Research and analysis

User research shows how people actually use your service and where problems occur. Interviews, observations, surveys, usability testing and neuro UX research help ensure that decisions are based on real behaviour, not assumptions.

It gives you an external perspective that internal teams often cannot see.

We map your current processes and create a clear view of how they could work in the future. We define what needs to change, what it will cost and what value it will create.

This helps clarify where you are today, where you want to go and which gaps need to be closed to get there.

We look at the bigger picture: the strengths, gaps and opportunities in your field. This helps you understand how to stand out not only through design, but also through strategy.

We look at your service not as a single channel or system, but as an end-to-end experience from the perspective of both customers and your organisation. Thoughtful service design helps reduce fragmented customer experiences, manual work spent fixing errors and duplicated tasks.

It also creates a clearer view of how the service should work in the future, so it can meet changing expectations and support your organisation’s growth.

In collaboration with the Kenyan ICT Authority and under the Team Europe initiative, we carried out service design, business analysis, and created digital environment prototypes to support the digitalisation of three Kenyan public services. One such improvement is the proposed digitalisation of birth registration processes, which could reduce the average time to issue a birth certificate from one year to one day.

We conducted a current state assessment, which included on-site user research in Kenya across various regions, engaging everyday users and local communities. Working closely with service owners, we developed a solution concept. We created prototypes of user interfaces and carried out business analysis for the required process changes. Additionally, we compiled a handbook for Kenyan public institutions on implementing human-centred digital services.

Each Estonian public university uses a Study Information System that supports academic activities and helps organise administrative tasks. The existing systems require updating, and their constant maintenance and development are costly. In collaboration with Universities Estonia, we analysed the current situation and identified opportunities for cooperation, aiming towards the creation of a shared system.

We conducted interviews with stakeholders from Estonian public universities to map their specific needs. In inter-university workshops, we discussed the current state and identified strategic collaboration opportunities. The outcome was a report to guide the development of a cooperative operational and funding model for universities’ digital solutions.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd, we carried out a vision project with the goal of creating a concept for the Estonian government's event based services and understanding the content and extent of necessary development work.

In the project, we studied five key life events where people need to use different online services from the government. We ended up with a report and some sample versions of what the services could look like. These materials will help guide the development of these services in the future.

The goal of Eurofound was to improve the user experience, value proposition and communications of their information services by relying on the actual needs and use cases of specific target groups, such as EU policymakers, the media and researchers.

We have mapped out user expectations and needs, described personas and their user journeys and a concept for the communication plan. We also prototyped persona-based landing pages and tested those with the users.

In cooperation with the Emergency Response Centre and SMIT (The IT and Development Centre, Ministry of the Interior), we updated the work processes to ensure that help would quickly get to those who need it while the rescue coordinator could offer a positive customer experience, encompassing shorter, conflict-free calls. To make all of that happen, it was important to speed up the process of creating emergency events and to reduce the number of SOS screens.

We conducted observations in the Emergency Response Centre and interviews with police, ambulance and fire personnel. We visualised the AS-IS and TO-BE emergency event creation journeys. We created a design system and designed new dashboard views that took into consideration the complexity of the information system and its interfaces as well the one-minute rule for determining the hazard level of a situation.

User research or business analysis is most useful before developing a new digital service, information system or major change. It helps clarify the problem you need to solve, who the solution is for and which investment is likely to create real value.

Analysis helps reduce the risk of wrong decisions, rework and unnecessary development costs. Before software development begins, we map business goals, user needs, work processes, technical constraints and possible solution paths. This gives you a clearer view of what should be developed, what should come first and which decisions will affect the project’s cost, timeline and outcome.
 

We choose the methods based on the challenge, goals and stage of the project. Common methods include interviews, workshops, observations, surveys, data analysis, competitor analysis, user journey mapping, personas, AS-IS and TO-BE process descriptions, BPMN process models, prototyping, usability testing, impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis.

User research helps show what people want to do in a digital service, where they get stuck and what influences their decisions. This creates a stronger basis for improving user journeys, content, functionality and design. The result is a solution that is more logical, easier to use and better aligned with real needs.