LION+MASON

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Digital Product Manager of Age UK

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

we help millions of people every year, providing support, companionship and advice. We are a strong voice, campaigning with and for older people to champion their rights, needs and wishes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

To explore the user experience of one of new products across multiple user groups

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

Online Search

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Demonstrated knowledge of UX

How many teammates from LION+MASON were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The ultimate aim of the project is to collect evidence of how end users use the product, and use that evidence to deliver changes to improve the experience for the different user types and ultimately inform and justify future developments on the product.

Deliverables:

• Evidenced suggestions for how to improve the experience for end users with clear evidence to justify changes
• Evidenced suggestions for how to improve the process of managing and curating listings for brand partners with clear evidence to justify changes

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• UX Audit Report
• User Personas
• UR Discussion guides
• Recruitment screeners and comms templates
• Session recordings and notes
• Detailed findings & recommendations report
• Stakeholder Workshop
• Prioritised list of recommendations

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

Andy & Mark were exceptional. Everything was delivered extremely promptly and to a very high standard. They responded to any queries I had quickly and thoughtfully. They were completely transparent with all their work to the extent I was able to watch them work live in a Miro board. 

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

In the past we've struggled with UX agencies beinga ble to get to grips with the unique positioning of the product and how it interacts with various different users. Andy & Marc at Lion & Mason grasped it instantly and were immediately able to offer insightful feedback and hypothesis from their external and UX focused perspective. 

The amount of preperation that went into the user research interviews to ensure particpants weren't lead but were still able to gather vital information that we were looking for as well as some suprise gems that we werent expecting. 

The presentation of their work and findings really sets the apart. The reports produced were clear, easy to follow, and digestible for less involved stakeholders. The simple scoring system makes it clear what work we need to prioritize. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

No not at all. I couldn't fault them in any area. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Divisional Director of Digital Experience and Design of St James's Place

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

St James's Place is the UK's largest Wealth Management Company, looking after the financial futures of nearly 1 million clients

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

• User Research and Discovery
• IA creation and validation

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from LION+MASON were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We collaborated with LION+MASON on 3 projects over the last two years, focussing on 

• User Research & Information Architecture. 
• User research planning, exection and playback
• Website AI and Tree jack testings and recommendations
• User testing and validation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• 2 new designed and architected Intranet sites launched to replace existing corporate and B2B client environements.
• Strong user advocacy and usability scores reported
• Happy internal business stakeholders

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

The L+M team were professional and organised, handling all project management, stakeholder engagement, and user research scheduling. They demonstrated flexibility to adapt to our tools & ways of working, and felt like an extension of the team. I had no hesitation putting them in from of senior stakeholders to gather requirements and present their recommendations.

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their great combination of strong research and UX expertise. Super responsive and easy to deal with and a strong overall value/cost proposition

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

Nothing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Product of MediaSense

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build high performance media operating models and unlock value for the world's leading brands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

• Reimagine our analytics workflows and design an application to transform how we deliver to our clients

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

Other

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

What was the size of LION+MASON’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

User persona definitions, E2E Process mapping identifying pain points and opportunities, concept creation and validation, delivering visual mock ups of key workflows and Figma wireframes

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Workshop outputs canvas (Miro)
• Workflow and process maps (Miro)
• Concept ideation refined through visual mock ups and interactive prototyping (Figma)

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

Clear upfront proposal, with key deliverables, ways of working and timelines stepped out. Project was managed excellently throughout, with regular playbacks/check ins and collaborative tweaks to scope, so that the team delivered concrete valuable deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They had a flexible, collaborative approach tailored to our unique culture and starting point. Team developed strong relationships with our key users, ensuring they felt involved and invested in the project. We were introducing user centred design to the business for the first time, so this was critical. Team demonstrated impressive ability to absorb a huge amount of information about what we do, and why we do it, distilling and structuring the inputs to design a coherent workflow.

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

Not from my perspective, it ran exactly how I wanted it to, and I felt Lion & Mason really understood what was required and managed the workshops very well to get us where I need us to be.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of (a/an) Financial services

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide specialist financial advice for people approaching retirement to ensure they maximise the value of their pension and other assets in order to achieve retirement objectives. We use technology where possible to make the process as seamless for the customer as possible.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

• A seamless user journey for customers to obtain quotes
• Lower cost customer generation
• Great customer outcomes

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

Referral

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

High ratings, Great culture fit, Good value for cost, Referred to me, Company values aligned

What was the size of LION+MASON’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

To simplify our current user journey and use technology where possible to allow customers to 'self serve' and access a variety of online tools, resources and advice to help their financial planning at retirement.

The current approach found that customers were not engaging after a simple form fill, this project hopes to further engage customers and build trust in order to establish a closer relationship with the customer in order to help provide a 5 star service and achieve great customer outcomes. Key deliverables were:

• a simple user journey with easy to use UI
• Increased customer base through customer registrations
• Lower cost of customer acquisition

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Increased customer registrations
• Lower cost per acquisition

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

Excellent project management, clear communication, expectations and always delivering to agreed timescales. Also able to work in a flexible manner to accommodate urgent issues/requirements. Responded to our needs by listening to feedback and providing further insight.

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their proven track record and thorough analysis of market conditions were impressive. We also commend their clear recommendations to accomplish our objectives. We will be engaging further to extend this project further in to our end to end processes.

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

Can't think of any

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cashback rewards app helping people save money on daily shopping

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

• Determine if there was a market for new customer segment
• Same as above

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

Referral

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from LION+MASON were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Determine if there was sufficient evidence of two niche markets for SLC (student loans) and Self Assessment users.

The goal was to understand the sentiment towards cashback as an option to save and go towards either student loans or people's tax.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Research indicated that there was not sufficient evidence of a strong enough market to pursue.

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

Deadlines were met on time and in sufficient detail to understand

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their ease of collaboration and efficiency impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Research Analyst of Sheffield Hallam University

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Higher Education

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire LION+MASON to accomplish?

• LION+MASON conducted user research on behalf of Sheffield Hallam University to explore user attitudes, expectations and general approaches to sourcing information from the website.

SOLUTION

How did you find LION+MASON?

Online Search

Why did you select LION+MASON over others?

Good value for cost

What was the size of LION+MASON’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Primary research was commissioned with potential students to understand the UX/UI experience of the University website. LION+MASON provided a user centred research approach to tackle this objective. A structured research methodology was delivered looking at current and competitor platforms, user behaviours across all relevant touchpoints, analytics and existing insight.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Understand how prospective students use the University website.

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

From commissioning through to debrief, LION+MASON managed and delivered this research project with precision, flexibility, attention to detail, and innovation. The team were organised, pro-active, and responsive to the client’s requirements. The project was completed ahead of schedule and fully delivered on research outcomes.

What was your primary form of communication with LION+MASON?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team's creative ideas and proactive approach impressed me throughout.

Are there any areas for improvement or something LION+MASON could have done differently?

N/A