User insights shed light on people’s preferences, behaviours, and expectations. This not only shapes the development process, but empowers me to make informed decisions that resonate with a target audience. I’ve managed complex projects end-to-end, from ideation to release. This is not only true for planning and analysing digital products but also for NHS improvement projects that are led by user insights.
My user insight skills
Develop products
Products will only succeed if they fulfill a user need. At the British Heart Foundation I’ve been part of the team gathering and analysing user insights to get to the core purpose of an app, app’s feature or a digital product
Improve UX
In the NHS, I look at user experience of content or products like our website. If end users can easily get what they need they’ll come back. It’s the same for apps or features, it can attract new customers or re-invigorate inactive users.
Targeted content
When I create short-form pieces of copy, or even microcopy, everything can be targeted to what users need, are searching for, or what they’re interested in. This plays a role in my content strategy and SEO.
How can I use insights to improve your business?
An example of my process for NHS user insights projects
- Create project timelines and roadmaps, stakeholder mapping and engagement
- Recruit diversely, both internally (project group) and externally (community engagement to recruit people who have relevant experience and may not previously have been given a voice in healthcare discussions)
- Insight synthesis, where I make sense of everything I have learnt through the user insights to identify key themes and areas for improvement. I conduct synthesis on a rolling basis, using Miro to help with affinity mapping – a process of grouping the insights to uncover key themes.
- I look at co-design opportunity areas, and create journey maps of the current experience and key areas for improvement.
- I create user personas and user stories.
- I lead ideation workshops and prototyping and testing sessions with staff and patients. Collaboration is key for user insights projects.
- I suggest solutions, using tools such as the value-complexity matrix below, so that I can show value for money and plan a strategy for improvement.