Transforming Fuse: A UX Optimisation of Seasalt’s Intranet

Improving usability, engagement, and brand alignment to enhance the employee experience.

Role

Senior UX Manager

Industry

E-commerce

Year

2022

What is Fuse?

Fuse is a learning and knowledge platform designed to enhance employee engagement through social learning and AI-driven content recommendations. At Seasalt, Fuse serves as the company intranet, where all essential company information, news, and documents are shared, providing a central hub for employees to stay informed and connected.

Identifying the Challenges and Opportunities

The Fuse platform has faced significant underutilization by Seasalt employees, with a number of usability and engagement issues affecting its effectiveness.

Key Issues Identified

Regular users of the system, including the Learning and Development team, highlighted the following pain points:

Clunky navigation
Frustrating search functionality
An outdated aesthetic that doesn’t align with the Seasalt brand

These issues have resulted in low adoption rates and overall dissatisfaction with the platform across the company.

Lack of Support and Best Practices

In addition to the technical and design issues, there is a lack of best practices, training, and support available to employees, making it difficult for them to leverage the platform’s full potential. The platform also suffers from:

Non-intuitive design
A confusing information architecture

These factors contribute to the platform’s underperformance and hinder user experience.

Future Considerations

Discussions have arisen about whether the company should move to a new platform or continue improving Fuse. This highlights the need for an evaluation to determine whether enhancing the current platform could better meet the company's needs.

Key objectives:

Improve platform usability and engagement
Create a more visually appealing experience that better reflects the brand
Enhance navigation and content discoverability

Who was involved?

A cross-functional team collaborated on the project, including members from UX, Learning and Development, Technology Business Partners, Employee Experience, Retail Support, and Employee Communications.

Timeline

The project began in April 2022 and remains an ongoing initiative, with continuous improvements being implemented based on research findings and employee feedback.

Project kickoff

An initial meeting was held with the cross-functional team to understand everyone’s aims and objectives of the project. I set up a whiteboard for every to contribute to. We then reviewed the points and discussed the most important objectives for the project.

In the same session, we outlined the goals and activities, constraints and deliverables for the project:

What is Fuse?

Identifying the Challenges and Opportunities

The Fuse platform has faced significant underutilization by Seasalt employees, with a number of usability and engagement issues affecting its effectiveness.

Key Issues Identified

Regular users of the system, including the Learning and Development team, highlighted the following pain points:

Clunky navigation
Frustrating search functionality
An outdated aesthetic that doesn’t align with the Seasalt brand

These issues have resulted in low adoption rates and overall dissatisfaction with the platform across the company.

Lack of Support and Best Practices

Non-intuitive design
A confusing information architecture

These factors contribute to the platform’s underperformance and hinder user experience.

Future Considerations

Key objectives:

Improve platform usability and engagement
Create a more visually appealing experience that better reflects the brand
Enhance navigation and content discoverability

Who was involved?

Timeline

The project began in April 2022 and remains an ongoing initiative, with continuous improvements being implemented based on research findings and employee feedback.

Project kickoff

In the same session, we outlined the goals and activities, constraints and deliverables for the project:

Process & Research Methodology

To ensure our improvements were grounded in real user needs, I ensured we adopted a structured UX process incorporating multiple research methods. This included:

Company-Wide Survey: Understanding how employees used the platform and identifying key pain points.
User Personas: Defining different user groups to better tailor solutions.
Competitive Research: Exploring best practices from other Fuse clients and external benchmarks.
Usability Testing: Observing how employees interacted with Fuse and identifying friction points.
Card Sorting: Improving content organization based on user input.
Ideation Workshops: Generating potential solutions through collaboration.
Quick Wins Implementation: Making immediate improvements while long-term changes were in progress.

Survey

A survey was conducted to find out how staff used and felt about The Anchor and to benchmark current performance and satisfaction. The survey was sent to all Seasalt employees, with a total of 439 responses. Employees were asked 11 questions about general opinions, usage, and satisfaction with platform features, as well as their reasons for using The Anchor and suggestions for improvement. Responses were analysed by different teams to identify trends and inform personas.

Questions:

Matrix question covering key features and areas of the platform:
- How often do you access the following features?
- How often do you use the following features?
- Please rate your satisfaction with the following aspects of The Anchor.
Overall use of Fuse
Why do you use The Anchor? (multiple-choice selection)
Open questions: Do you have any thoughts on how to improve The Anchor? Is there anything else you would like to add?

