Research grounded in everyday lives.

Hands-on user research. Strategic UCD leadership.

Hello, I’m Dr Claire Brickell, an independent Lead User Researcher and UCD Lead with over 15 years’ experience spanning government digital services, Government Social Research, policy research and evaluation.

I help organisations understand their users, improve digital services and make better-informed decisions. My work combines rigorous, hands-on research with strategic leadership, bringing together user needs, policy objectives and operational realities.

Experience you can rely on.

I’ve worked across government and public services, including Defence, the Department for Education, HMRC and Home Office.

My experience ranges from hands-on research for complex digital services to overseeing teams of up to 20 researchers, developing research governance and advising senior decision-makers.

I bring a PhD in ethnography, experience as a GDS Service Standard assessor and a strong commitment to research that is both methodologically rigorous and practically useful.