From amongst several superb submissions this year, the ICG judges, alongside those from the MRS, whittled the Finalists down to 4 worthy contenders:
In business name alphabetical order:
Deep Blue Thinking: Nick Bonney
Putting the Art Back into Artificial Intelligence
This submission was about harnessing the power of AI alongside rather than instead of sound qualitative research techniques. By using AI-driven sentiment analysis we were able to create structure around a large volume of customer feedback forms and open up the kind of modelling to our SME client (a regional security company) that previously would have been out of reach for a business of this size. However, we would not have got the same results if we’d simply been ‘slaves to the algorithm’ . By combining the machine learning with qualitative techniques such as call listening, spending days with engineers and customer depth interviews, we were able to develop a much more nuanced approach. Perhaps more importantly, we harnessed the power of face to face workshops to ensure we got buy into the results both from senior management and from team leaders. This has enabled the prioritisation of six key customer experience workstreams, each designed to address to a key underlying churn driver.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbonney/
Open Questions: Joe Bonnell and Rachel Lewis:
XLH UK Patient Stories – How ethnographic research led to life-changing results for people living with XLH
This research was conducted by independent researchers Joe Bonnell and Rachel Lewis. It was commissioned by XLH UK, a charity that supports people living with X-Linked Hypophosphatemia (XLH), a rare genetic condition. Our client had two research objectives:
- Generate better awareness and understanding of XLH
- Provide evidence to NICE / NHS England as they were appraising a game-changing new drug, Burosumab, to receive funding for use in adults with XLH on the NHS
This was a creative, sensitive and collaborative research project that combined excellence in the use of qualitative interviews and the innovative use of visual ethnography and co-production. Our work had major impacts for our charity client, XLH UK, and the people it supports. Our research contributed to a “life-changing” new drug being approved for funding on the NHS for use in adults living with XLH. Our key analytical theme, “navigating uncertainty”, became central to our client’s strategic vision, shaping the way they frame and offer support, and guiding their communications. Our work also had a significant impact on our participants — feeling confident and empowered to share their personal stories publicly for the first time. This project highlights the impact that a small, specialist team of experienced, independent researchers, dedicated to working equitably and flexibly with our participants and our client, can achieve.
All outputs from the project are public domain, and you are welcome to view them here and here.
Joe Bonnell | LinkedIn Rachel Lewis | LinkedIn
SMPL Research: Poppy Reece, Sean Marks, Maura O’Malley
Real voices informing real change for women’s safety
SMPL Research evaluated two women’s safety initiatives for MOPAC and TfL – an impact evaluation of the Women’s Night Safety Charter, and process evaluation of a safety audit programme led by members of the community trained as researchers. We used traditional research methods alongside creative digital ethnography to amplify lived experience. Our insights helped shape improvements to future safety audits and informed strategies to embed inclusive, community-led approaches to make London safer for women and gender-diverse people.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/smplresearch
Wren Insight: Hannah Beech and Judith Terry
Reimagining the Students’ Union: transforming student life through a closeness-led segmentation
Wren Insight partnered with Reading Students’ Union (RSU) to revolutionise how a Students’ Union should operate in 2025 and beyond. Our ethnographic and closeness-led approaches informed and embedded a statistically rigorous and richly human segmentation, with students’ emotional needs at its heart. The research challenged outdated assumptions about student lives and directly shaped a new RSU in strategy, structure and services – including better targeted student provision and refocused commercial planning. This enabled RSU to secure increased University funding and deliver to its purpose of helping all students to live a happy and fulfilled life at University.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/reading-students-union/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-beech-9bb60752/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jude-terry-b68b6914/