Full Clarity

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Associate Director of Marketing and Digital for an education training company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company is England's largest training provider for the education sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Full Clarity to accomplish?

• To identify key areas where user experience can be improved between our website and the application portal for our training programme.

SOLUTION

How did you find Full Clarity?

Online Search

Why did you select Full Clarity over others?

Winning company in our tender

How many teammates from Full Clarity were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Full Clarity did an audit of our website and the user journey to the application form for a key training programme. They then carried out user-testing with users from three different persona groups. The user testing was recorded with users giving a verbal commentary. Full Clarity also interviewed each user with a survey to establish more about their attitudes, behaviours and the things the liked or disliked about our user journey. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Once changes have been made to the user journey we will be able to measure the impact of this work through improvements in the conversion rates for various steps in the journey.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Full Clarity were extremely efficient. The divided the project up into three phases: Analyse; Conduct and Distil. They organised and facilitated excellent workshops with our senior stakeholders and delivered the project to budget and on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Full Clarity?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Full Clarity were very strategic, helping us to prioritise what should be user tested and on getting agreement on how success would be measured. Their attention to detail was superb. They also provided a MoSCoW set of recommendations helping us by prioritising where the quick wins are and what changes would have the greatest impact towards achieving our goals.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Full Clarity could have done differently?

None whatsoever. We were very happy with the work that Full Clarity did for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ITV are the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster.  Our team are responsible for delivering a digital transformation of ITV’s advertising business.  Planet V, the focus of this engagement is a marketplace for agencies and brands to plan premium video ad campaigns on a range of broadcaster platforms.

My role as Director of technology and Change is to lead the teams (product, ux, engineering, QA, change management etc) and provide direction  to our transformation initiatives. 
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

Complete redesign of a B2B marketplace complex product.  We were looking for a partner who could design a highly usable and loveable product through their deep user research processes, precision of thought and quality of design output. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Full Clarity were engaged to deliver a positive step change in the user experience of our advertising platform, a landmark commercial project for ITV, over an 18 month period.

What is the team composition? 

• Ed - UX Director
• Stuart - UI Design Lead 
• Hans  UX Designer
• Emily - UX Designer

How did you come to work with the vendor?

Had used them briefly on a small project at a previous job

What is the status of this engagement?

Initial project nearly complete working with vendor on new initiative  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our key users are external to ITV and it they were initially skeptical of investing time in a collaborative design process.  This initial reluctance quickly evaporated to be replaced by a warm, deep and sustained engagement in the process.  Participants in the collaborative design have since become champions for their organisation’s rollout of the new product.

The product in being rollout out progressively to our use community over the next few months (we’re about 25% done).  The feedback so far has been exemplary, engagement with the product is strong, and key tasks can now be performed in a fraction of the time it previously took.

1. Key strengths demonstrated in delivery of the product:
   1. Whilst encountering significant complexity in this multi-stakeholder platform, they created and delivered clarity through their deep user research processes, precision of thought and quality of UX design output.
   2. Full Clarity embedded incredibly well with both the product and engineering and agency client teams, the best of any external company any of us have experienced, and delivering UX work of the highest industry level to delight clients and deliver on our commitment to continuous improvement.  The feedback from our agency customers on the design process and product alike has been first-rate.
   3. Finally, Full Clarity brought UX leadership and research best practice into the business and boosted team morale in the process - delivering an amazing front end experience which has given our whole team icon to be proud of, transforming the energy of the business.

1. Integrating as an embedded team:  
   1. “Tribe within a tribe”
   2. Full Clarity were noticeably their own team but integrated seamlessly within product/engineering from a cultural perspective and as a trusted and valued partner
   3. Made a substantial contribution to our wider culture, helping to embed design-thinking approaches, creativity and user-centred design.

1. Enabling continuous improvement
   1. FC are experts at user research and technically informed UX design
   2. We are passionate about delivering continuous improvement to delight clients
   3. Through their thorough user research processes and management of multiple high profile clients, Full Clarity were able to enable continuous improvement of the platform.
   4. In doing so we have been able to shift the buying experience from “I have to transact” to “I want to transact through the platform”
   5. This shift in user experience has delighted end clients (including major media holding groups) who transact significant advertising revenue with us

1. Successfully managing internal stakeholders
   1. Whilst thorough research was critical to successfully improving the platform, Full Clarity have also successfully managed a variety of senior stakeholders at our company to bring them along through the research and design process
   2. This soft communication work has brought awareness and further elevated the profile of the platform internally

