Overcome the hurdles and accelerate your real-world impact through user research

In the charity sector, it can feel like every decision needs to be both urgent and effective. When you are working to support people in crisis or driving a movement for change, adding a user-centred design ‘process’ can sometimes feel like a luxury.

We often hear that user research feels like something that takes too long, costs too much, or simply tells you what you already know. At William Joseph, we see it differently. For us, research isn’t a hurdle; it’s the accelerator that ensures your limited resources reach the people who need them most.

Here are six principles you can use to ensure research stays lean, respectful and focused on real-world impact.

1. Don’t let urgency lead to errors

There is often an urgent need to get services live. However, rushing frequently leads to building the wrong thing.

• Start small. Testing a prototype or section of content with just three to five people from your target audience can identify the biggest barriers to access.
• Challenge your assumptions. Two weeks of research and analysis early on can prevent months of expensive technical fixes later. Could also talk about ‘joining the dots with other audience data and insight to get to fresh insights that help define the right thing to build.
• Keep moving. Research doesn’t have to mean a ‘stop’ in production. We run testing as a continuous ‘pulse’ while design work continues, ensuring feedback informs the build in real-time.

2. Research ensures your budget is spent wisely

We know that every penny spent on ‘process’ is a penny not spent directly on your cause. However, building a digital tool that no one can use is the greatest waste of all.

• Use what you have. Start with desk research - reviewing email queries, social media conversations and website analytics. This identifies where we need to dive deeper and focuses our efforts.
• Cost-effective changes. It is significantly more cost-effective to change a wireframe or a sketch than it is to rebuild a coded website. Research ensures your budget is spent on a solution that actually works for your users.

3. Move beyond ‘what we already know’

Charity teams are experts in their cause and often speak to service users daily. However, that very closeness can create blind spots.

• Fresh eyes. When you work closely with a cause, you naturally develop workarounds for complex systems. ‘You are not your users’ is a mantra for good reason. We help charities step back to see the barriers a person in crisis or a first-time donor might face.
• Beyond the loudest voices. Internal teams often hear from the most vocal users. Objective research ensures we include the marginalised people and groups who may need your services the most, but may find them the hardest to access.

4. Digital expertise isn’t lived experience

Understanding people’s lived experience through research empowers those with digital expertise to design products that solve real-world problems and are easy to use.

• Real-world context. A digital expert can tell you if a button is accessible, but only a user can tell you if the language feels supportive or alienating during a difficult time.
• Trauma-informed testing. People in stressful situations navigate digital tools differently. We apply a trauma-informed approach to every session, ensuring we see the reality of how people interact with your brand under pressure.