Case Studies

Outcome

After facilitating a stakeholder workshop with the commissioners, U1 developed a two-stage research approach involving 40 participants across Victoria who represented a broad range of different consumers including individuals and businesses.

Part 1 involved a 90-minute session where we interviewed and observed participants as they researched and switched energy plans as they normally would. This included any conversations they had with energy comparators and retailers.

Part 2 was conducted two weeks later and involved a 30-minute follow-up interview with each participant to understand what had occurred since that first interview and to discuss their experiences. This included any further interactions they may have had with comparators and energy providers, what decisions they’d made, how they came to that decision and what the outcome was for them (e.g. if they had changed plans, providers, or decided to go back to their original plan).

By observing and understanding the process of how consumers research the market to compare how their current plan compared to alternatives in the marketplace, and switching energy providers from end to end, U1 was able to deliver a comprehensive report which illustrated and organised the findings and recommendations. We identified clear pain points where consumers frequently misunderstood the information provided by energy comparators and retailers and were able to uncover a range of factors which contribute to consumer trust.

The key deliverables for this project were a detailed report, personas and current state journey maps that reflected the consumer experience and a presentation of the research to the Commission. The insights from this research will be included in the upcoming consumer competition review.

Outcome

Working closely with the New York based design team, U1 conducted 24 contextual inquiries across Melbourne with participants identified as probable ‘low-effort’ users. U1 consultants visited the 24 participants in their homes or at their place of work to reach a rich understanding of the behaviours and values engaging with music.

Each visit explored;

• Discussion around personal life, hobbies, and technology usage and integration.
• A current state music experience: exploring where, when, why, and how users were listening to music. Their music goals, pain points, device and source preference were discussed.
• Ideal future state music experience exploration, discussing how users envision the future of music engagement.
• Reactions to Spotify Stations prototype. Participants used the prototype and provided their first impressions and discussed what worked well and what could be improved.

In addition to the contextual inquiries, U1 developed a detailed ‘Cultural Landscape’ report. This highlighted the emotional values and transactional behaviours of Australian users which may peripherally influence a user’s engagement with a new app driven musical experience.

For example, the desire for ‘a fair go’ among Australian consumers who often experience limited access to entertainment content due to regional licensing laws. Similarly, the high price of mobile data plans in Australia compared to other markets can influence streaming decisions among Australian consumers.

U1 delivered a detailed report of evidence backed design recommendations to improve the user experience. The report uncovered the pain points currently experienced by potential users and explored the ways in which Stations by Spotify can solve those pain points.

The report also detailed participant’s first reactions to the prototype, and any opportunities to improve the usability of the app.

Four personas were created to help illustrate user values and when paired with the cultural landscape report, ensured the international team was well prepared to empathise with and keep the user at the centre the design decision making process,

The Stations by Spotify app was released on schedule and received immediate praise, before morphing into Spotify Radio.

Outcome

In response, U1 led a collaborative approach. As experts in user research we wanted to work with the best in digital content and web design. By combining efforts with Avion Communications and Fluid we brought together three industry specialists.  The department of justice and community safety (DoJCS) enjoyed streamlined project management by liaising directly with U1, and was confident that the research and prototype validation was completed without bias.

The updated website was delivered on schedule and received immediate praise from users with a marked drop in web related queries and complaints.

• U1 provided the research and design recommendations for the layout of the new site.
• Avion provided the content and recommendations on writing for the web,
• Fluid provided the website prototype.
• U1 provided independently testing the prototype providing minor recommendations to the final design.
• Fluid then integrated the recommendations into the final design.

Outcome

U1 looked holistically at the business ecosystem and developed a multi-modal research approach, looking internally across Pitcher Partners as well as with both new and long-established customers.

U1 conducted separate discovery workshops with senior stakeholders and graduate interns,

One with the national marketing leads designed to;

• Reveal assumptions about how internal and external users use the website,
• Identify knowledge gaps in their understanding of the users, and
• Define questions for later research stages.

The other with graduate recruits to;

• Map the experience of applying to work at Pitcher Partners,
• Understand the role of the website in their decision-making process when applying for graduate positions,
• Uncover what professional and cultural expectations were developed when using the website prior to commencing at Pitcher Partners,
• Discuss what changes could be made to improve the experience and the accuracy of the expectations developed by graduate recruits prior to starting,
• Card sorting to prioritise communication methods.

