I’ve come to the end of the user research section of my digital inclusion project, however what it’s shown me is that there’s actually a lot more research I could do! I chose to survey clients at the end of inbound calls but that’s proven that we’re really good at accepting inbound calls and helping clients that way. It’s also taught me that people who phone don’t necessarily want us to be more digitally accessible. Surveying callers has been a really useful starting point. I was able to speak to people from different backgrounds in different age brackets calling for different reasons eas ..read more

User research — finding the missing voices Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash Listening to the playbacks in our recent peer learning session, one interesting theme emerged — many of us felt that there were important user groups that we weren’t managing to reach with our research. As charities (and within the time frame of the Deloitte programme), we are used to working with what’s to hand, and, in the case of user research, that often means speaking to people who are already service users. So, by definition, we are speaking to the people that those services work well for — bu ..read more

This is my first time using Medium to record my experiences/feelings/work, so anyone out there that might be reading this — please bear with me! I’m a bit of a dinosaur with #technology, so learning as I go. I’ve spent time today looking at Jamboard, Medium and even Google Drive (a bit embarassing, but there I’ve said it). I work at #SevernWyeEnergyAgency on the #Adviceline and am used to dealing with clients over the phone and by email, also using snail mail as and when. The opportunity that the #Deloitte Digital Connect Team is giving us is phenomenal and I’m very grateful for the  ..read more

Had another amazing session with the #Deloitte and #Cast team today — I’m learning so much, I feel like I’m back at university (not a recent memory…). I’m starting to practice with some of the tools that they’ve shared and loving the look of Miro (sorry Jamboard, that was short lived) but a bit intimidated by Trello. Going to spend some time sharing my experience with the #SevernWye team and will see what we can use to support our open working. I love hybrid working and realising we can do it much more easily. Next step is to move my current notes from Excel and JamBoard to Miro :) O ..read more

From agency to influence — DDC weeknotes My cough is nearly better. The headache is gone. The haircut is done. Power on! It’s been a week of cross-pollination and partnership work — making the most of less intense support delivery on Deloitte Digital Connect (DDC) to dedicate some time to nurturing our partnerships and experiencing first hand the longer-term impact that programmes like Deloitte Digital Connect are having. My kind of week, when the different spinning plates land in an orderly line. It could have been a messy washing up session, but no — it’s all quite tidy. It all fit ..read more

Having been on the DDC programme since December I was rearing with go with my first meeting of our Steering Group, sharing the research we were about to embark on and hopefully rustling up some interest…… ?people were very positive about the project exploring barriers into volunteering for people with mental health challenges, sharing some powerful stories about their experiences.. ‘I didn’t feel I could push back on the tight timelines they (the charity) had and I could feel my health getting worse, I didn’t know what to do…’ so I was sure I would easily have 5 people to interview….. ☹ but t ..read more

I’m reading through all the notes participants have written in their Discovery Phase Workbook. The Workbook has been created for the brilliant cohort of 30 social impact organisations for Deloitte Digital Connect 2023–2024. All the activities in the workbook have been specially designed to support social impact organisations with some really exciting user research. Here are some reflections on what I’m learning by reading everyone’s workbooks. Wonderful things There is some much progress being made! As part of the application to the programme, each charity identified a challenge and are being ..read more

User research — making it safe and rewarding for participants Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash The last couple of weeks on the Deloitte Digital Connect programme, I’ve been grappling with two related issues — how to get enough participants for our user research interviews, and how to make sure they are safe and supported through the process. The issues are related because they both connect to the key fact that user research can be a one-way process — we, as an organisation, need to get something from our participants (their feedback). And, in some cases, particularly in the char ..read more

We’re in the ‘stuff gets real’ part of the Deloitte Digital Connect programme at the moment. At Goalball UK my Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is a new website, but there’s lots of planning to do before we get there. Here are 5 things I learned this week: 1. Miro I’ve used plenty of collaborative tools online over the years. I’m a huge fan of setting things out this way. I’m a very visual person so I’d run the world from a Jamboard if I could. It’s like all the little parts of my brain come alive on screen and make sense! Miro is a new one to me though, so thank you to Deloitte ..read more

Late in 2023 I applied for the Deloitte Digital Connect scheme. The scheme is for charities and non-profits to learn how to apply user centred design to digital products or services. Thankfully I was accepted! Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash My challenge is a big one — a new website for Goalball UK — where I’m the Digital and Communications Lead. Rather than rely on the previous methods I’d use for this of ‘make list of requirements, write a brief, select someone to build it, launch it’, I’m super excited to learn how to connect with our community to make it the best it can be for our ..read more