Understanding your users and their needs

When designing a service or product, start by learning about the people who will use it: the more you know about them, the better you can meet their needs.

Learn about why it’s important to understand your users.

People and businesses use public services to help them achieve something. For example, register to vote, apply for a parking permit or pay their council tax.

Learning about your ‘user needs’ helps you design and build the right thing to solve their problems effectively.

Those delivering your service are also service users with their own needs.

Read the principles of good user research.

Define your research objectives

Start by clearly setting the scope and objectives of your research.

Work with your team to define and agree: 

• what you need to learn, and why
• your expected outcomes
• how to measure and monitor success
• what to exclude from this research

Consider also what decisions you need to make and how the research supports the product and service.

If you’re developing a new service, you want to understand:

• who your users are 
• what they’re trying to do
• how they do it now
• what they need from you to do it
• their problems, challenges, barriers and frustrations

If your service already exists, you need to:

• understand your users and their needs better
• test design ideas and new features with potential users
• assess users’ experience of your service
• understand the challenges they’re facing

This will help you choose the best approach and methods for your needs, skills and resources. 

Learn about how to use research to make improvements to your service.

Sensitive and complex research

Only trained and experienced user researchers with the right support should research emotionally sensitive topics with participants.

Sensitive and complex research involves risks, challenges, and the potential to harm the participant, the researcher, or your organisation.

For example, you could be interviewing children or vulnerable participants, or exploring topics and experiences that you or they might find difficult to talk about. 

This type of research takes a trauma-informed approach and high levels of:

• skills and experience
• empathy and compassion
• ethical responsibility 
• awareness of emotional risks

Always consider and prioritise the emotional wellbeing and privacy of participants and researchers. If you’re in doubt, it may be better not to do it.

Read the Department for Education’s (UK)’s guidance on ethical research and safeguarding.
 

Identify who your users are

Identify the user groups you want to study: consider their demographics, behaviours, motivations, and needs.

Focus on users who experience problems when using an existing service, or achieving what they’re trying to do.

Make sure your research is inclusive, accessible and ethical. 

Understand the needs of all types of users of your service, including disabled people, users of assistive technology, and Welsh-language users from the beginning.

Read the principles of good user research.

Consider the needs of those who provide the service or help others to access it. For example:

• call centre agents 
• caseworkers
• charity workers

You may decide to research with proxy or internal users as participants under some circumstances. 

Always consider the limitations of your research and findings when you’re not talking to real users.
 

Prepare your research

Before doing any new research, review any existing knowledge, research and data that might be relevant, both externally and internally. 

This may give you valuable context, avoid duplicating work, and save you time and effort.

Speak to all relevant stakeholders and involve them in the decision-making process. Their input will be invaluable for your research and to choose the right methodology.
 

Choose the right method

The methods you choose depends on your objectives, needs, skills and resources. For example, you might:

• review any existing data, including analytics, search logs, and call centre information
• interview and observe current or potential users
• talk to people who work with actual or likely users, including call centre agents, caseworkers, and charity workers
• see what people are saying online, including social media and forums

You can learn about your users and how your service is performing in different ways, including:

• in-depth interviews
• contextual research and observation
• moderated usability testing
• running small workshops
• surveys

Consider combining different methods to strengthen your research and findings. 

Learn about other research methods.

You’re not your user, and the people in your organisation are not a representation of the public at large.

Consider any opinions or suggestions that do not come from users as assumptions that you should validate through research.

When you’re planning your research, identify any potential risks, challenges and biases with your team, and define ways to prevent and respond to them. 

Learn about planning your research, preparing for sessions and analysing findings.

Recruiting participants for your research will take time, and can be the longest part of the process.

Especially if you’re starting from the beginning and do not have access to readily available users, or the subject or criteria are niche.

Factor in the time and resources you need in your delivery plans to support recruitment.

Be proactive and start recruiting as soon as possible, and use every opportunity to do it. 

Some things to consider when recruiting participants are: 

• setting the right expectations with both, the team and participants
• selecting a representative sample of participants
• listening to under-represented voices 
• getting informed consent
• participant incentives
• data protection and privacy

Check GDPR and privacy policies in your organisation to store your data securely, and if you’re planning on recruiting participants from an existing user list.  

Setting the right expectations

It’s important to set and manage the expectations of everyone involved in your project, including:

• your team 
• research participants
• any other people with an interest in its success

There is a risk of bias at all stages of your research, and it’s unlikely that you can eliminate all bias. 

Recognise and acknowledge how any potential bias in your research, and be mindful that it may affect your findings, and how.
 

Documenting and sharing your findings

Documenting what you learn about your users and their needs makes sure:

• your team has a shared understanding 
• you have something you can refer back to when needed
• other teams can use your findings to inform their work too

Find ways to communicate and share your findings with those interested in your service, and use them to tell a story about your users and build empathy with them.

Consider:

• the type of consent you have from participants
• who you’re sharing your findings with, if it’s internally or externally
• where you’re storing your information securely.

Learn about communicating what you learn about your users.