Home » Services » Research and Design

Pioneering heritage

Our research and design roots stem from Snook, which reimagined public sector service design. And over the last decade, we’ve grown and evolved into who we are today.

As NEC Digital Studio, we bring together two big names with one powerful purpose – to put life at the centre of services and positively change how people experience the world.

We’re proud to be leaders in our practice and are passionate about developing what’s right, not what’s on trend.

OUR APPROACH

Our creative and compassionate team understand the realities of users and organisations. It enable us to design the future.

We balance the needs of people with the organisations and technology which serve them. And in a constantly changing world, we ensure our skills and approaches adapt to every context.

This way, we can help you turn a design and research process into outcomes and impact.

RESEARCH & DESIGN SERVICES

We start with people to understand their needs. We design and make things to help them thrive.

USER RESEARCH

We help you understand your users, customers and staff using a range of ethical and considered research methods. We develop a deep understanding of your context and deliver actionable insights and recommendations.

SERVICE DESIGN & STRATEGY

We make services work for people. A good service should improve human connections, both in its delivery and its outcomes. Using a broad selection of tools and collaborative approaches, we help organisations explore the future of their products and services and create attainable strategies for getting there.

INTERACTION DESIGN

By working closely with you, we design engaging experiences that meet your users’ needs and your business objectives. Grounded in evidence-based and accessible practices, we ensure our designs are inclusive to all. By carefully considering user interactions, our designers deliver functional and delightful solutions for your products and services.

CONTENT DESIGN

Content design is a way of thinking about the words, pictures and other content in your product or service. We take as much care over it as any other part of the design. We carry out research to find out what your users really need. We then design, test and iterate to make content that is findable, useful, actionable, clear and accessible.

WHO WE WORK WITH

We believe in the power of collaboration. Working closely with our clients as trusted partners, we co-create tailored solutions that address their unique needs and drive success.

Our clients

“Their commitment to inclusive recruitment of research participants and understanding of how to engage hard to reach groups in research enabled us to gain a much deeper understanding of the multiple contributors to homelessness.  The project team worked seamlessly with colleagues across the partner councils and their organisation, accountability and communication enabled the successful delivery of the Discovery in a challenging environment.”

Anna Trevena – Programme Director for Transformation, London Borough of Newham

“The team were incredibly supportive – and consistently went the extra mile to help us tackle a challenge, understand the approach they were suggesting, or to help us to engage and bring key stakeholders on the journey with us.”

Katie Miller, Volunteering Transformation Manager, The Scouts

“The work has provided a strong, crisp definition of the service and in turn an ability to clearly articulate to the market what it is we need them to deliver.”

Richard Ashcroft, Programme Manager, NHS Digital

“We had a really sensitive, thoughtful and committed team. There were four of us, and I co-located in their offices for a few months, which was really great. It was helpful because I was the Samaritans rep in the design team, and I learned a lot from working with them.”

Felix Macpherson, UX Researcher, Samaritans