Any one of us has experienced bad design at some point. Whether that’s a cycle lane that ends abruptly or trousers without pockets (a crime in itself). Let’s face it, no one is looking for a frustrating experience.
The power of thoughtful digital design lies not just in avoiding frustration, but in creating solutions that transform how we live, work, and interact. Great digital products evolve through understanding user needs and continuous refinement. This evolution isn't just nice to have—it's essential for business success, as the story of one of the internet's earliest pioneers demonstrates.
In 1995, when Pierre Omidyar started eBay (fka AuctionWeb) his primary intent was, in his words, "to give the individual the power to be a producer as well as a consumer." He became a true disrupter that turned the internet into a marketplace. Suddenly, anyone could put something up for sale for others to buy and everything was out there for everyone to see.
29 years later and eBay is now worth around $32.22 billion. But this didn’t come out of thin air. In fact, when disputes between buyers and sellers were breaking out on a regular basis, Omidyar often ended up being a mediator between users, and he wanted to change this by making his first iteration of the product. This involved the creation of an eBay forum where it rewarded honest sellers through a scoring system, resulting in dishonesty to be slowly driven out as long as users did their part.
Small iterations like this are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to keeping a web or mobile app performing at its best. Ongoing evolution is what keeps your product competitive and relevant. Here’s a look at how leading businesses like eBay approach it, and how we as an agency we can support our partners in doing the same...
The opportunity: This is exciting but equally terrifying! Your business is about to launch an innovative app into the market to help your organisation provide a smoother service to your customers.
The approach: Bringing professional facilitation of innovation workshops alongside technical ability, a skilled design agency can help you accelerate your product innovation by acting as both a creative catalyst and execution partner.
Who's it for: Established enterprises from Healthcare to HR that are looking to streamline their service processes to enhance the experience for both customers and team members.
Read more on designing for user retention.
The opportunity: This is one of the most important when you are working with an existing product. If your business is growing and changing, it’s likely that your target market is too. What’s the point of having a party if you don’t invite your closest mates?
The approach: Through UX Audits we help you identify what’s not working within your product, make recommendations on how to improve it and propose some quick-wins as well as long-term projects.
Who's it for: Businesses that know something is no longer working within their existing experience either through user feedback or research and want to take action on addressing those issues.
Read more on our Trillion Trees UX audit.
The opportunity: This is when it’s clear what features need to be implemented, but you don’t have the right tools in-house to implement them.
The approach: This is where UX workshops take place. From brainstorming sessions we can work with you to bring clarity to your goals, prioritise features depending on the needs of your business, and create a defined roadmap to help you cut through the mist.
Who's it for: For growing businesses that know what they want out of their product, but feel overwhelmed with feature prioritisation, roadmapping and keeping their audiences engaged.
Read more on our Novella case study.
The opportunity: Did you know that most of the internet is not accessible and/or inclusive? By designing for accessibility, you open your product to previously untapped markets, potentially increasing your customer base and revenue.
The approach: Accessible design often translates to better usability for everyone. Features initially designed for accessibility—like voice controls, captions, and high-contrast interfaces—frequently become mainstream conveniences that all users appreciate.
Who's it for: Existing digital products that are looking to create a more inclusive environment and those at the start of their product journey.
Read more on digital accessibility considerations.
The opportunity: Unless you’re running a charity or not-for-profit organisation, the likelihood is that you are always on the lookout to improve or find new ways to monetise your services. Whether it’s through direct sales, subscription models, freemium strategies or in-app purchases.
The approach: Fine tuning your analytics will help you understand your user’s behaviours and interactions while A/B testing will allow you to test different UI versions of the same feature. This way you can roll out your next app update confident that it’s what your users want.
Who's it for: For small to medium sized enterprises that are focused on improving their sales or expanding to new audiences.
Read more on our Butternut Box case study.
The opportunity: You've got customers, nice work! But now how do you stop them from leaving? Everyone that has helped to run a business will tell you that you will have an easier time convincing existing clients to buy your product over converting new customers (aka acquisition, more on this later…).
The approach: By now you should know that monitoring your data is pretty important in most aspects of your business. The same applies to retention, but with the help of… (buzz word alert) AI you can deliver personalised content, recommendations and notifications tailored to each user's preferences, creating a more engaging experience that feels customised just for them.
Who's it for: Every business that has a healthy user-base and would like to keep it that way, by continuously providing value through a customised and personalised experience.
Read more on our Surfers Against Sewage case study.
The opportunity: Getting fresh customers through your doors is vital for any business to keep making money and be able to stick around for longer. Attracting more customers will strengthen your position against competitors, and ensure a steady flow of new sales opportunities in your pipeline.
The approach: Acquisition strategies (market research, journey mapping, persona development), will help your team identify new market opportunities and understand how your market is shifting. Once the foundations are laid, design and technical implementations will work together to help your digital product pivot in a new direction, avoiding costly mistakes and inefficiencies.
Who's it for: Ideal for enterprises experiencing acquisition challenges, those lacking in-house marketing expertise and companies entering new international markets.
Read more on our Acamar Films: Bing case study.
When Omidyar made his first iteration of eBay, he wasn't optimising just for the sake of it. He had a clear understanding of the problem he was trying to solve and, more importantly, the people he was solving it for beyond himself.
When eBay was first gaining traction in the mid-1990s, there were approximately 23,500 websites on the internet, giving it a remarkable competitive advantage. Today's landscape is dramatically different, with an estimated 1.2 billion websites and around 8.9 million mobile apps competing for user attention. Yet this increased competition doesn't diminish opportunity—it increases the value of good design. By applying Omidyar's principles of understanding real problems and continuously iterating, companies can create digital products that stand out in today's crowded marketplace.
This approach isn't universal across product development, but investing in thorough research and design is always a good place to start. With tools such as UX Audits, Product Workshops, User Research, Analytics, and A/B testing, we can help identify and understand the challenges businesses are facing, develop effective solutions, and incorporate them into a comprehensive product roadmap to guide future development.
Successful digital products aren't successful by guesswork—it’s empathy, strategy and iteration.
Let's see what we can make together.
From startups to scaleups and enterprise, we're always happy to talk to impact-focussed and ambitious organisations. Use our quote creator to get a better idea of scope, timescales and next steps.
