learn and engage with User Research methods – methodologies to create inclusive products that understand and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Jump to Methods

In this toolkit, we give you an overview on the most common user research methods, how to plan for them, and hands-on implementation advice, providing support on how to adapt standard User Research methods to the context of agriculture in the Global South.

To help you get the most out of it, we designed the tools and the content for three different type of users – the planner, the implementer and field staff.
Find out how this toolkit can best support your project needs.

Are You Planning Your Research?

Someone leading a research or innovation program, writing proposals, hiring staff and mainly planning user research.

We have prepared a whole section for you and lots of the content in the method modules is meant to give you a quick overview to understand the time, budgets, and resources you will need to plan user research within your program or team.

Are You Implementing Research?

Someone implementing user research in a CGIAR program, or a consultant hired to do this work.
Lots of the overview info in the method modules can help you find your way and adapt the method you chose to your context. We tagged some of the info especially relevant for you: guidance on how to design questions, interview situations, or recruit research partners.

Are You in the Field?

Someone that actually works in the field and is meeting users on a daily basis.
We are coming to support you in Version 2.0! For now, our aim is to pilot the toolkit for the two User Personas above, but we have a lot in stock that we think can be great support for the people actually doing interviews, sitting in focus groups, or collecting data in surveys. Keep an eye open for coming updates!

We’d love to hear from you!

For feedback and questions, reach out to us!