114 usability tests in three days: putting the RCN’s new website in front of nurses at Congress
The Royal College of Nursing’s new website was in beta, and the RCN wanted to know what members really thought before full launch. Box UK set up testing at RCN Congress and ran 114 guerrilla usability sessions in three days, turning the results into prioritised recommendations for each of the RCN’s audiences.
114
usability sessions
3
days at RCN Congress
5k
attendees to recruit from
49
NPS score
In short
- The RCN’s new digital platform was in beta.
- Its annual Congress brought more than 5,000 members and others to one place.
- Box UK set up guerrilla testing with desktops, tablets and phones in a busy area.
- Moderated and self-guided sessions ran side by side, plus interviews, questionnaires and feedback cards.
- 114 sessions in three days gave enough data to segment findings by audience.
- The RCN received prioritised recommendations and a Net Promoter Score for the redesign.
Customer Background
The Royal College of Nursing represents around 440,000 nurses in the UK and worldwide. Box UK had already run discovery for its new digital platform, and the new site was in beta. See also the Royal College of Nursing case study.
The Challenge
The RCN was investing heavily in a new platform and wanted to be sure it worked for members before full launch. Congress offered direct access to thousands of them, but only for three days, and attendees had little time to spare.
We needed an approach that could gather a lot of useful feedback, quickly, from very different users: qualified nurses, students, health practitioners and accredited representatives.
Our Approach
We chose guerrilla testing: portable equipment, short test plans and sessions of 10 to 15 minutes. We set up desktops, tablets and phones in a high-traffic area and invited attendees to explore the platform and share their thoughts.
To get through as many sessions as possible, we ran self-guided tests using third-party software alongside moderated sessions, and supplemented them with interviews, questionnaires and feedback cards. Because we’d already run discovery for the RCN, the test plans focused on the journeys that mattered most.
“The way the Box UK team conducted things was fantastic and the response and feedback we have captured I am sure will prove invaluable to the further development of the website. It was an absolute pleasure to work with you.”
Paul Newman, Head of IT at Royal College of Nursing
What we delivered
- Heatmaps and journey maps showing where users moved and clicked.
- Qualitative feedback from questionnaires, interviews and cards.
- A Net Promoter Score giving the RCN a quick, high-level view of member feeling about the redesign.
- Prioritised recommendations, segmented by audience, to guide the next stage of beta development.
Delivery
114 sessions were completed over three days at Congress, followed by analysis and a presentation of recommendations to the RCN.
The Outcome
- Evidence from 114 sessions to guide the next stage of development.
- Recommendations by audience, so the RCN could prioritise changes by value.
- Members involved early, seeing progress and knowing their feedback was being used.
- A positive NPS for the redesign: 49
FAQs
Quick, informal testing in a public place, with short sessions and portable equipment. At RCN Congress, it let Box UK run 114 sessions in three days.
Keep sessions short, run self-guided tests alongside moderated ones, and add questionnaires and feedback cards. That’s how the RCN tests reached 114 sessions.
Because your users are all in one place. The RCN’s Congress gave direct access to thousands of members.
It gives a quick, comparable measure of how likely users are to recommend the product, which is useful for tracking sentiment across releases.
What this means
for your organisation
If you’re about to launch a new platform and your members gather in one place each year, that’s your best chance to test with them at scale. A few days of short sessions can give you more evidence than months of occasional feedback.
If you have an event coming up, send us a few lines about it and what you want to test. We’ll tell you how we’d set it up.
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
Related case studies
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NHS Wales Informatics Service
Read more: NHS Wales Informatics ServiceImproving access to over 3 million people using NHS Wales online services.
-
Royal College of Nursing
Read more: Royal College of NursingOverhauling the RCN’s digital platform to service 440,000 nurses globally.
-
British Medical Journal
Read more: British Medical JournalBox UK develop award-winning best practice mobile App for BMJ.
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