blog: Introducing the UX Research Working Group

blog/posts/2026-03-04-introducing-ux-research-working-group.md

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+---
+title: Introducing the UX Research Working Group
+created_at: 2026-03-04
+kind: article
+author_name: Amy Super
+---
+
+Prometheus has always prioritized solving complex technical challenges to deliver a reliable, performant open-source monitoring system. Over time, however, users have expressed a variety of experience-related pain points. Those pain points range from onboarding and configuration to documentation, mental models, and interoperability across the ecosystem.
+
+At PromCon 2025, [a user research study was presented](https://youtu.be/p4YioGATN-s?si=g_rIi1iiODfQqxgE) that highlighted several of these issues. Although the central area of investigation involved Prometheus and OpenTelemetry workflows, the broader takeaway was clear: Prometheus would benefit from a dedicated, ongoing effort to understand user needs and improve the overall user experience.
+
+Recognizing this, the Prometheus team established a Working Group focused on improving user experience through design and user research. This group is meant to support all areas of Prometheus by bringing structured research, user insights, and usability perspectives into the community's development and decision-making processes.
+
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+
+## How we can help Prometheus maintainers
+
+Building something where the user needs are unclear? Maybe you're looking at two competing solutions and you'd like to understand the user tradeoffs alongside the technical ones.
+
+That's where we can be of help.
+
+The UX Working Group will partner with you to conduct user research or provide feedback on your plans for user outreach. That could include:
+
+- User research reports and summaries
+- User journeys, personas, wireframes, prototypes, and other UX artifacts
+- Recommendations for improving usability, onboarding, interoperability, and documentation
+- Prioritized lists of user pain points
+- Suggestions for community discussions or decision-making topics
+
+To get started, tell us what you're trying to do, and we'll work with you to determine what type and scope of research is most appropriate.
+
+## How we can help Prometheus end users
+
+We want to hear from you! Let us know if you're interested in participating in a research study and we'll contact you when we're working on one that's a good fit. Having an issue with the Prometheus user experience? We can help you open an issue and direct it to the appropriate community members. 
+
+## Interested in helping?
+
+New contributors to the working group are always welcome! Get in touch and let us know what you'd like to work on. 
+
+## Where to find us
+
+Drop us a message in Slack, join a meeting, or raise an issue in GitHub. 
+
+- **Slack:** [#prometheus-ux-wg](https://cloud-native.slack.com/archives/prometheus-ux-wg)
+- **Meetings:** We meet biweekly, currently on [Wednesdays at 14:00 UTC](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=prometheus.io_bdf9qgm081nrd0fe32g3olsld0%40group.calendar.google.com) (subject to change depending on contributor availability).
+- **GitHub:** [prometheus-community/ux-research](https://github.com/prometheus-community/ux-research)