Guide Dogs - IAA Tech Hub Project
The problem: Long wait times to be paired with a guide dog means people with vision impairment are struggling to live independently and need accessible, reliable resources to help them live the life they choose. Guide Dogs' challenge is to create a user-centred information platform that effectively provides technology-based solutions for users with diverse accessibility needs.
My role: Overseeing production, implementation and delivery, managing a six figure budget, ensuring clarity, accuracy and usability while aligning with user needs and Guide Dogs’ tone of voice.
Wins
2.2 million interventions
73% engagement rate
Net promoter score of 38
790,000 organic web users
Average emotional rating of 3.9
Learnings
The success of the Tech Hub demonstrated the power of accessible user-centred digital solutions. It paved the way for the creation of the Tech Selector Tool, a collaborative project with other sight loss charities, and inspired future initiatives, including dedicated areas of the website for guide dog applicants.
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The Context
Guide Dogs has helped people with vision impairment for over 90 years. While more people than ever need our help, the waiting list for a guide dog has grown ever longer. Covid restrictions halted the breeding programme and derailed training for many of our dogs. Guide Dogs needed to provide alternative solutions for those who want our support and Information And Advice (IAA) was born. This would become a repository of information for people with varying levels of vision impairment to share supportive content to help people live more independently.
The Goal
To create accessible, user-focused content that showcases how technology can help people living with vision impairment live more independently.
The Users
The insights team developed personas based on users' levels of comfort with technology and their vision impairment. These personas were mapped onto Guide Dogs’ customer segmentation to understand where they fit into the wider journey with the organisation.
Personas
Roberta
Age: 67
Tech confidence: very low
Independence: very reliant on partner and children
Eye condition: recently diagnosed with age related macular degeneration
Pain point & user needs: frustrated by having to adapt her life to new technology, needs to be able to do things she could before her sight started deteriorating.
Frank
Age: 43
Tech confidence: low
Independence: trying to be independent
Eye condition: diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa over five years ago
Pain point & user needs: wants to feel more confident using technology to help with work, loses confidence quickly if technology feels complicated.
Amanda
Age: 39
Tech confidence: medium
Independence: very independent
Eye condition: became vision impaired after accident five years ago
Pain point & user needs: technology helps her get on with her life but struggles to keep up with constantly evolving technology.
Chris
Age: 30,
Tech confidence: high
Independence: very independent
Eye condition: diagnosed with Nystagmus over five years ago
Pain point & user needs: wants to discover new technology and help others, worries about being perceived as incapable of using technology due to his vision impairment.
What I Did
As the IAA Content Manager, I led a team of three producers, collaborating with key stakeholders, subject matter experts and people with lived experience of vision impairment to create over 60 new pages of technology content and complementary video and social media assets. I worked to ensure accessibility, clarity, accuracy and usability to deliver the best content for our service users while keeping in line with Guide Dogs’ tone of voice.
How I Did It
I worked closely with the SEO team who worked to create page briefs based on search data for different products. From this they created briefs for over 60 new pages that would sit within a technology hub under IAA.
I established a panel of subject matter experts (SME) made up of colleagues with different vision impairments and knowledge of technology. In sessions led by me, they would review the briefs to ensure that each piece of technology was relevant and useful for people with sight loss. They would have multiple touch points throughout the process including ideation, briefing, copywriting and page design. Their insights helped us refine content, such as adding new pages on previously overlooked products (e.g., smart locks) and adjusting how we presented certain technologies and reframe our thinking about different products and their uses.
Sitting on the Technology Project Board gave me additional input from the team behind our helpline based on the enquiries they were fielding and mobility specialists who helped to rehabilitate service users with everyday tasks once they began losing their sight.
As no developer resources were available for this project and due to CMS limitations I designed a straightforward A-Z technology hub in Balsamiq. The goal was to create an intuitive user journey, especially for assistive technology users. I reviewed wireframes with content producers and SMEs to ensure alignment with Guide Dogs’ brand guidelines and accessibility needs.
I worked closely with copywriters to ensure the content was SEO-optimised, in line with Guide Dogs' tone of voice, and accurately reflected the experiences of people with vision impairment. I also led the development of two video series:
Tech Hacks
Demonstrating how to use accessibility features on common devices. View the audio described version here.
Technology & Me
A user-centred series featuring service users’ daily lives, showing technology in action. View the audio described version here.
Both series included audio-described and non-audio-described versions to meet accessibility standards.
What I Achieved
The Tech Hub became a valuable resource to our web users and across the organisation as a digital tool that colleagues could point our service users to. As a vital part of the IAA offering, it helped IAA to exceed 2023 KPIs, delivering:
2.2 million interventions (target 1.8 million)
73% engagement rate (target 65%)
Net promoter score of 38 (target 30)
790,000 organic web users
SEO-optimised web pages brought in 250,000 users, comprising 30-35% of total site traffic, with an industry-beating 75% web engagement rate (compared to the 55% sector average).
As of July 2024, we had already surpassed year-to-date 2024 KPIs for Information and Advice, with over 400,000 interventions (target: 345,000).