1. Quality of work has shone through  
   1. Full Clarity are expert at taking complexity and delivering clarity in front end software design.  
   2. The vision and profile of the platform required real craft - connecting media buyers with a broad inventory of the highest profile digital advertising opportunities to easily book placements for clients across multiple broadcasters. 
   3. The greatest success in the design work has been creating a simple,coherent platform experience faced with this complexity while working to tight timelines and the need to bring all parties along through the process
   4. The platform is also future ready from a design standpoint with a design system and component library delivered to ensure a consistent experience moving forwards
   5. Full Clarity have also delivered a capability improvement - with research techniques, tools and workshops implanted in to the internal team
   6. Finally, there is now pride in the project across the 60+ team members within the platform, boosting team morale and creating a feel good factor in the project and helping to cement a user-centred mindset within our culture.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

Initial project nearly complete working with vendor on new initiative. Full Clarity are very easy to work with. The management style is very open and relaxed and always kept us informed of decisions. They responded in a timely manner to questions and backed up their response with solid rationale.

They would provide detailed responses via email and quick replies via Slack. If a longer conversation were needed this would generally be done with a video call. We found this approach personable which is important when dealing with complex design solutions. They have a good leadership structure, and their team had good direction throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The techniques used to find the correct design solution were very impressive. They used a variety of techniques. In discovery work, they would always listen carefully and not interrupt when someone was explaining their view. They would then ask specific questions showing insight into what had been explained. It sounds simple but there is a real skill to it.

They used UX methods such as Interviews, Journey mapping, Affinity mapping, Lightning demos, Feature flagging and Object modeling to obtain as much data and insight as possible before commencing any design work. They also conducted some great workshops that were both engaging and informative. On long projects, it's very easy to jump into the design early. Full Clarity doesn't operate like that and it showed in the outcomes.

We also found the amount of work that has been produced very impressive. The features delivered on this project were very complex and the design work produced from wireframes through to high fidelity designs and prototypes to be of a very high standard. On top of that the organisation and layout of the work is thorough and very easy to follow. Presentations were also well delivered at a good pace so that they could be understood at all levels.

Overall, a great agency that provides detailed design solutions to look fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nope! Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Co-Founder & Director of The Food People, we shift the future of food and drink by championing change in people and organisations to shape a better future for all. We enable companies and individuals to create impact through food & drink trends insight and foresight by informing and interpreting what is happening and has happened to provide foresight of what's coming. Companies and professionals across the food & drink & related industries have access to the insight and foresight through our membership platform, trend hub.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity, and what were your goals?

Full Clarity are our digital partners who provide ongoing support in the maintenance and improvement of our membership platform and marketing website. We choose Full Clarity as we were looking for a long term partner we could trust, who would be proactive in ensuring our digital products remain secure, stable and robust whilst also challenging us to enable us to create greater impact for our clients, the industry and wider society.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were working with another digital agency who could no longer support us due to a change in direction. They recommended Full Clarity to us and after a few initial meetings felt there was a cultural fit.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Full Clarity started by completing an onboarding exercise, working with the outgoing agency to ensure everything was handed over properly. Within a few weeks, Full Clarity took responsibility for the system and started handling support requests. They then made some backend improvements to upgrade the PHP version, modernise some libraries and move the deployment process to containers, which all contributed to improving the speed, security and maintainability of the system. We noticed great results. More recently, Full Clarity have been designing an update to an important part of the system, focusing on improving the UX.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We’ve worked closely with Jon (Technical Director) and Jack (Senior Developer) but have also interacted with Ed and Rose from the UX team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Full Clarity have made a huge improvement to the speed of our membership platform - for example, searching for content used to take up to two minutes for some queries and this is now down to a second or two. They’re now focusing on improving the UX of a key area of the site and we’re really pleased with the results.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They provide superb, regular communication. They also update meetings and check in as required. Professional and key for me made complex problems understandable so we could make decisions from a place of understanding as a non tech person

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Professionalism, attention to detail, problems and solution solving, clarity and transparancy - all delivered by warm genuine people who want to help and support

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

nothing comes to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Group People Director at a PR and communications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity?

I hired Full Clarity to help me build a website for an internal outplacement programme we have developed to help all the people impacted by furlough or redundancy due to the pandemic.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed a clean, easy to use site that gave people choice at a time when they often feel they have no control over what is happening.

SOLUTION

How did you select Full Clarity?

They were recommended to me via Jonathan P. by COO.

Describe the project in detail.

Full Clarity were brilliant to work with from day one. They listened, they prepared options and then they worked with me to build something that I could maintain in the long term. They also did it in very fast turn around times!

What was the team composition?

