The website was developed using a user-centred design approach – this meant putting our target users, charities and social enterprises, at the heart of development. This included three rounds of testing and research to ensure that the website genuinely met the needs of its target users. The questions we were trying to find answers to were:

• What types of people from charities and social enterprises need a resource about social investment?
• What are their attitudes and experiences of looking for finance?
• What tool and resources best meet their needs?

This work inspired the development of our user led manifesto, an ongoing commitment to remaning user led, which you can find here. 

Who are our current users?

At the time of Good Finance’s launch, three relevant personas/characters were identified given outcomes from the research, which covered a range of different users within the identified target audience of social sector organisations. For each persona, a brief description of their needs and challenges was developed, and a user journey was constructed to reflect the engagement and interaction they were likely to have with Good Finance.

The personas included:

• ‘the business savvy’ - someone who knows about investment and wants quick connections to the right opportunities;
• ‘the go-getter’ - someone whose social mission will always be there main driver but are learning to appreciate the commercial context;
• ‘grass roots’ - someone new to social investment but passionate about making a change in their community.

Good Finance continues to pride itself on making social investment user-centred, with the mission to help its 150,000 unique users to navigate the world of social investment.

Since Good Finance’s launch we know that our users have evolved and broadened beyond the existing persona set. It’s time to refresh and get updated insight on our users so that Good Finance can continue serving you in the best way possible.

Now we want to know… “What are you really thinking?”

As part of this project we will be undertaking significant research and data-mapping in addition to carrying out user-surveys and interviews, and this is where we need your help.

In the coming weeks we will be reaching out to you - our users - via surveys and interviews to get a deeper understanding on the following:

• Which potential user  personas are now most relevant to Good Finance?
• Are there additional user personas that should be supported?
• Are there personas, currently outside the scope of Good Finance, that also need support?
• Are there new collaborations to consider to further provide required support?

In doing so, to address these questions, we want to understand what your experiences and attitudes towards social investment are, what you engage with (and what you don’t) and how we can better support you on your social investment journey.

We want to remain core to our mission to remain a user-centred and collaborative platform, and we would love your help in doing so.

The results from the surveys and interviews will feed directly into the development of the current and future content, functionality and services of Good Finance, so please don’t go anywhere, and we look forward to receiving your feedback in the coming weeks.

Make sure you take 5 minutes to do our survey tell us what Good Finance means to you.

There's 3 x £50 John Lewis vouchers up for grabs - complete the survey to be entered into the prize draw! 

This blog was written by Katherine Marsh, current On Purpose Associate at Big Society Capital, who supporting Good Finance and leading the Persona testing project.