Findings:

61 comments from employees suggested additional content they would find helpful on the platform.
44 comments indicated features they would use if they were available.
52 comments provided further feedback on how they interact with the platform.

These findings were added to a digital whiteboard and synthesized to identify key themes.

Key insights

Primary Uses of The Anchor:

72% use it to search for specific information.
65% use it to read updates.
60% check their learning plans.
60% look for general information.
54% use it to find company information.

Low Engagement Areas:

The Wellbeing Community, Managers Portal, and My Career saw the least usage.
While low engagement with the Managers Portal is expected (as not all employees are managers), the Wellbeing Community’s low usage is surprising, considering Seasalt encourages its use. This suggests issues with content discoverability or promotion.

Most-Used Features:

Search was the most used feature, followed by site navigation and the homepage.
This highlights that staff primarily use the platform to locate content, making information architecture a key area for further analysis.

Satisfaction Scores:

Visual Appeal: Received the highest satisfaction rating, with 54% positive and 14% negative responses.
Ease of Navigation: Scored the lowest, with 39% positive and 24% negative responses.

Personas

To better understand the different needs and behaviours of employees, we developed three user personas based on survey responses and key findings. These personas represent the main groups of Seasalt employees using the Fuse platform:

Head Office Staff: Primarily desk-based employees who need quick access to business updates, HR policies, and role-specific content.
Retail Employees: Frontline staff who require easy access to store operations, product training, and internal communications.
Distribution Centre (DC) Workers: Employees focused on logistics, health and safety, and shift scheduling.

Each persona was structured with the following sections:

Goals and Tasks: Understanding what each group aims to achieve when using the platform.
Needs: Identifying the critical requirements for an improved user experience.
Frustrations and Pain Points: Highlighting key barriers that hinder their experience.
Real Quotes from Employees: Direct insights from survey responses to ensure authenticity.

Basic User Personas:

These personas were essential in ideation sessions, helping the team empathize with different users and prioritize solutions based on real needs. By grounding our design decisions in user behaviour and feedback, we ensured the redesign would create a more intuitive and engaging experience for all employees.

Usability Testing

To evaluate how Seasalt staff interacted with Fuse, we conducted a moderated usability study. The goal was to observe real user behaviours, identify pain points, and gather feedback to inform platform improvements.

In another team session, we defined the study details and what tasks we could use in the study.

Approach

We recruited participants from the survey respondents who had expressed interest in providing further feedback. To ensure a diverse representation of the business, we selected employees from key departments, including Customer Services, Digital, Finance, HR, Retail, and the Distribution Centre (DC).

Since Fuse is designed primarily for desktop use, all sessions were conducted on desktop devices to reflect the intended user experience.

A structured usability test script was created to maintain consistency across sessions. Both the junior UX designer and I facilitated the tests, following the script to ensure a standardised approach. Observers from the Fuse project team attended sessions and took detailed notes.

The study was conducted using UserZoom Go, with scheduling managed via Microsoft Outlook and Teams. Prior to each session, participants received a reminder email, along with technical setup instructions to minimise disruptions.

Participant Details A total of 11 participants took part, including one pilot test with the junior UX designer to refine the process. Each participant received a £25 Seasalt reward voucher as a thank-you for their time.

Test Structure

Each session began with warm-up questions to understand the participant’s general usage patterns and behaviours on Fuse. After completing a series of tasks, they were asked follow-up questions about their overall experience, likes, dislikes, and areas for improvement.

Participants were asked to complete the following tasks:

Review the homepage Find a topic within a community
Search for a piece of content relevant to their role
Find the latest news
Save content to favourites and access it
Update email notification preferences

Findings

Our usability study identified 86 key insights across eight areas, highlighting challenges in navigation, engagement, and usability.

Category	Key Findings
Overall Experience & Functionality	Users found Fuse functional but cluttered, making navigation difficult. It helped them stay updated but lacked intuitive design.
Access & Usage Patterns	Usage varied, with retail staff primarily accessing via mobile. Search was the main navigation tool, though often ineffective.
Notifications & Updates	Email notifications were useful but overwhelming. Many users were unaware they could customise preferences.
Navigation & Content Discovery	Poor organisation, inconsistent naming, and unclear homepage blocks led to difficulty finding content.
Design & Branding	The platform lacked visual consistency with the Seasalt brand, making it feel generic and uninspiring.
Learning & Training	Users struggled to differentiate mandatory vs optional learning, suggesting a ‘to-do list’ for clarity.
Content & Features	Users preferred short summaries over long videos, but features like filters and content embedding were underutilised.
Community & Engagement	Employees valued connecting with the wider business but were unsure how to engage with communities effectively.

