Research and Design

6B delivers end-to-end research and design services — from discovery and service mapping to UX/UI design, prototyping, and usability testing. Whether developing a new learning platform, improving digital workflows, or redesigning legacy systems, we help you create solutions that are grounded in real user behaviour and aligned with educational goals.

Understanding Research and Design in Education

Digital products and services in education must support diverse needs across learners, educators, administrators, and support teams. Effective research and design ensures that digital experiences are inclusive, accessible, and aligned with pedagogical principles as well as operational requirements. By combining qualitative research, quantitative insight, service analysis, and user-centred design practices, institutions can create tools that reduce friction, improve engagement, and deliver measurable value.

Education environments require careful attention to accessibility, safeguarding, cognitive load, and continuity across systems. Good design supports consistent learner journeys, simplifies educator workflows, and integrates smoothly with platforms such as LMSs, SISs, assessment tools, and content repositories. Research-led design enables institutions to build digital services that are intuitive, compliant, and responsive to the needs of real users.

Our Research and Design Process

Our process begins with user research and discovery to understand the goals, behaviours, and challenges faced by learners, staff, and operational teams. Through interviews, contextual inquiry, surveys, and analytics reviews, we identify key insights that shape the strategic direction of the solution. We map current journeys, highlight pain points, and uncover unmet needs that guide the design approach.

We then translate these insights into conceptual models, user flows, and service maps that define how the experience should work. Our designers create wireframes, interaction patterns, and visual designs that prioritise accessibility, clarity, and consistent user experience. Prototypes are developed for early testing, allowing us to validate ideas, refine functionality, and ensure that solutions are intuitive before entering full build.

Throughout the process, we collaborate closely with educators, learners, and stakeholders to maintain alignment with curriculum objectives, sector expectations, and compliance requirements. Iterative testing ensures that the final designs are practical, usable, and ready for technical implementation across your digital ecosystem.

Benefits of Research and Design in Education

Research-driven design leads to digital experiences that are easier to use, more inclusive, and more effective in supporting educational outcomes. Institutions gain clearer insight into user needs, enabling them to make informed design decisions and reduce the risk of costly redesigns later in the process. Improved workflows help educators save time and focus on teaching, while learners benefit from streamlined, accessible, and consistent journeys across platforms.

High-quality design improves engagement, adoption, and satisfaction, supporting smoother delivery of teaching, assessment, and administrative processes. For edtech providers, research and design improve product-market alignment, strengthen interoperability planning, and create competitive advantage through user experience excellence. Ultimately, research-led design ensures that digital services deliver meaningful value and measurable improvements across teaching, learning, and operations.