Insights - NEC Digital Studio

27 August 2024 · Articles

5 ways to embrace diversity in user research teams

Unlike other design-related specialisms, there isn’t a traditional route into User Research (UR), and like many others, our team come from a wide range of backgrounds. In this article, Senior User Researcher Will Newton explains how we turn this ambiguity into opportunity at NEC Digital Studio and shares his top tips on utilising the diverse experience of UR teams to your advantage.

8 July 2024 · Articles · News

Welcome to NEC Digital Studio

NEC Digital Studio puts life at the centre of services, positively changing how people experience the world.

24 January 2024 · Articles

A Researcher’s career journey: from the academy to the user

Becoming a User Researcher isn’t always a linear journey like other careers can be. In this article, Gordon Tait, User Researcher at NEC Digital Studio, reflects on his lifelong passion for research, and shares what he has learned from applying his practice in different contexts throughout his career.

28 November 2023 · Articles

9 things to remember when doing research with underrepresented communities

Anu Samaraweera and Chandni Patel co-author this article, with support from their colleague Jane Leggat, based on their experiences of facilitating research with underrepresented communities of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Women on laptop for public sector web accessibility

15 September 2023 · Articles

Digital Divide: The impact of public sector web accessibility on users with visual impairments

The accessibility of public sector websites is key for enabling people with disabilities access to vital information. This report examines common issues and how these can be resolved.

women using device for website accessibility

15 September 2023 · Articles

Resolving common website accessibility issues

Our experts discuss some of the most common website accessibility issues and how to resolve them.

13 September 2023 · Articles

Show us your messy bits

What is mess, why is it scary, and why do service designers love it? Here, we talk to Tom White and Olivia Holbrook from the NEC Digital Studio Service Design Team about the chaos and complexity of service design projects.

11 September 2023 · Articles

The Beta phase is where you see your agile project in action

The Beta phase of an agile project is where you develop your service for real. The prototype created in Alpha needs to be brought to life with the right infrastructure and support behind it. That’s not to say that changes can’t happen in Beta, of course. It’s not supposed to be the finished article. But some changes are more costly than others, so the key is to plan ahead.

11 September 2023 · Articles

Getting the most from the Discovery phase of an agile project

The Discovery phase of an agile project sets you up for the journey ahead. Yet we know from delivering projects in every phase that there’s rarely a clean ‘cut’ to Alpha. That’s why it’s important to keep the end-to-end in mind: it helps to keep your projects on course even if the delivery partners change.

11 September 2023 · Articles

The Alpha phase: resist the temptation to rush it

The Alpha phase of an agile project is about looking at the findings made in Discovery and exploring what works. It’s a vital step on the path towards a great service that keeps things simple. Sometimes, it’s when you realise you’ve gone the wrong way, but we’ve learned to love that feeling. Because it means you’ll build something better in Beta.

An arial view of a pile of sticky notes spread out on a table

17 May 2023 · Articles

Defining the difference between analysis and synthesis in user research

The terms ‘analysis’ and ‘synthesis’ are used differently by different researchers, which can lead to confusion about what processes people are specifically referring to. Here, we clarify this for you.

4 May 2023 · Articles

Applying behavioural design to help people make more sustainable choices

Learn how to apply behavioural science techniques to change habits and drive the adoption of more sustainable actions. In this article, we focus on how our practice is integrating learnings from behavioural sciences to address the climate emergency.