U1 also conducted 15 in-depth interviews with partners, lateral hires and Pitcher Partner clients representing large and small contracts, new and established, and a range of professional services to understand;

• What role does the website serve in their engagement with Pitcher Partners,
• Does the website reflect the experience of engaging with Pitcher Partners,
• What changes could be made to better serve the clients using the website,
• With Pitcher Partner staff including senior partners and lateral hires covering a range of specialties to understand;
• What their impression and understanding of the current site is
• How they use the site currently and how they would like to use the site,
• What goals do they have in serving clients, and how could the site support those goals.

By conducting both internal and external research, the findings were triangulated across all stakeholders in the business. This provided clear and reliable recommendations on how to address the needs and expectations of all users of the site, and ensured stakeholders across the organisation were consulted and invested in the new site direction. Pitcher Partners are using the insights and recommendations to inform the foundations of the long-term website strategy.

Outcome

U1 developed three resources to guide the selection, installation and governance of digital signage across the City of Boroondara.

1. 1. 1. 1. An implementation policy and framework document which establishes standards for Council to follow when using digital signage and details how to select the most appropriate type of screen to ensure the content is effective. The document maps site specific immediate improvements which can be made with minimal expenditure, and long-term improvements which require significant investment to become leaders in digital customer experience.
            The framework includes clear governance requirements describing roles and responsibilities to see that signage is well used, supported and maintained for the long term, bringing value to Council’s customers.
         2. The strategy itself which covers in detail how Council should best approach digital signage from today until 18 months into the future. The strategy defines what is (and what is not) digital signage, and provides clear recommendations on how digital signage can address a comprehensive range of customer needs.
         3. A detailed matrix of screen types and content types, produced in Excel format to allow for easy filtering by venue, content type, frequency of update and whether it is more suitable to a display screen or an interactive screen/kiosk. The matrix also indicates the priority to Council and users and scope for impact.

Outcome

It was clear that members value the “human touch” services of the RAA and being a part of a local organisation. We grouped our Future State Recommendations into themes that mirrored RAA’s business strategy, to help them prioritise different ‘pain points’ and to support the internal adoption of the initiatives. The roadmap included recommended projects to increase engagement with members, to adopt staff training programs for content and usability, and introduce personalised content for members.

Outcome

We chose a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods for this project to ensure that we could explore the how’s and why’s of participants’ financial choices, behaviours and preferences through depth interviews and workshops and then validate our key findings with an online survey.

We recruited a mix of participants who were;

• At different stages of their superannuation and financial journey,
• Had different occupations and salary ranges,
• Had different levels of knowledge about and engagement with robo advice tools,
• Who lived in different areas of metro, regional and rural Australia.

The project was divided into three sprints:

1. First, we conducted 12 in-depth customer interviews to explore their needs, attitudes and expectations in regard to making financial decisions (super and non-super related). The interviews probed current experiences and future expectations and used examples of current digital tools to stimulate the discussion.
2. Next, we moderated two workshops, each with eight participants, to further explore customers’ needs, priorities and preferences, particularly in regard to using robo advice to support financial and super-related decisions. The workshops explored participants’ greatest financial and super concerns and their preferred sources of advice. The group format allowed participants to share knowledge and discuss various digital advice tools including their preferred features, how information was communicated and presented and what they expected to do with the information.
3. Finally, we conducted an online survey completed by 150 respondents which quantified and validated some of the key themes and opportunities arising from the interviews and workshops. Themes we explored included tools and sources for financial decision-making, frequency of digital tool usage, device and feature preferences, confidence in using digital tools and next steps after using digital tools.

U1 provided a detailed report and verbal debrief at the end of each sprint of the project. The debriefs provided an opportunity for us to collaborate with IFS in the design of each follow-on stage, using the findings to inform the specific line of enquiry for the next phase of research.

U1 also developed a consolidated report which allowed us to focus more closely on key themes arising across the entire project. The report identified the specific advice needs and preferences of each market segment, detailed potential barriers to the uptake of digital tools (and ways to mitigate against these challenges) and included a high-level  ‘personal advice’ journey map and prioritised feature list.

Overall there was a strong correlation of findings, both with IFS’s own internal research and across the three stages of this research project, allowing IFS to confidently approach the next phase of its digital tool design and development with a robust set of findings and recommendations.

Outcome

The service walkthroughs and contextual inquiries delivered insights into the end-to-end customer experience associated Solar Exchange, from initial product discovery and sign-up through to receiving a bill. Conducting home visits provided context into how and where customers engage with the product. The online survey allowed validation of qualitative research findings and provided additional confidence to the Solar Exchange team when making product related decisions.

As a result of this research, AGL were able to identify some quick wins for improving the digital experience of the Solar Exchange product. They also came away from this project with a greater understanding of the motivations and expectations that influence decision-making related to this type of product. These insights all fed into the development roadmap for this product.

