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Outcomes · Evidence · Confidence

Know your user.
Know your patient.
Know reality.

Outcome-focused research that prevents expensive mistakes. We bring you the voices, evidence, and validation you need before you commit time, money, and reputation.

Decision clarity Usability testing Community insight Design validation PPI and PPIE
Start a conversation See packages

Most projects don't fail because the idea was bad

They fail because reality wasn't properly understood until it was too late. Grant applications rejected. Service redesigns nobody adopts. Digital tools that exclude the people who need them most.

Participation Studio exists to reduce that risk early, with evidence you can act on.

Less rework
spot what will block adoption before you build, ship, or roll out
Better evidence
credible involvement and insight you can use in bids, governance, and decision making

What we do

Whether you call it research, testing, PPI, PPIE, or validation, the goal is the same - make better decisions with real evidence. Here are the routes we use.

Surveys and Quick Insights

Fast, proportionate feedback to test assumptions, gauge interest, or identify barriers before you invest further.

Online surveys Concept testing Barrier discovery

Usability Testing

Watch real people use your digital product, service, or device. We surface friction, confusion, and exclusion risks early.

Websites and apps Service journeys Accessibility

Focus Groups and Workshops

Facilitated sessions that cut through opinions and surface what people actually need, value, and will adopt.

Workshops Focus groups Co design

In Depth User Research

Deeper engagement with people who have direct experience of your topic. Especially useful when trust, stigma, or complexity matter.

Interviews Diary studies Ethnographic routes

Design Validation

Rigorous testing for physical products, devices, and regulated systems. Designed to strengthen evidence and reduce avoidable redesign.

Human factors Design inputs Evidence building

PPI and PPIE (Healthcare)

Patient and public involvement and engagement that reviewers trust. Designed for bids, ethics, governance, and real world delivery.

NIHR style bids Ethics and governance Clinical research

Built for inclusion

We don't just talk to the people who are easy to reach. We design recruitment and delivery around who you need to hear from to make a safe decision.

Hard to reach communities

People excluded by language, digital access, caring responsibilities, or systemic barriers

Underserved customers

Users experiencing disadvantage, inequality, or structural exclusion from your service

Frontline staff

The people who deliver your service and know where the real friction points are

Direct experience

People with first hand understanding of the challenge you are trying to solve

Fair payment. Accessible formats. Psychological safety. Genuine influence on outcomes.

Three packages. Clear outcomes.

We price around the decision you need to make and the complexity of reaching the right voices. Each package is designed to produce a concrete outcome, not a pile of notes.

Essentials

Fast direction, backed by evidence
From
£3,500
3-4 week turnaround

Best when you need to make a near term decision: is this worth building, what is most likely to block adoption, and what should change first.

Outcome you should expect

  • ✓ A clear recommendation you can act on this month
  • ✓ Evidence you can cite in internal decisions or early bids
  • ✓ The top risks and unknowns reduced, not amplified

What you get

  • ✓ Scoping call to clarify your decision
  • ✓ Research design and recruitment
  • ✓ 5-8 participants (surveys, interviews, or quick tests)
  • ✓ Analysis with clear recommendations

Ideal for

Surveys · Concept testing · Quick usability checks · Barrier identification · User feedback · PPI for healthcare grant applications

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Most requested

Impact

Inclusion led insight for high stakes decisions
From
£6,800
5-8 week turnaround

For decisions that shape the product, pathway, or service. Designed for genuine inclusion, deeper understanding, and credible evidence you can present with confidence.

Outcome you should expect

  • ✓ A defensible view of what different groups need, and why
  • ✓ Clear priorities for what to change first to improve adoption
  • ✓ Evidence you can use with boards, funders, and partners

What you get

  • ✓ Everything in Essentials, plus
  • ✓ Community partner or specialist recruitment
  • ✓ 12-20 participants across multiple sessions
  • ✓ Focus groups, workshops, or diary studies
  • ✓ Accessible, inclusive delivery
  • ✓ Detailed reporting with context
  • ✓ Findings presentation to your team

Ideal for

In depth user research · Service redesign · Product development · Community engagement · Multi stakeholder projects · Healthcare PPIE programmes

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Validation

Confidence to ship, with risks surfaced early
From
£5,500
4-6 week turnaround

For products and systems where failure is expensive: a launch that falls flat, an accessibility issue, a device workflow that increases error, or evidence that does not stand up to scrutiny.

Outcome you should expect

  • ✓ A prioritised list of issues that will block adoption or safe use
  • ✓ Clear recommendations and design inputs to fix them
  • ✓ A stronger evidence base for sign off, governance, and next steps

What you get

  • ✓ Testing protocol design
  • ✓ Targeted recruitment (8-15 users)
  • ✓ Moderated testing sessions
  • ✓ Task completion analysis
  • ✓ Accessibility considerations
  • ✓ Prioritised findings and recommendations
  • ✓ Optional highlight reel

Ideal for

Digital products · Websites and apps · Ecommerce platforms · SaaS tools · Medical devices · Physical products · Design inputs · Regulatory validation

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Working to your budget

Need something simpler? We offer standalone surveys and questionnaires from £1,200 - a practical way to gather baseline insight before you invest further.

Tight budget? We will recommend the lightest approach that still produces a robust outcome. That might mean fewer participants, phased delivery, or focusing on the one decision that matters most right now.

Complex recruitment? Timelines can vary based on who you need to hear from. Clinical specialisms, rare groups, or highly specific demographics take longer to source - we will be clear about timelines upfront.

Bespoke Programmes

For longitudinal work, large scale programmes, or complex multi stakeholder projects. Examples include ongoing PPI panels, co production programmes, pathway transformation, and multi phase evidence generation.

Tell us what you're exploring

Where we work

Our deepest expertise is in health and social care. We understand clinical environments, patient safety, PPI and PPIE expectations, and the complexity of multi stakeholder systems. We also work anywhere that trust, inclusion, and adoption matter.

Healthcare and NHS Social Care Public Health Digital Health Medical Devices Research and Academia Mental Health Local Authorities Third Sector Financial Services Ecommerce and Retail Leisure Tech and SaaS

Trusted partner

We are the trusted PPI and PPIE delivery partner to the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care, supporting their work to develop, evaluate, and validate medical technologies that improve surgical care.

This partnership demonstrates our commitment to rigorous, ethically-led patient and public involvement that meets the standards expected by NIHR reviewers, funders, and governance bodies.

How we work

Decision focused

We start with the decision you need to make, then design the lightest research that produces a robust answer.

Outcome led

You should finish with clarity: what to change, what to prioritise, what to stop, and what evidence you have to support it.

Trusted routes in

We reach people through community partners, clinical networks, and peer researchers, not just open calls that attract the same voices.

Outputs you can use

Plain English for decision makers. Credible language for reviewers. Clear priorities for delivery teams.

Ethics led

Informed consent, fair payment, psychological safety, and genuine influence. We do not do extractive research.

Inclusive by default

We design for accessibility, reach marginalised communities, and centre equity in everything we do.

Start a conversation

Tell us what you're building and what you need confidence on. We will come back with a clear route, usually within one working day.

We usually reply within one working day.

We use your details to respond to your enquiry. We will not share your information with third parties.