Key Recommendations

From these findings, we outlined several recommendations for improving the platform:

Streamline navigation and content discovery to make information easier to find.
Enhance search functionality to provide more relevant and up-to-date results.
Ensure branding consistency to create a more visually engaging and cohesive experience.
Improve clarity around naming conventions, learning plans, and community structures.
Refine notification settings to reduce email overload and improve customisation.
Enhance document usability, ensuring PDFs are easier to interact with.

For each finding, a specific optimisation or improvement was suggested. Examples include:

Finding	Recommendation
Users don’t have time to watch videos and prefer a summary option.	Encourage content creators to add key points in video descriptions and introduce a ‘Why is this important?’ tooltip.
Some users were unaware of available communities.	Feature community content to help users decide which groups are relevant, and allow them to hide communities they are not interested in.
Lack of context for homepage sections.	Add descriptive copy to homepage tiles alongside section titles to clarify content.
Confusion over mandatory vs. optional learning plans.	Introduce a ‘High Priority’ tag or pin important learning plans for better visibility.
Users knew content existed but struggled to locate it.	Improve information architecture and navigation, optimising search functionality and content labelling.

These insights provided a clear roadmap for improvements, ensuring Fuse could better support the needs of all employees.

Card Sorting

An open card sorting activity was conducted to gain insights into how users interpret and categorize content. In this activity, participants were asked to sort a pre-defined set of content cards into groups and name those groups using terms that made sense to them.

The decision to use open card sorting stemmed from the fact that the current naming conventions of the website’s content were not entirely clear. I wanted to explore how users understood the content and what terms they would naturally apply, to inform the renaming of sections and improve the discoverability of content through both search and navigation.

Planning the study

To determine which content to include in the study, I first exported the website's sitemap, which contained all the content alongside the number of page views for each page. From this data, I selected the top 100 pieces of content based on page views, ensuring a broad representation from various main sections of the site. Additionally, I included a few pieces of content outside these main areas to capture the diversity of user interests and ensure that content relevant to all personas was included.

Participants were instructed to group the content cards according to their own logic and then assign names to the categories they created. This approach allowed us to capture the language users would intuitively use to describe the content.

The study was conducted using the Optimal Workshop platform and we asked participants who had completed the survey and therefore showed an interest in helping to improve the platform.

The results

A total of 64 participants completed the card sorting study, with an average time of 20 minutes per participant.
In total, 732 categories were created, resulting in an average of 11 categories per participant.

Following the completion of the study, we analysed the data to uncover patterns in how content was grouped and the labels participants used.

Key outputs included the agreement dendrogram, similarity matrix, and standardization grid, which helped to visualize and quantify the participants’ categorisation patterns. These results revealed which content items were commonly grouped together and the terminology users favoured for these groupings.

Sharing the findings and recommendations

Based on the findings, we recommended several optimisations for the website, particularly for the Communities and Homepage sections.

The Fuse project team initially expressed some hesitations, as some of the participant-recommended terms did not align with the brand language we aimed to use. However, we framed the findings in a way that highlighted the core issue: users were struggling to find content. By adopting the terms users were familiar with, we could enhance search results and navigation without undermining the brand’s tone of voice.

I recommended using subtitles to bridge the gap between user terminology and the brand’s preferred language, ensuring both clarity and consistency with the overall brand identity.

Competitor Research

To gain a deeper understanding of how other brands utilise Fuse, we conducted competitor research by speaking to existing Fuse customers and exploring real-world implementations.

User Interviews: Steve interviewed representatives from seven brands already using Fuse. Our goal was to uncover best practices, understand common challenges, and identify innovative ways to leverage the platform effectively.
Online Research: We explored publicly available Fuse implementations or other company intranets to gather inspiration and analyse different approaches to content structure, user engagement, and design choices.
UK User Group: This led to Steve creating the UK Fuse user group, where we connected industry peers, exchanged insights, and gained a broader perspective on how businesses maximise the platform’s potential.

This research provided valuable insights that shaped our approach, ensuring that our solution was informed by real user experiences and industry standards.

