Notting Hill Housing: user research

We used quantitative and qualitative research and user insight to help one of London's leading RSL's rethink their business strategy, customer service and brand position.

To help Notting Hill Housing rethink their web strategy, we carried out extensive qualitative and quantitative research with customers and staff. The insights we uncovered are now contributing to a wholesale review of their entire business strategy and brand positioning.

Introduction

As more business and customer services move online, organisations need to re-consider their service strategy in a joined up way. Poor technology design puts distance between businesses and their customers and leads to low adoption rates, high frustration levels and poor user experience.

Systems and services that are co-designed with customers, on the other hand, provide the opposite, and lead to value creation for both the business and its customers.

As is common in many large organisations, our clients' business technology had been added to, bolted on to and worked around many times. It was no longer adequately supporting the needs of customers and leading to many complaints from staff. This was particularly true online, where users were becoming increasingly frustrated, disengaged and not using features and services that had been put in place to improve customer experience.

Objectives

  • Uncover current user experience perceptions and website user types
  • Understand major frustration and fail points in online services
  • Gather and analyse site user requirements
  • Encourage and uncover user led innovation and actionable insight
  • Report the findings in a concise and practical way

Methodology

We used a range of techniques to get a deep insight into what people really feel about using online systems. Most importantly, our approach was designed to make clear to our clients, both the scale of the existing problems, and provide a clear understanding of future user requirements and expectations.

For this project we used:

  • One large scale experience mapping workshop
  • Eight discussion groups
  • Three one-to-one in-depth interviews
  • User testing and observation
  • Online surveys with over 650 respondents

44% of staff and 38% of residents said they would be happy to be contacted again to contribute to the research.

Insight

Even the most well intentioned, highly motivated and passionate businesses can get tied in knots by being sold proprietary technology that is:

  • developed in isolation from the people that will use it
  • not designed to be user-friendly
  • not compatible with other business systems.

Outcomes

The research uncovered hidden knowledge, insights and opportunities that have exceeded everyone's expectations. The findings are helping Notting Hill to see beyond the website requirements and into the heart of their business and its interrelationship with customers, staff and stakeholders.

After a successful pilot involving 125 homes, the business in now rolling out a completely new customer centred service, designed to deliver value for the business and the residents, through a better understanding of their needs.

Notting Hill Housing

To help Notting Hill Housing rethink their web strategy, we carried out extensive qualitative and quantitative research with customers and staff. The insights we uncovered are now contributing to a wholesale review of their entire business strategy and brand positioning.

Introduction

As more business and customer services move online, organisations need to re-consider their service strategy in a joined up way. Poor technology design puts distance between businesses and their customers and leads to low adoption rates, high frustration levels and poor user experience.

Systems and services that are co-designed with customers, on the other hand, provide the opposite, and lead to value creation for both the business and its customers.

As is common in many large organisations, our clients' business technology had been added to, bolted on to and worked around many times. It was no longer adequately supporting the needs of customers and leading to many complaints from staff. This was particularly true online, where users were becoming increasingly frustrated, disengaged and not using features and services that had been put in place to improve customer experience.

Objectives

  • Uncover current user experience perceptions and website user types
  • Understand major frustration and fail points in online services
  • Gather and analyse site user requirements
  • Encourage and uncover user led innovation and actionable insight
  • Report the findings in a concise and practical way

Methodology

We used a range of techniques to get a deep insight into what people really feel about using online systems. Most importantly, our approach was designed to make clear to our clients, both the scale of the existing problems, and provide a clear understanding of future user requirements and expectations.

For this project we used:

  • One large scale experience mapping workshop
  • Eight discussion groups
  • Three one-to-one in-depth interviews
  • User testing and observation
  • Online surveys with over 650 respondents

44% of staff and 38% of residents said they would be happy to be contacted again to contribute to the research.

Insight

Even the most well intentioned, highly motivated and passionate businesses can get tied in knots by being sold proprietary technology that is:

  • developed in isolation from the people that will use it
  • not designed to be user-friendly
  • not compatible with other business systems.

Outcomes

The research uncovered hidden knowledge, insights and opportunities that have exceeded everyone's expectations. The findings are helping Notting Hill to see beyond the website requirements and into the heart of their business and its interrelationship with customers, staff and stakeholders.

After a successful pilot involving 125 homes, the business in now rolling out a completely new customer centred service, designed to deliver value for the business and the residents, through a better understanding of their needs.

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