I spoke with the project manager and the designer and the Full Clarity team worked together to make sure everyone fully understood the scope of the project and the brief.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The website was ready in the agreed time frames, looks brilliant and works exactly as we had hoped.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I was the blocker as I couldn't provide content quick enough! Full Clarity were always ahead of schedule and supported me in every way they could.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their understanding, their ability to support and teach as we progressed and their genius in interpreting the vision I had in my head and turning it into reality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they were brilliant.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run Earnest, an award-winning B2B creative agency based in London and New York.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity, and what were your goals?

Full Clarity worked with us to restructure and rebuild YSC's website. The goals were to update the site to reflect the company's updated services and positioning.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I have always wanted to work with Ed as a rare UX expert. And Jon has a fantastic breadth and depth of technology expertise.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They ran the UX workshop and quickly and effectively moved to hi-def wireframes and then built the site on WordPress.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Ed and Jon led the project and as a team, they are superb: different skills and expertise that work amazingly together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The client has seen improved site metrics across the board, and are delighted that the website now creates a much better user journey and delivers the right message to their clients and prospects.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Amazingly good at the PM side - I can't actually remember the tools they used, but we were always in the know and it made the whole project a pleasure.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Full Clarity is a safe pair of hands, but also always looks to innovate and bring something different.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Genuinely nothing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a software company that serves operators of hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity?

They were hired to design the UX and UI screens for a new product.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to study the high-level specification and objectives of the new product and to design the user flow and screens for the first release.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They had provided excellent services to us in the past, so it was an easy decision to select them.

Describe the project in detail.

We are planning to release a brand new product. We had specified high-level requirements, objectives, and user journeys. We had also specified the required screens. Using these documents, the vendor created a user flow map based on several personas. Based on this, they designed the screens, which would be used by restaurant staff, management, and guests.

What was the team composition?

A project manager and a UX / UI designer was the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The objectives of the project had been very well understood. Timelines were tight and they produced an excellent set of screens that matched our objectives within the deadline. There were some tweaks required and they were happy to make them quickly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our workflow was very effective. They asked the right questions to unearth the key details. We worked together over Slack and they were responsive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a very high level of attention to detail in interpreting the brief and going into the depth required to produce the right result the first time, even with strict timelines.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I was happy with the project from start to end.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Feed it Back is the TOTAL reputation management platform that enables customer obsessed hospitality operators to listen, understand and engage with all forms of customer feedback, helping them grow their business through increased repeat visits from their loyal fans. I'm Head of Product and am responsible for all elements of product development from analysis and design through to release and application support.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity?

Our initial guest survey had been in use for a few years and was overdue a re-design. We collect well over 100,000 pieces of feedback by this survey per month by a huge range of users across all types of device. We needed a partner to help guide us on user experience and design, and looked for an agency we could trust, who could help us quickly take our new survey to market, and with whom we could build a strategic relationship.

What were your goals for this project?

The solution had to be simple to use, fun, engaging and completely customisable by our clients. As it was replacing an existing survey there were a number of parameters that our partner agency would have to work within - but we were keen to find someone to help us challenge constraints, push boundaries and deliver an outstanding guest experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We'd worked with a number of different agencies in the past and gave them the opportunity to pitch for this work. We also looked to external partners we hadn't worked with and assessed portfolios on their website to see who else might be a good fit. This is how we found Full Clarity. Agencies were invited to discuss the project and make suggestions about how they'd approach it, suggest any innovations and provide an estimate. The selection of the our partner was made by myself and our CEO. Whilst price was a factor, experience, capabilities and responsiveness where the key decision variables.

Describe the project in detail.

The scope was a redesign of our survey interface, based on our existing survey, previous mockups generated from user feedback and a demanding set of requirements around usability, flexibility and responsiveness. Statements of Work were produced for both the design and development projects with clearly defined deliverables and timescales. Once agreed, work started immediately with clearly defined checkpoints throughout the projects. Meetings were held where necessary to demonstrate progress. Interim communication happened over Slack (and requests responded to quickly).

What was the team composition?

