Next week you could be
shaping the NHS.
Members of The Collective get invited to research across healthcare, banking, government, retail, and more. No two invitations are the same, and every one of them changes something real.
Six sectors. Endless possibilities.
The organisations we work with span everything from the NHS to major banks, government departments to consumer technology brands. Here is the kind of research you might be invited to, and why your voice matters in each one.
Healthcare & the NHS
Millions of NHS appointments are missed each year partly because the booking system is confusing. GP surgeries are going digital. Hospitals are redesigning how patients find their way around. Every change needs real patients and carers, people who have actually sat in a waiting room, to test whether it works. That is not something a designer can do from a desk.
For example: testing a new way to book a GP appointment, trying a home blood pressure monitor, or giving feedback on a patient-facing app.
Banking & financial services
When you find your banking app confusing, that confusion is valuable. Banks know that if one person gets lost trying to make a transfer, thousands more do too. Pension providers need people to check whether their statements actually make sense. Mortgage calculators get redesigned when real applicants say they do not understand them. Your honest frustration is worth more than a consultant's polished opinion.
For example: reviewing a new current account app, joining a focus group on saving habits, or testing an insurance quote journey.
Government & public services
HMRC wants to know if its online tax forms make sense. Local councils are rebuilding their websites and need residents to test them. The DVLA, benefits services, planning portals. These are things that affect everyone, and the people building them actively want feedback from the people who actually use them. When you tell them something is broken, they are required to fix it.
For example: testing a council website, completing a benefit claim form as a researcher watches, or reviewing a new digital ID process.
Retail & e-commerce
Why do people abandon baskets? Why does one product page convert while another does not? How does it feel to return something? Retailers spend enormous sums trying to answer these questions, and the most effective method is still to sit with real shoppers and watch what they do. Your instincts as a customer are worth more than months of analytics data.
For example: shopping on a new website while thinking aloud, joining a focus group about loyalty schemes, or testing a click-and-collect experience.
Consumer technology & devices
Smart speakers, fitness trackers, connected home devices, health monitors. These things are being designed right now. Before they reach the market, someone has to try them for real. That means real homes, real routines, and real feedback from people who did not read the spec sheet. Members sometimes test devices for weeks before they are publicly announced.
For example: trialling a new wearable for two weeks, testing a smart home app with a researcher, or giving feedback on a device prototype.
Transport & travel
Rail booking systems, EV charging apps, bus journey planners, cycle hire portals. Transport infrastructure is being rebuilt for a digital world. The people designing these tools tend to travel very differently from the people who depend on them. Your daily commute, your car journey, your navigation habits. All of it is material that leads to better public transport for everyone.
For example: testing a new rail app, completing a diary about your weekly travel, or reviewing an EV charging sign-up journey.
What a session looks like in practice
Research sounds formal. It is not. Here are the kinds of things members actually get asked to do.
You are given a link to a website or app prototype. A researcher watches over a video call while you try to complete a task, such as booking an appointment, finding a product, making a transfer. They ask you to say what you are thinking as you go. It is relaxed, there are no wrong answers, and the whole thing takes about an hour.
You join three to seven other people on a video call or in a room. A moderator leads a conversation about a topic, such as how you manage your money, what matters to you when booking a GP, what you make of a new product concept. Your perspective interacts with others in the room, and that dynamic is exactly what researchers are there to observe.
Over a week or two you are sent short daily questions or tasks, sometimes just three or four minutes. You might be tracking how you interact with an app, logging how a new device fits into your routine, or noting your thoughts on a service you have been trying out. Longer commitment, higher payment, and often the most meaningful insight of all.
You receive a device, such as a monitor, wearable, or prototype, to try at home for a period of time. You use it as you normally would, then take part in a follow-up interview or survey about the experience. Sometimes the device is pre-launch. Sometimes you get to keep it. Always, your feedback matters.
You never quite know what is coming next.
One month you might be giving feedback on an NHS patient portal. The next, joining a focus group about financial wellbeing. Members tell us the variety is one of the things they like most. Every study is genuinely different, and each one genuinely matters to the people who commissioned it.
Join The Collective, it is freeWhat members say about the research
I have done three sessions now. A survey, a video call about a banking app, and a focus group on NHS services. Each one was genuinely interesting, not just filling in boxes. The researchers actually want to know what you think.
I liked that they actually wanted to hear from someone like me. I tested a fitness app and then a couple of weeks later I was talking about a bus booking system. Very different things, but both times my experience actually seemed to land with someone.
As a full-time carer I appreciated the remote options. I did a diary study from home about a care coordination app. It was easy to fit in and the feedback I gave clearly went somewhere. They sent a thank-you message saying how useful it had been.