Writing the brief before the build: user research for the Royal Photographic Society’s new website
The RPS was planning a full rebuild of its website, and wanted the tender brief based on evidence from its users. Box UK’s research turned that evidence into more than 100 prioritised user stories and a tested prototype.
1400
members surveyed
100+
user stories in the prioritised brief
20+
interface ideas prototyped and tested
In short
The Royal Photographic Society is one of the world’s oldest photographic societies. It was planning a full rebuild of its website, with goals including more membership sign-ups, better member engagement and online renewal, and wanted the brief for tendering agencies to be driven by users from the start.
- Box UK ran a workshop with 50 RPS volunteers and a survey completed by 1,400 members.
- We reviewed 12 months of analytics, the existing site and 11 key processes, including membership sign-up and renewal.
- Tree testing with 60 users showed how well the existing structure matched the way people thought about the RPS.
- The research became more than 100 user stories, which the RPS prioritised before going to tender.
- We built an HTML prototype and tested over 20 interface ideas with members and non-members.
Customer background
The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) was founded to promote the art and science of photography, and is one of the world’s oldest photographic societies. It continues that work today through national and regional events, practical workshops, lectures and community projects.
The challenge
The RPS was planning a full rebuild of its website. Before going out to tender, it wanted a brief that was driven by users from the outset, so agencies would be responding to what members and non-members actually needed.
An initial requirements session with senior RPS stakeholders set out five goals for the new site:
- a better experience for members and non-members
- more new membership sign-ups
- better engagement from existing members
- online membership renewal
- more awareness of RPS services such as awards and training
The brief had to show how the new site would meet those goals, while balancing the needs of the society’s many stakeholders and audiences.
Our approach
We used a user-centred design approach, building up evidence from several directions before anything went into the brief.
Volunteers. We ran a workshop with 50 RPS volunteers, using the KJ technique, to define the society’s online brand, values and key audiences, understand what people expected from a new site, and gather feedback on the existing one.
Members. A survey completed by 1,400 members covered who they were, how and why they used the site, the usability problems they hit and the features they wanted.
Behaviour. We reviewed 12 months of analytics, around 1.4 million unique page views, covering content and visitor patterns, how different groups behaved, search trends and the technology people used.
The existing site. Two of our UX consultants reviewed the site independently, identifying what gave a poor experience and what worked well enough to keep. We also reviewed 11 key processes, including membership sign-up and renewal, and recommended improvements for both users and the RPS.
Structure. Tree testing with 60 users checked whether the existing site structure matched how people thought about the RPS, and whether any content was duplicated or missing.
What we delivered
- More than 100 user stories, describing what the site needed to do from the user’s point of view. The RPS discussed, prioritised and agreed them before going to tender.
- An HTML prototype showing how key features and processes could work, for the RPS and for tendering agencies.
- More than 20 interface ideas for key pages and journeys, tested with members and non-members and improved based on their feedback.
- Recommendations for 11 key processes, including membership sign-up and renewal.
- An analytics review covering content, visitor patterns, search trends and technology.
The outcome
The RPS went out to tender with a brief based on evidence from its members and users. It knew who its users were, what was and wasn’t working on the existing site, how content should be structured, how back-office processes could improve, and which features people needed to complete key tasks.
Because the requirements were prioritised, tendering agencies could estimate timescales and costs more accurately, and the RPS could assess their responses with confidence. The prototype gave everyone the same picture of how the new site should work.
Frequently asked questions
So the brief is based on what users need, and every agency is pricing the same prioritised requirements. The RPS’s prioritised user stories meant tendering agencies could estimate timescales and costs more accurately.
Short descriptions of a feature from the user’s point of view: who needs it, what they need and why. Box UK wrote more than 100 for the RPS, which it prioritised before going to tender.
It shows how key features and processes should work, so the client and agencies share the same picture. The RPS’s HTML prototype was tested with members and non-members before the brief went out.
Give them structured ways to contribute. For the RPS, that meant a workshop with 50 volunteers, a survey completed by 1,400 members, and testing with members and non-members.
A group technique for gathering ideas, sorting them into themes and agreeing which matter most. Box UK used it with 50 RPS volunteers to define the society’s online brand, values and key audiences.
What this means
for your organisation
If you’re a membership organisation planning a new website, the brief shapes most of what follows. A brief built on research gives agencies something concrete to price, and gives you a fair way to compare their responses.
If you’re preparing to go to tender, send us a few lines about what you’re planning. We’ll tell you how we’d shape the brief.
Talk to one of our digital experts
Sophie Collins
UX Designer
Do you need help maintaining product quality and business alignment?
Passionate about all things User Experience and Agile, Sophie has worked across the entire software delivery lifecycle.
With a background in Product Ownership and Software Testing, Sophie approaches UX with both pragmatism and quality, focusing on producing results which have value for both businesses and users.
Or call us on 020 7439 1900
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