The most valuable work shared RDI units do is the work that leaves no trace. This study examines why valuable work remains invisible and designs a response. Drawing on service ecosystem design, public value, and leverage point theories, it uses a design-led case study of a shared RDI unit in a Finnish university consortium. Four structural findings were identified: coordination is relational but concentrates risk; the service boundary exists on paper but not in practice; value is created relationally but recognised transactionally; and several challenges require institutional action above the design layer. In response, the DIRECT framework – Define, Record, Communicate, with equitable researcher access as a precondition – was developed and validated through convergence between the researcher's design and the RDI team's priorities. Its intended impact is to shift the institutional conversation from transactional justification to evidence-based dialogue.