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User research

Truly transformational products and services start with a deep understanding of the people who use them and their needs.
  • News

Reimagining the employee experience for LNER

How do you use digital to help staff deliver a great customer experience?

Jordan Healy

Jordan Healy

  • Viewpoint

Anchoring insights: Key learnings from Research by the Sea

From the ethics of AI to the power of community, discover bold ideas and practical takeaways from the conference.

Jordan Healy

Jordan Healy

  • News

Webinar: Reimagine user interviews with AI

Join us on March 19th 2025, from 1–2 pm, for a live webinar exploring how AI can enhance your research processes.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

  • Tiny Lesson

Running regular research to get results

Conducting occasional research is better than none, but regular, ongoing research is essential for gaining trustworthy insights and achieving great results.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

  • News

Bridging the gap between research and design report

Our latest report, with insights from 155 design professionals in 23 countries, offers practical strategies to help bridge the gap between research and design.

Jordan Healy

Jordan Healy

Two hands using a smartphone one hand holding the phone and another hand pointing at something on the screen with their little finger.
  • Case study

LNER

This is the story of how we helped LNER better understand how digital can help staff deliver a great customer experience.
  • News

Webinar: How to drive student applications by optimising your digital presence

Join us for an exclusive webinar designed to support universities in enhancing their digital presence to drive student applications.

Jordan Healy

Jordan Healy

  • Viewpoint

Researching the student application journey

Research into the student application journey, focussing on the main UCAS application window.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

A close-up view of a digital screen displaying the word "IMPERIAL" in a thin white line box at the top, followed by bold white text that reads "Scientific imagination for world-changing impact." The background features abstract circular shapes in dark blue and black, with vibrant green and pink elements at the bottom, suggesting a modern, futuristic design.
  • News

Imperial College London website redesign

Clearleft worked with Imperial College London to transform the university’s website, aligning an ambitious new strategy with a bold new brand.

Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter

A close-up view of a digital screen displaying the word "IMPERIAL" in a thin white line box at the top, followed by bold white text that reads "Scientific imagination for world-changing impact." The background features abstract circular shapes in dark blue and black, with vibrant green and pink elements at the bottom, suggesting a modern, futuristic design.
  • Case study

Imperial College London

This is the story of how we worked with Imperial to transform its website, aligning an ambitious new strategy with its bold new brand.
An arrangement of multiple webpage designs for ARU Clearing 2024, showing different sections like course details, support services, and community information. The designs are displayed in a grid, with a mix of blue and yellow color schemes. The website emphasizes accessibility and inclusion, with prominent sections for student life and academic information.
  • Case study

ARU Clearing Research

This is the story of how we helped Anglia Ruskin University better understand the experience of prospective students applying to their university through the clearing process.
A web page design mockup for an article titled "Building With Fungi." The page features a vibrant illustration of a futuristic, abstract scene involving fungi-based materials. The text discusses the use of mycelium in construction and other industries. The design includes purple accents, a prominent share button, and additional informational boxes.
  • Case study

Ingenia

This is the story of how we helped the Royal Academy of Engineering redesign the website for their magazine, [Ingenia](https://www.ingenia.org.uk/).
  • Case study

RetailBook

This is the story of how we helped an investment bank launch a new independent platform connecting companies that are raising capital with individual retail investors.
  • Case study

The Open University

This is the story of how we helped the Open University better understand their students’ needs.
  • Tiny Lesson

Designing a workshop for UX London

At Clearleft, we talk about researching in the open. We believe in being transparent about our work and processes. We love what we do and talking about how we work.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

A mobile preview of three of the This is Engineering website pages on a pink neon abstract background.
  • Case study

This is Engineering

This is the story of how we worked with the Royal Academy of Engineering to improve their This is Engineering campaign website.
A graphic showing two cards stacked on top of each other labelled 'the collaborator 'and 'the decision maker'. They have grey avatar icons and fake text.
  • Case study

UCL audience research

This is the story of how we helped University College London better understand one segment of their audience.
Yellow background graphic with web pages displayed in a row.
  • Case study

Anglia Ruskin University

This is the story of how we helped Anglia Ruskin University better understand how students decide which university they’re going to choose.
  • Viewpoint

Using service design to prevent bad decisions

A little bit of service design can go a long way. The trick is to be focussed, purposeful and design your communication with a specific outcome in mind.

Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter

  • Viewpoint

Recruiting for UX research

Finding the right participants for UX research is vital for ensuring valid results and insights. In this blog post, we’ll cover how to find the right people to run research with.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

image of 5 mobile device sized screens showing the design of the final product.
  • Case study

Natural History Museum Biodiversity

This is the story of how we helped the Natural History Museum build a tool to create awareness of biodiversity.
  • Viewpoint

Calculating the value of user research

Can you put a price on the insights gained from evaluative or generative research?