Testimonial:

AGL engaged U1 to better understand the experience of customers participating in our peer-to-peer solar energy trading pilot.

The contextual inquiries were performed expertly and respectfully, producing great insights into customer experiences, attitudes, and thoughts about the trial. We discovered reasons why customers were and were not referring their friends to the platform, and to what extent the pilot had met their expectations.

The quantitative survey was well designed and executed. It helped us unlock new ways we could improve the customer experience through better a communication strategy and digital experience.

Thanks to U1 we are now using the customer insights that came out of this research to guide our product development roadmap and to improve experience for our customers.

Brendan Whelan – Product Manager

Outcome

Through fortnightly testing U1 was able to work collaboratively with Service Victoria through each sprint cycle to provide clear recommendations to improve the user experience, ensuring users received transactions and features that best reflected their needs.

Multi-round research ensured insights and recommendations from previous rounds were incorporated into design and development, eliminating usability issues.

U1 was able to help supplement Service Victoria’s understanding and further define the needs, behaviours, motivations and expectations of its users when interacting with the state government online.

With hundreds of Victorian government sector transactions available across 540 websites, Service Victoria is working towards streamlining these transactions on the one platform. Currently, Service Victoria supports 16 high volume government transactions.

Outcome

To cover Envato’s required range of markets, we conducted 50 one-hour remotely moderated interviews with web and code professionals in the USA, UK, Germany, France, Turkey, India, and Brazil.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of this project was coordinating the recruitment and scheduling of participants across seven countries, 16 time zones and multiple languages.

We took a multipronged approach to recruitment using online recruitment platforms to source and schedule participants in the USA, UK, Germany and France and partnering with local UX and recruitment companies in Turkey, India and Brazil.

In countries where English was often a second, third or fourth language, prospects sent us a short biographical video to help us gauge their level of spoken English competency and finalise our shortlist. We also used an interpreter for our Turkish sessions allowing participants to express themselves more fluently in their first language.

While we recorded each session, the Envato team could also observe interviews in real-time via U1’s online live streaming portal.

To help manage the volume of data coming out of the sessions, we set up a collaborative online space using Miro where we collated and updated themes, posted verbatims and developed a matrix of our findings and recommendations as we progressed through the interviews.

As well as providing the opportunity for the Envato team to explore and contribute to findings as the project progressed, the Miro board was an excellent platform for synthesising our data, compiling our final report and debriefing the client at the end of the project.

This research helped Envato to glean important insights into the attitudes, behaviours, challenges and choices of their prospective customers from around the world.

Envato has used the findings to seed and refine strategies to better target their customers globally.

The project also established a flexible process for conducting affordable global research and set benchmarks that Envato can use in future, ongoing studies.

Outcome

The final proposed IA retained some elements of the existing IA whilst substantially altering other elements. This approach significantly improved the findability of content, with the final IA Validation of the proposed IA outperforming the existing IA, delivering close to a 3-fold improvement in task success.

The consultation process and feedback from users indicated an overall preference for a topic rather than audience-based approach to the IA. This was identified as a more scalable approach to organising content on the site.

Whilst the final IA was primarily topic based, we also recommended incorporating an interaction design element on any future version of the site that provided a curated view of key content by audience type.

Outcome

The nuanced nature of this research lead to the identification of several key opportunities and touchpoints for intervention, resulting in the creation of a suite of actionable tools; prioritised recommendations, detailed personas and accompanying journey maps.

Using these tools, Butterfly Foundation can confidently apply insights to future initiatives (support and resources) and enhance the stakeholder experience across the ecosystem.

For the full report which has been published on the Butterfly Foundation website, see link below:

https://butterfly.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/U1-Butterfly-Foundation-Consumer-experience-pathway-Debrief-Report_v2.pdf

Outcome

During the sessions, both moderator and participants populated a MIRO board, cocreating a visual representation of the consumer’s research, finance, and eventual purchase journey.

Through this research we were able to identify previously unknown customer motivators that pinpoint why some customers prefer a finance-first approach, whereas for other customers the property is the driving motivator in their first home buyer journey.

U1 provided REA with a suite of key customer journeys to allow prioritisation of future intervention initiatives.

In addition, our research was able to identify important phases within the existing customer journey, where opportunities exist for competitive advantage and better stakeholder engagement.

Outcome

To help manage the volume of data coming out of the sessions, an online Miro board was set up to collate themes, post verbatims and develop a matrix of preferred features as we progressed through the synthesis phase. The Miro board also provided a flexible and collaborative tool to debrief the client at the end of the project.

