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Research in practice

Our work

Real research programmes, real findings, real decisions changed. From usability testing for digital products and SaaS platforms to lived experience studies with NHS partners and design validation for medical devices - here is what we have done and what it made possible.

Healthcare & NHS Digital products Financial services B2B SaaS Medical devices E-commerce Pharma
Research themes and notes pinned to a wall during analysis

No case studies match this filter.

Lived experience research

Understanding the lived experience of obesity

Disengagement from obesity services is often read as lack of motivation. Research with NHS and health innovation partners that found a different story - about mismatched systems, stigma, and services that don't fit real lives.

NHS / ICB Qualitative research Health inequalities
Lived experience research

Barriers to employment for people with complex mental health needs

Strong motivation to work, but systems that fought back at every turn. Research that reframed the question from individual readiness to systemic design failure.

Third sector Lived experience Inclusion
Design validation

Design validation for an insulin delivery device

Five 3D-printed prototype variants, participants living with diabetes, realistic usage scenarios. Testing that found what the design team couldn't see - before it was locked into manufacturing.

Healthtech Medical device Human factors
UX research

Why users weren't activating on a B2B SaaS platform

The product team had simplified onboarding twice without improving activation. Diary studies and contextual interviews found the real problem - users were trying to do something entirely different first.

B2B SaaS UX research Activation
Usability research

E-commerce usability research for an online retail platform

Remote moderated sessions with real shoppers completing real tasks. Friction in the purchase journey that analytics had flagged but couldn't explain - found, understood, and fixed.

E-commerce Remote usability Conversion
UX audit

Catching the defects that would have undermined an alpha study, before it began

An independent UX and accessibility review of a wellbeing app, before it went into alpha testing. Defects that would have generated misleading data were fixed first - the alpha now underway is measuring the product, not its bugs.

Health & wellbeing UX audit Accessibility
Focus groups & concept testing

Concept testing a new savings product for a financial services provider

The proposition tested well on paper. In the room it became clear customers liked it but didn't trust the category enough to act. That's a different problem to solve - and it changed the whole marketing brief.

Financial services Concept testing Focus groups
Usability research

Usability research for an NHS patient-facing portal

The portal was built to reduce administrative pressure. The patients who would have helped most weren't using it - not because they didn't want to, but because usability barriers stopped them before they started.

NHS / Primary care Digital health Accessibility
PPIE / Clinical research

PPIE programme supporting a Phase III clinical trial

Patient involvement before the protocol was finalised - not after. A finding about the primary outcome measure that improved the trial's scientific value and reshaped the ethics submission.

Pharmaceutical Clinical research PPIE
Patient experience research

Families navigating paediatric health pathways

For families with children in complex healthcare systems, parents become de facto care coordinators across fragmented services. Research with Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust that surfaced what the data couldn't.

NHS Trust Patient experience PPIE

The same discipline, whatever the sector

Research only earns its budget if it changes something. Every study here led to a decision that would have been different - or worse - without the insight. That is the standard we hold ourselves to.

Whether the project is a clinical trial protocol, a checkout flow, an NHS service redesign, or a product about to go into manufacturing - the discipline is the same. Define the question precisely, recruit the right people, observe what actually happens, and turn findings into something actionable.

Talk to us about your project
Real participants
Recruited and screened to genuinely represent the people your service or product is designed for
Rigorous method
Structured frameworks, behavioural observation, and thematic analysis - not opinion surveys
Actionable output
Findings synthesised into decisions, not just data. Research that actually changes what gets built

Working on something that needs real insight?

Tell us about your project and the decisions you need to make. We will help you figure out the right research approach.

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We usually respond within one working day.

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Book a free 20-minute call. No obligation, no sales pitch. We'll tell you honestly whether research is worth it for your decision, and what it would cost.