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

Children sat around a table joyfully painting pictures
  • Case study

Camden Council

This is the story of how we helped Camden Council see user-centred improvements to their special educational needs and disabilities Local Offer website.
  • Viewpoint

Surveys – a useful, but dangerous research method

Large-scale surveys are commonly used for opinion polls or customer satisfaction. While they can be a vital tool for design research, they should be used with caution.

Luke Hay

Luke Hay

  • Viewpoint

Three cups of joy

Reflections from Clearleft’s UX London 2022 Conference

Chris Pearce

Chris Pearce

  • Tiny Lesson

Tiny lesson: Google search operators and syntax for UX desk research

In this video tiny lesson, I'll share the search shortcuts I use most often for time-efficient discovery.

Chris How

Chris How

  • Viewpoint

Engineering a better design test

How can we adapt our tools for better testing?

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

It’s okay: Advice for research newcomers

Benjamin recently responded to a community post asking for advice for settling nerves during a first-time customer research activity.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

Maite sits at her laptop behind a soundproof office at the studio.
  • Case study

Research for a well-known engineering brand

This is the story of how we tailored a product website to better meet the needs of audiences in local markets.
  • Viewpoint

Remote research: Around the world in a day

It’s 7pm in the UK. I started my day talking to someone in Tokyo, before moving to Manchester, and I’ve just finished up in San Francisco. Eighteen timezones. 14,645km (give or take). And no jetlag.

Chris How

Chris How

  • Tiny Lesson

Tiny Lesson: How to set up an inexpensive remote research session

In a remote context what can we do to bring teams together and encourage a hub of learning?

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • News

SofaConf 2020 talks are now live

The captioned videos and Q&As from SofaConf 2020 are now live to watch and share.

Sophia Hill

Sophia Hill

  • Viewpoint

Guerrilla Testing - Tips for better results

In our last post we described the merits of guerrilla testing compared with other research methods. In this follow-up post we share some tips for getting better results.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

Why usability testing is not enough

As we launch our 2020 survey we unpack why research (and empathy) deserve a deeper focus.

Maite Otondo

Maite Otondo

  • Viewpoint

Guerrilla Testing - What it is and when to use it

For some, guerrilla testing is a dirty word. A victim of its own success, its overuse has given it a bad rap. Isn’t it about time we celebrated its strengths and use it when the time is right?

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

Using content strategy to present your research findings

When you have all the stuff but just don’t know how to tell the story.

Rachel McConnell

Rachel McConnell

  • News

Researching the research

I’m helping to run a research repositories workshop in March. Find out more about the project and how you can help.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Tiny Lesson

Tiny Lesson: How to run an ERT test

A tiny lesson on how to run a BERT test to measure how people perceive your brand.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

5 Steps To Better Research

Benjamin shares 5 steps to better research.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

Design Effectiveness Report 2019

What makes a high-performing design team?

Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter

Queen mary website on mobile
  • Case study

Queen Mary University of London

This is the story of how a large and complex organisation came together to learn about their users and deliver a better experience for prospective students.
  • Viewpoint

The rise of research ops — a view from the inside

Earlier this week Clearleft hosted a lively morning of debate around 'Accelerating Your Digital Design Maturity' featuring leading industry voices from Tesco, Babylon Health, Sky, Twitter, Google Ventures and UCL.

Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter

  • Viewpoint

Practical tips in running your first diary study - pt.1

Running a diary study can be tough work. Here are a few tips to start you off on the right foot.

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

  • Viewpoint

The vital key to design impact

Our research with 400 designers revealed a vital contributing factor to design achieving the greatest impact.

Richard Rutter

Richard Rutter

  • Case study

Theirworld.org

This is the story of how we worked with Theirworld to create an entirely new web presence, one that helped their rich flow of news, resources and campaigns improve children’s education and human rights across the world.
  • Viewpoint

Five tips for designing successful business tools

A guide for designing successful business tools

Katie Wishlade

Katie Wishlade

  • Viewpoint

Takeaways from Jan Chipchase’s Field Research Masterclass

When you have the opportunity to add new methods to your UX research toolkit, grasp that opportunity with both hands!

Benjamin Parry

Benjamin Parry

A rollercoaster ride.
  • Case study

Attraction Tickets Direct Design Sprint

This is the story of how we worked with Attraction Tickets Direct to identify and fix issues in their checkout process, in just two weeks.
A designer is wearing a bold patterned shirt and glasses. He is sitting with a woman with long dark hair. Both are smiling and looking at a screen on a desk. Two more laptop screens can be seen in the foreground while in the background is a blurred out studio office kitchen.

You’re unique

Which is why we prefer to tailor our approach specifically for you. Let’s discuss a collaborative partnership and how we can achieve the best outcomes together.

Richard Rutter
Email Rich about your design challenge

Richard Rutter, Cofounder

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