U1 was able to identify important user-preferred features and uncover design opportunities that would result in immediate positive impacts on user workflows, as well as provide Pulse important insights into the attitudes, behaviours, challenges and choices of their current and prospective users from around the world.

Pulse will use these insights to refine concept designs and strategies to better align with their customers’ workflow globally.

Outcome

Each round of usability testing culminated in delivery of detailed report and debrief via video conferencing with the CASA team.

1. The CASA team received the insights required to iterate the design of digital services (such as the myCASA account creation process) and maintain their rhythm of fortnightly design sprints. This led to an improved user experience of CASA’s digital services.
2. Despite both teams being based in different cities (CASA in Canberra and U1 in Melbourne), a seamless, well-integrated, collaborative approach to both the planning of research and delivery of research findings was achieved.
3. The CASA team’s understanding of their audience was greatly enhanced, particularly in relation to a potential new online service (which is currently confidential). The insights from research related informed the Authority’s decision-making in relation to this particular service.

Outcome

The physical nature of this research, coupled with the ability for our client to discretely watch participants’ behaviours in detail, gave the design team important insights into the user experience of the card and packaging, and the flow of steps in the activation process.

Using these insights, our client has now redesigned some aspects of the packaging to make the unboxing more intuitive and modified the smart phone app to better reflect users’ behaviours and expectations when activating their card.

Outcome

The research was able to identify visitors’ expectations of the walking maps, including related points of interest, facilities, and accessibility suggestions. These insights were segmented into walk-specific findings and overall common findings that applied across all 3 walks.

Several key recommendations addressed structural barriers to the walk content encountered by participants, specifically in relation to the time of day (am vs pm), safety and the importance of history and context to gain a better understanding of place.

Participants were able to identify content and technology improvements that would enhance the experience by reflecting on their time spent living or travelling abroad, citing specific relevant examples that could be employed by CoM in future design iterations.

Simultaneous to the content insights, usability recommendations for both mobile and paper-based versions of the walk maps were able to be generated.

Preferences for how the maps were used provided CoM with insights about visitor mental models and suggested strategies to confidently redesign the maps for visitors new to the city in a post-Covid era.

Outcome

Before fieldwork was undertaken, U1 facilitated a stakeholder engagement workshop with a large stakeholder group. This provided important senior client stakeholders the opportunity to participate in the direction of the exploratory component of the research, ensuring that various perspectives were captured as part of the scope.

Phase 1 of the project involved running an online audience validation survey with 400 respondents. This activity assisted with understanding the attributes and demographics of key audiences. These insights were then applied to the recruitment process of the following qualitative phase, ensuring appropriate audience representation in this key phase of the project.

To facilitate the qualitative research aims of phase 2, a moderation guide was designed by the U1 consultant that aimed to capture;

•Frustrations encountered by participants
•Research goals and motivations and how these evolved over time
•The catalyst and key assessment, medical or intervention phases or points
•Frequently used resources both online and offline, and finally
•To understand what kinds of organisational, technological, and relationship influences had an influence on their overall research journey

Fieldwork was then undertaken with participants who had recently researched aged care services for themselves or someone they cared for.

Running the sessions remotely, which was new for the client, expanded the research scope to a broader pool of participants in Australia and permitted rich insights from participants within some specific locations of interest to future business objectives.

As a result of extensive synthesis and analysis of the 50 sessions, U1 produced comprehensive reporting that included 7 foundational personas and accompanying user journey maps (both simple and detailed versions) that will form the basis of future business, marketing and operational objectives.

Outcome

Participants were located throughout various metro and regional locations and fieldwork was undertaken as part of the participants’ everyday paid employment with an expected minimum 8 hours per day of wear.

Combining qualitative depth interview questions with tools like mobile ethnography, sentence completions, product reaction words and NPS/LTR surveys, participants discussed their initial impressions and then provided feedback on the fit and wear of the provided boots that were worn over the research period.

Informal debrief sessions were conducted by U1 after each round of interviews. This allowed U1 to relay the identification of weak signals, areas of concern and participant suggestions in an iterative way.

Running the sessions remotely, a first for the client, expanded the research scope to a wider pool of participants in Australia, and permitted rich insights from participants outside of Blundstone’s typical Tasmanian geographic range.

To accompany U1’s extensive reporting, participants also submitted product-wear images at each stage of the research process. This facilitated a visual evaluation and tracking of wear patterns over time, whilst also providing a way to highlight any other issues that arose with the boots.

The result was a rich and reliable visual archive of each individual product tested as part of the research. Multiple stakeholder teams were then able to assess and triangulate written and pictorial findings in relation to their own function e.g. Marketing & R&D.