We knew that it was important to collect feedback from a user perspective, and we started by conducting a very lightweight usability study with a small sample size so we could get started right away.
Susan Ivey
Director of the Research Facilitation Service (RFS) and a member of the Strategic Storage Task Force
As the end of unlimited Google storage inches closer, the spotlight is on OIT Research Storage to help close the gap for researchers.
Throughout the fiscal year, NC State has made progress on recommendations from the Strategic Storage Task Force, a group led by NC State Chief Information Officer Marc Hoit and representatives from various academic departments. One such recommendation was to improve the usability of Research Storage to support increased use.
A Research Storage usability study was conducted in the fall to identify possible areas of improvement. Sessions were held via zoom with participants who were not currently using the service. The participants, five faculty and two librarians with faculty status, were asked to complete a series of tasks that focused on three components — discovery, setup and use.
“We knew that it was important to collect feedback from a user perspective, and we started by conducting a very lightweight usability study with a small sample size so we could get started right away,” said Susan Ivey, director of the Research Facilitation Service (RFS) and a member of the Strategic Storage Task Force. “What we were focusing on was if and how the user could find the resource, and if the information presented was understandable and useful.”
OIT and the NC State University Libraries are working to implement recommendations to address findings from the study. These recommendations include consolidating the service information into one succinct web presence that sufficiently communicates policies and intended use as well as making the Research Storage portal’s interface more user-friendly with clear navigation and documentation.
“We made recommendations based on initial findings, and we expect additional, iterative improvements based on future user feedback,” said Ivey.
Research Storage is no stranger to change. OIT worked for a number of years to obtain funding to provide the service, which has been evolving since its inception in 2016. At the time, funded research projects were eligible for an initial 1 terabyte (TB) of storage space, which could be increased to an undefined 5 to 10 TB at no cost.
“The Research Storage service was initially designed to address needs of researchers working with large amounts of data and to provide a place to meet data management plan data retention requirements,” said Eric Sills, assistant vice chancellor for OIT Shared Services.
In 2019, OIT added storage allocations for individual faculty to meet the needs of those without grants and to offer a layer of flexibility to others with multiple interrelated grants, said Sills. The default storage allocation for both funded projects and individual faculty was increased in 2020 to 2 TB with a maximum of 30 TB, where it sits today. Additional space is available for purchase annually.
The RFS, a collaboration between OIT, the NC State University Libraries and the Office of Research and Innovation, was launched in 2021 to serve as a single point of contact for researchers to learn about services and find support. Today, the RFS plays a critical role in helping researchers navigate the upcoming data storage changes.
“We’re trying to couple outreach about the infrastructure with data management — helping people understand how to curate their data, enabling them to make informed data management decisions rather than allowing their data to simply accumulate over time,” said Moira Downey, RFS research facilitator. “To really give meaningful consultation, you have to sit down with a researcher and look at what they have and dig into it.”
As for the next steps in Research Storage’s evolution, improvements to the service based on the usability study are expected to be implemented this coming fall.
