Environment Agency |
The right anglers in the right room: recruitment and lab support for the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency’s team was ready to test its online fishing licence journey but needed the right participants and a proper lab. Box UK recruited anglers to a tight brief and hosted the sessions.
In short
Anglers in England need a fishing rod licence by law, and many buy or renew it online. The Environment Agency wanted to test that journey with real users. Its own team would run the sessions, so it needed the right participants and somewhere to test.
- Box UK used a screener questionnaire to recruit anglers across genders, ages, licensing experience and digital ability.
- Sessions ran in Box UK’s lab, with an observation room and live audio-video feeds.
- Every session was recorded for the EA to analyse later.
- The EA gave Box UK full marks in its client satisfaction survey.
Customer background
The Environment Agency is the public body responsible for protecting and improving the environment in England, including managing fisheries. Anglers need a fishing rod licence by law, and many buy or renew it online. Like all government services, the licence journey has to meet the GOV.UK Service Standard and work for everyone who needs it.
The challenge
The EA wanted to test the online licence journey with anglers who reflected its real audience: a range of genders, ages, levels of experience with licensing, and digital skills. The criteria were narrow, and the EA’s team, who would run the sessions themselves, needed a partner to find the right people and provide a suitable space.
Our approach
We sent a screener questionnaire to our database of potential participants, then hand-picked those who best matched the EA’s criteria.
Testing took place in Box UK’s usability lab, with a dedicated testing room, observation room and waiting area. High-definition audio and video fed the sessions to observers in another room, so participants weren’t distracted by anyone watching.
“Excellent communications leading up to session. Hosting on the day was brilliant. Overall a really good service and very pleased.”
Zane Gulliford, Business Analyst, CIS Solutions Delivery, Environment Agency
What we delivered
- Recruited participants matched to the EA’s criteria.
- Lab facilities for the EA’s own team to run sessions.
- Video recordings of every session, capturing screen interactions, verbal feedback and reactions, for later analysis.
The outcome
The EA ran its testing with a representative group of anglers, and kept a full record of every session. It gave Box UK full marks in its client satisfaction survey.
FAQs
Write a screener questionnaire that matches your real audience, then choose participants from the responses. For the Environment Agency, that meant anglers across ages, genders, licensing experience and digital skills.
Yes. The Environment Agency’s own team ran its sessions in Box UK’s lab, with Box UK handling recruitment and hosting.
So the team can review details later and share evidence with people who couldn’t attend.
Yes. The GOV.UK Service Standard requires services to be designed and tested with the people who will use them.
What this means
for your organisation
If your team can run usability sessions, recruitment and facilities are often the hardest part to get right: finding participants who match your real audience, and a space where they can test without feeling watched.
If you’re planning testing with a specific audience, send us a few lines about who they are. We’ll tell you how we’d find them.
Talk to one of our digital experts
Tom Houdmont
Chief Technology Officer
Do you have an idea or a project you need support with?
Tom is CTO at Box UK, with 12 years’ experience helping clients deliver ambitious digital products. His background spans Solution Architecture, Front End Development and AI adoption, with particular expertise in high-traffic websites that perform reliably at scale and in embedding AI into delivery practice.
Or call us on 020 7439 1900
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