The project was split into two parts, with Ed leading the UX/UI piece, and Jon leading the front-end development. Both Ed and Jon had an extended team working with them behind the scenes to help deliver to the tight schedules.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new survey launched last week and initial feedback from both our Client Services team and our customers has been fantastic. They love the configurability and look and feel and believe that the new approach will help them gather more feedback as well as different types of feedback.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was excellent and regular progress updates were provided. Due to the tight timescales Full Clarity's front-end team were working on components at the same time as our front-end team which meant some overlap, but this was managed well through clear updates and shared repositories for us to pull code. Once the project had started, most communication happened over Slack (which both Full Clarity and us used internally already) and code was made available through git repositories as it became available. UX/UI was presented in Flowmapp and Invision.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Both Ed and Jon just 'got' what we wanted to achieve and were able to deliver a project that met our requirements on budget and in extremely tight timescales. More importantly though, they challenged us and provided an outsider's innovative insight into how we could approach different challenges. This ultimately meant more work for them within the already agreed budget, but demonstrated their commitment to delivering a best-in-breed solution.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I imagine the tight timescales set by us, caused a lot of challenges - but that didn't affect the end result, which has delivered exactly what we wanted.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Service Design Lead and co-founder at Cogworx, a service design consultancy based just outside London. My role is focused on the end-to-end design and delivery of digital products and services for the public and private sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity?

We engaged with Full Clarity to provide us with additional UX Design support for a project with UK Export Finance, a UK government department. Full Clarity embedded as part of the Cogworx team. Our brief was to provide design recommendations to improve an existing online service.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to present a unified 'Cogworx' team made up of senior consultants with great experience who could manage and advise senior stakeholders. We wanted to deliver recommendations that the team could confidently stand by with evidence and rationale to support them.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met Full Clarity at a social event. Exchanged details and, when an opportunity that we felt might be a good fit arose, we reached out.

Describe the project in detail.

Full Clarity joined Cogworx for a short (1 month) engagement with UK Export Finance. During this time the team reviewed the existing online service, audited the issues, made recommendations, and then created new designs to help illustrate these recommendations. We also did some initial user testing to validate our recommendations. Everything was submitted as a report to the client team.

What was the team composition?

The team was made up of Service Designer, Content Designer, Front-end Developer (all Cogworx) and UX Designer (Full Clarity).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

This initial engagement with UK Export Finance has proven successful for Cogworx and we are now on our third project with the client team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Cogworx and Full Clarity worked together as an integrated and embedded team on-site at the client's offices. We used shared tools and systems to ensure collaborative working and communications.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Full Clarity clearly have a lot of experience in designing a diverse range of systems and applications and were able to bring fresh ideas to the table. Their team is senior and experienced. They are able to effectively communicate with senior stakeholders which helps build relationships and confidence with clients.

Are there any areas for improvement?

This was the first government service Full Clarity have worked on. UK government services have to be designed within very strict guidelines and to very specific patterns. It takes some time to get your head around those so it's difficult for new team members to hit the ground running without prior experience and familiarity.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a B2C training company in self-improvement. I am the director of operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Full Clarity?

As a small but agile company, we have to use SaaS solutions. However, we want them to talk to each other, which they rarely do well. And sometimes we want to extend the features of these “off the shelf” tools to do things they can't do. Most importantly, we want the user experience to be top-notch without the price-tag: in other words, we want the world!

What were your goals for this project?

What is complex for us makes the user experience easy. I wanted to provide a 'Netflix'-style learning portal which was easy for our clients to log into and use.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with Jon (Co-Founder, Full Clarity) for years, and then he brought in another member of his agency, Ed (Co-Founder, Full Clarity) to help out with the UX.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Let's look at it from the customer's perspective; they click a link and consume their content. If anything gets "in the way" of that or requires too much thinking between point A and point B, then consumption goes down, retention goes down, and repeat purchases become non-existent. Jon and Ed were tasked with getting our customer from click to consumption as pleasantly and as easily as possible.

What was the team composition?

Ed worked on UX, and Jon handled everything else. Jon asked Ed to join the team when I wanted more than Jon was able to provide. He had done a great job from a basic design perspective, however, I wanted the 'Netflix experience' which was outside of Jon's design capabilities. So, he asked Ed to provide his opinion—wow, what an addition!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We achieved a 95% buyer to start rate, 70% course completion rate, 80% re-buy rate, and 100% company growth. Clearly the content is important, however, the content structure and delivery are equally important.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We held meetings between Jon, Ed, myself, and the content creator Heidi.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Jon's technology and ability to write code is excellent and has never failed us. His ideas, critical thinking, and ability are up-to-date and impressively dynamic. He will offer opinions if you ask for them. He uses the time you have with him wisely and never takes advantage of any lack of knowledge you might have. 

If your business is like ours and relies on a superior reputation, security, and technology, then Jon is your only choice. Ed's UX is never completed until it is perfect, and then we look at user behavior and adapt accordingly. The feedback from our clients couldn't have been more positive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing comes to mind. I think they are a perfect combination of UX and coding. They work extremely well together and communicate well with me. As their team grows, I'm confident they will be able to maintain the same level of attention to detail.