User-Centred Strategy & Programme Development
How might we...help you create programmes and strategies that are informed by the needs of your users?
What We Do
We help companies, communities and sectors to develop strategies that adapt to user needs. This could be evolving an existing service to changing needs, or developing a new programme to respond to new users.
We develop creative strategies, programmes and services that are deliverable for your organisation, and relevant and responsive to the needs of your users. We ensure these plans are rooted in your expertise and inspired by international, cross-sector practice.
We help clients move from understanding user needs and business requirements to agreeing a vision, prototyping and testing priorities, and implementing workplans.
We work with project teams, whole organisations, specialist departments, boards and partnership groups. Our work often includes elements of training and skills development in user-centred approaches, so teams can build their capacity while working alongside us.
“The Space team having been working with B&G for over 4 years to develop, evaluate and evolve our strategic digital mentoring programme which we have now successfully delivered to over 80 organisations around England, Scotland and Wales.
"Their listening based approach has been essential to the positive evolution of the programme, helping us identify barriers, opportunities and new challenges that the programme can help organisations and individuals to overcome and benefit from.”
Fiona Morris, Chief Executive & Creative Director - The Space
Service List
- Standalone User Research and Community Consultation activity to inform strategy, programme or service design
- Frameworks to deliver strategies and programmes
- Full Strategy or Programme Development service - from user need to consultation to testing to implementation
- One-off Programme or Strategy Review and recommendations
Case Studies
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The Space Digital Leadership User Research
Understanding UK Cultural Leaders' needs
We have been leading a user research process with The Space since 2023 to understand the needs of UK cultural sector leaders and organisation with regards to digital transformation and leadership. Analysis of people's engagement with surveys, interviews, and workshops will be used to inform prototyping and testing of support for leaders to progress digital transformation across the sector in 2024-25.
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Hub for European Refugee Education
User Research & Website Development
Working with our friends at Retrofuzz, we ran a user research process of workshops, interviews and data analysis to gather insights from researchers, NGOs and practitioners working in refugee education across Europe. These insights informed our design recommendations for a new international network, database and website.
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Global Streets
Consortium Reflection & Iteration Support
Lead an annual process of reflection, re-connection and planning for 10 national Global Streets partners, including street arts festivals, local authorities and venues working in areas of low arts engagement across England. We support improved collaboration and programme iteration based on partner and audience need.
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The Space Digital Mentoring
Strategic Digital Mentoring Programme
We developed a new Strategic Digital Mentoring Programme to build digital capacity of cultural organisations in England in 2018. With our support, this programme has now been expanded and implemented in Scotland and Wales. We continue to support programme iteration and whole-cohort activity across annual cohorts for Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and Arts Council Wales.
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Creative Barking & Dagenham
User Research & Programme Development
Devised and delivered a data audit and intensive user research process to inform how the Arts Council England-supported 'Creative People & Places' creative programme could continue to adapt to the needs and ideas of people in the Borough.
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National Theatre
User Research for Connections Festival Development
Led a 6-month user research, prototyping, and testing process to review and refine a new framework for the Connections Festival, building on insights from partners, users, and the NT team. Connections is the National Theatre's annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. Each year the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young people across the UK to perform, working with 300 youth theatre companies and over 6,000 young people from every corner of the UK.
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London Borough of Greenwich
Borough of Culture Bid - User Research
Designed and facilitated large scale public and partner activities, including workshops, user research interviews and needs mapping, to inform Greenwich’s London Borough of Culture bid for 2019.
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Okotoks
Culture & Heritage Masterplan
We partnered with Intelligent Futures to undertake a design sprint and user research to develop 25-year Culture & Heritage Masterplan for this rapidly expanding town near Calgary, Canada. The Masterplan included a roadmap to help deliver on ambitions for a new 1000-capacity Okotoks Performing Arts Centre.
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Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature
Design Sprint Options Appraisal
Design sprint and user research to shape a roadmap for the organisation. This was accompanied by ‘critical friend’ mentoring support to the organisation in developing its governance, business and delivery model in response to new opportunities for programming and partnership.
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Nottingham Cultural Partnership
Cultural Statement & Framework
Designed the 10-year Cultural Statement and Framework for the City of Nottingham for 2017 - 2027, drawing on our user research across the city’s communities and networks.
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National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance
Business Plan Development
Designed and facilitated a research insights process (including board away day) to inform the development of a new 4-year business plan and the successful bid for joining the Arts Council England National Portfolio.
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Clore Leadership Programme
International Leaders Symposium User Research
User research and design for a new International Leaders Symposium for cultural leaders, developing plans with partners including the BBC, Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund, Toronto Arts Festival and Manchester International Festival. This research led to the development of Clore’s ongoing commitment to supporting early career changemakers and the Emerging Futures Conference.
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National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance
Member Training User Research
User research project to map training needs for Arts in Criminal Justice Alliance members, and identify options to develop and test informed by these insights.
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King’s College London
Artist Residency & Cultural Practice Strategy Development
Exploring options for future artist residencies and cultural programmes to inform the strategy development for uniting cultural practice across King’s
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