Usability Testing

In another team session, we defined the study details and what tasks we could use in the study.

Approach

Since Fuse is designed primarily for desktop use, all sessions were conducted on desktop devices to reflect the intended user experience.

Test Structure

Participants were asked to complete the following tasks:

Review the homepage Find a topic within a community
Search for a piece of content relevant to their role
Find the latest news
Save content to favourites and access it
Update email notification preferences

Findings

Our usability study identified 86 key insights across eight areas, highlighting challenges in navigation, engagement, and usability.

Category	Key Findings
Overall Experience & Functionality	Users found Fuse functional but cluttered, making navigation difficult. It helped them stay updated but lacked intuitive design.
Access & Usage Patterns	Usage varied, with retail staff primarily accessing via mobile. Search was the main navigation tool, though often ineffective.
Notifications & Updates	Email notifications were useful but overwhelming. Many users were unaware they could customise preferences.
Navigation & Content Discovery	Poor organisation, inconsistent naming, and unclear homepage blocks led to difficulty finding content.
Design & Branding	The platform lacked visual consistency with the Seasalt brand, making it feel generic and uninspiring.
Learning & Training	Users struggled to differentiate mandatory vs optional learning, suggesting a ‘to-do list’ for clarity.
Content & Features	Users preferred short summaries over long videos, but features like filters and content embedding were underutilised.
Community & Engagement	Employees valued connecting with the wider business but were unsure how to engage with communities effectively.

Key Recommendations

From these findings, we outlined several recommendations for improving the platform:

Streamline navigation and content discovery to make information easier to find.
Enhance search functionality to provide more relevant and up-to-date results.
Ensure branding consistency to create a more visually engaging and cohesive experience.
Improve clarity around naming conventions, learning plans, and community structures.
Refine notification settings to reduce email overload and improve customisation.
Enhance document usability, ensuring PDFs are easier to interact with.

For each finding, a specific optimisation or improvement was suggested. Examples include:

Finding	Recommendation
Users don’t have time to watch videos and prefer a summary option.	Encourage content creators to add key points in video descriptions and introduce a ‘Why is this important?’ tooltip.
Some users were unaware of available communities.	Feature community content to help users decide which groups are relevant, and allow them to hide communities they are not interested in.
Lack of context for homepage sections.	Add descriptive copy to homepage tiles alongside section titles to clarify content.
Confusion over mandatory vs. optional learning plans.	Introduce a ‘High Priority’ tag or pin important learning plans for better visibility.
Users knew content existed but struggled to locate it.	Improve information architecture and navigation, optimising search functionality and content labelling.

These insights provided a clear roadmap for improvements, ensuring Fuse could better support the needs of all employees.

Card Sorting

Planning the study

The study was conducted using the Optimal Workshop platform and we asked participants who had completed the survey and therefore showed an interest in helping to improve the platform.

The results

A total of 64 participants completed the card sorting study, with an average time of 20 minutes per participant.
In total, 732 categories were created, resulting in an average of 11 categories per participant.

Following the completion of the study, we analysed the data to uncover patterns in how content was grouped and the labels participants used.

Sharing the findings and recommendations

Based on the findings, we recommended several optimisations for the website, particularly for the Communities and Homepage sections.

I recommended using subtitles to bridge the gap between user terminology and the brand’s preferred language, ensuring both clarity and consistency with the overall brand identity.

Competitor Research

To gain a deeper understanding of how other brands utilise Fuse, we conducted competitor research by speaking to existing Fuse customers and exploring real-world implementations.

User Interviews: Steve interviewed representatives from seven brands already using Fuse. Our goal was to uncover best practices, understand common challenges, and identify innovative ways to leverage the platform effectively.
Online Research: We explored publicly available Fuse implementations or other company intranets to gather inspiration and analyse different approaches to content structure, user engagement, and design choices.
UK User Group: This led to Steve creating the UK Fuse user group, where we connected industry peers, exchanged insights, and gained a broader perspective on how businesses maximise the platform’s potential.

This research provided valuable insights that shaped our approach, ensuring that our solution was informed by real user experiences and industry standards.

Ideation Workshop

Building on the insights gathered from the usability test, card sorting, and survey, we had a clear understanding of the platform’s challenges. To explore potential solutions, I facilitated a virtual ideation workshop using Miro. The session was structured around the "How Might We..." framework, encouraging creative thinking and problem-solving. The primary focus of the workshop was: How might we improve the experience for Seasalt staff using the Anchor?

