Technology platforms, as viewed from the perspective of their users, provide new perspectives to discover aspects to enhance its use. The objective of this study is to provide the instruments and indicators that allow us to obtain empirical evidence of the experience of users of an institutional repository through the user-centered design methodology. The guiding question of the study was: How can we measure the experience of users who use an institutional repository? We employed a sequential mixed explanatory methodology and user-centered design, with the use of focus groups and surveys, applied to a sample of students and teachers. The findings identify three key factors that must be considered in promoting positive experiences for users; that is, normalization of the use of institutional repositories, the versatility of technology, and innovation in communication strategies to increase knowledge transfer in an open format.