The Second User Research Report for the DSH is released

Marking two years of successful user engagement activities in the UK’s environmental data space, the Digital Solutions Programme team at The University of Manchester published its second user research report in May 2024. 

The 2024 report builds on previous work done in 2023 to map the data use journeys and personas (roles) of people working with environmental data (see first user research report here). 

In this phase of user engagement, we undertook a round of in-depth interviews with users from central government, local government, charities, and research facilities. We mapped the way they define key terminologies in the data space and their detailed processes in dealing with data day-to-day. We utilised this input to develop our DSH User Requirements Catalogue, which forms the building blocks of the Digital Solution Hub. 

The report invites the reader on a journey that transforms user input into tangible requirements for tech development, whilst not requiring technical background to engage with its content. 

The following step is to utilise the requirements gathered in building critical use cases that showcase the power of environmental data. We will be engaging with our users once more to test the developed user cases to ensure our products meet their needs. 

Read the full report below.