To keep the team aligned and ensure the research findings were top of mind, I documented key insights from the previous studies directly on the Miro board for easy reference during the brainstorming session.

During the workshop, participants shared their ideas and solutions. At the end of the session, I conducted a dot-voting exercise to gauge the team's consensus and prioritise the ideas that resonated most. The top ideas that emerged were:

Focus on the homepage first – Addressing the most visible and frequently used section to improve overall usability.
Create area-specific homepages – Developing tailored landing pages for key business areas to better serve staff needs.
Enhance Fuse branding – Strengthening the branding of the Fuse platform to ensure consistency and alignment with Seasalt’s overall identity.

These priorities set the foundation for the next steps in refining the user experience and implementing targeted improvements.

Improving the Platform

Following the workshop, we compiled a comprehensive list of action items, each of which was assigned to a member of the project team. I took an active role in overseeing the implementation of these actions, working closely with each team member to ensure that improvements were aligned with the user needs and project objectives.

For example, when we identified the need for better-structured content sections, I provided templates and design frameworks to guide the team in creating content that was both user-friendly and aligned with the Seasalt brand. I also shared suggestions on how to improve the overall layout and flow, ensuring the content would be easily digestible and accessible to users.

Communication and Collaboration

I collaborated with the content team to help define content hierarchy, ensuring the most important information was given prominence, and that the tone and style matched the brand’s voice.

Throughout this process, I facilitated regular check-ins with the project team to review progress, share feedback, and ensure that all action items were completed on time and within scope. This collaborative effort ensured that the platform improvements were carried out iteratively and seamlessly, with each action contributing to a more intuitive and user-friendly experience for employees.

Quick Wins

While the larger, more time consuming optimisation were underway, I identified a list of quick wins that could immediately enhance the user experience based on my current understanding of the platform's issues, UX best practices, and industry knowledge. These quick wins were primarily focused on improving the homepage experience and included the following actions:

Archiving content – Removing outdated or irrelevant content to declutter the homepage and improve navigation.
Introducing a new logo for 'The Anchor' – Refreshing the branding to better align with the platform’s identity.
Switching to rows of three – Reducing the height of the page and utilising space more effectively to showcase additional content.
Incorporating brand photography – Adding high-quality images to reinforce the brand and create a stronger sense of community.
Adding community descriptions – Informing users about the content and purpose of each community to guide their navigation.
Introducing content feeds (recently added, trending) – Displaying fresh and popular content for quick access, encouraging engagement.
Displaying all topics and content feeds – Making it easier for users to find content quickly by providing a comprehensive overview.
Creating a 'My Communities' block – Offering users quick access to their preferred communities for a personalised experience.
New carousel banner and logo placement – Improving visual hierarchy and emphasis on key branding elements.

These quick wins were designed to address immediate usability issues and significantly improve the overall user experience on the homepage, while longer-term solutions were being developed.

Homepage improvements

Below is a comparison of the homepage before and after most of the optimisations were implemented.

Ideation Workshop

Focus on the homepage first – Addressing the most visible and frequently used section to improve overall usability.
Create area-specific homepages – Developing tailored landing pages for key business areas to better serve staff needs.
Enhance Fuse branding – Strengthening the branding of the Fuse platform to ensure consistency and alignment with Seasalt’s overall identity.

These priorities set the foundation for the next steps in refining the user experience and implementing targeted improvements.

Improving the Platform

Communication and Collaboration

I collaborated with the content team to help define content hierarchy, ensuring the most important information was given prominence, and that the tone and style matched the brand’s voice.

Quick Wins

Archiving content – Removing outdated or irrelevant content to declutter the homepage and improve navigation.
Introducing a new logo for 'The Anchor' – Refreshing the branding to better align with the platform’s identity.
Switching to rows of three – Reducing the height of the page and utilising space more effectively to showcase additional content.
Incorporating brand photography – Adding high-quality images to reinforce the brand and create a stronger sense of community.
Adding community descriptions – Informing users about the content and purpose of each community to guide their navigation.
Introducing content feeds (recently added, trending) – Displaying fresh and popular content for quick access, encouraging engagement.
Displaying all topics and content feeds – Making it easier for users to find content quickly by providing a comprehensive overview.
Creating a 'My Communities' block – Offering users quick access to their preferred communities for a personalised experience.
New carousel banner and logo placement – Improving visual hierarchy and emphasis on key branding elements.

These quick wins were designed to address immediate usability issues and significantly improve the overall user experience on the homepage, while longer-term solutions were being developed.

Homepage improvements

Below is a comparison of the homepage before and after most of the optimisations were implemented.

Feedback for Fuse

Given the limitations of the Fuse platform, we reached out to the Fuse team to share our findings and present recommendations for improvements. Our aim was to suggest optimisations that could not only enhance the Seasalt platform but also benefit other organisations using Fuse, ensuring broader value across their user base.

Key recommendations included:

Search Functionality – Improve search relevance and recency, with further optimisations to enhance discoverability.
Filters – Simplify and reduce the number of filter options to improve usability.
Breadcrumb Structure – Ensure content follows a logical community structure, as some links currently redirect to the ‘library,’ creating confusion.
Dropdown Menus – Separate ‘recent’ and ‘favourites’ into two distinct dropdowns in the header bar for better navigation.
Feedback/Ratings – Introduce a feedback block on articles, allowing users to rate content and provide feedback on its usefulness.
Recently Viewed Link Colour – Address the greyed-out styling of recently viewed content. Content should maintain its original styling, and learning plans should display a ‘complete’ indicator to reflect status (currently under discussion).
Deactivated User Status – Provide an option to change a deactivated user’s status to active (currently under discussion).
Fonts (Size and Style) – Increase the default font size, as the text was perceived to be too small (currently under discussion).
PDF Viewer – Adjust the default zoom to page width, as content was often too small to read comfortably at the default zoom level (could not be progressed).

Fuse acknowledged our efforts and expressed appreciation, noting that no other company had taken such a detailed approach to optimise their platform or conducted such extensive research. They informed us that a UX/UI redesign was already in the pipeline and would consider our feedback as part of their development process.

Presenting the Project

Together with the Learning and Development Manager, I presented the project and its outcomes at the monthly Fuse Collaboration Session, where we shared insights with a diverse group of professionals and brands.

I focused on the UX process and explained how the improvements were developed. To ensure the audience understood, I took the time to break down what UX is and the purpose of each research method or activity we used. I incorporated visuals to illustrate the different methods and activities, making the presentation more engaging and accessible to attendees with varying levels of experience.

By working closely with the Learning and Development Manager, we ensured that the presentation aligned with both the technical and educational aspects of the project, delivering a comprehensive overview that resonated with a wide range of stakeholders.

Conclusion

This project marks an ongoing journey to enhance the employee experience on Fuse. Through user research, usability testing, and iterative design, we've already seen significant improvements. The updates have received positive feedback, with previously highlighted issues and negative comments no longer being a concern. As we continue refining the platform and incorporating employee feedback, our goal is to create an engaging, intuitive experience that aligns with the Seasalt brand.

The improvements demonstrate the power of user-centred design and iterative testing, enabling us to make informed decisions that directly address employee pain points. With the platform now better meeting our needs, we will continue using Fuse for the time being. However, we may consider future upgrades to a platform that offers greater customization and a more robust information architecture.

Reflections

This was a fantastic research project that helped me develop my skills and demonstrate how research can drive projects forward and make a real impact on the user experience. I particularly enjoyed working with people from areas of the business I don’t typically collaborate with.
Normally, I work closely with developers, but this time I had the chance to engage with platform users and colleagues from various other teams. It was a truly collaborative project, with a strong focus on bringing people in to understand the benefits of UX and the different research methods. It wasn’t just about UX stepping in to provide a list of optimisations; it was a shared effort rooted in insights.
Although I didn’t have the opportunity to design in this project, I was able to focus on refining my research skills. I also worked alongside a junior UX designer, which was a great opportunity to help him grow and improve his own skills.

Conclusion

Reflections

This was a fantastic research project that helped me develop my skills and demonstrate how research can drive projects forward and make a real impact on the user experience. I particularly enjoyed working with people from areas of the business I don’t typically collaborate with.
Normally, I work closely with developers, but this time I had the chance to engage with platform users and colleagues from various other teams. It was a truly collaborative project, with a strong focus on bringing people in to understand the benefits of UX and the different research methods. It wasn’t just about UX stepping in to provide a list of optimisations; it was a shared effort rooted in insights.
Although I didn’t have the opportunity to design in this project, I was able to focus on refining my research skills. I also worked alongside a junior UX designer, which was a great opportunity to help him grow and improve his own skills.