From Confusion to Clarity. Transforming the Buying Journey for People with Hearing Loss

 

RNID’s mission is to support people with hearing loss, but their ecommerce experience was doing the opposite. Customers were overwhelmed, unsure of which products to choose, and left without guidance. This led to high return rates, low conversion, and a disconnect between the charity’s values of empowerment and the reality of its online shop.

Reframing the Opportunity: From Online Store to Confidence-Driven Support

The goal wasn’t just to fix an ecommerce site. It was to redesign the experience as a trusted support system one that meets users where they are, builds confidence, and helps them choose the right product the first time.

Strategic Moves: Creating a Supportive, User-Centred Experience

  • Guided Selling Tools: We replaced technical product specs with need-based recommendations, helping users make better choices, faster.

  • Simplified Navigation & Taxonomy: The store was rebuilt around user goals, not product categories, reducing cognitive load and increasing clarity.

  • Inclusive UX Design: We embedded accessible design patterns, clearer content, and user-friendly interactions to support all customers.

  • Mission-Aligned Commerce: Every touchpoint was reworked to reflect RNID’s values, empowering users, not just selling to them.

Business Outcomes

  • Reduced product returns and incorrect purchases. Guided tools led to better first-time decisions.

  • Increased customer satisfaction and trust. A more intuitive, supportive journey boosted confidence.

  • Improved ecommerce performance. Higher conversion and more efficient operations.

  • Stronger alignment with RNID’s mission. The shop now acts as an extension of its purpose-driven support.

Functional Value Delivered

  • Confidence-Driven Commerce: Simplified journeys that help users make informed choices

  • Friction Reduction: Less confusion, fewer returns, more satisfaction

  • Accessibility by Design: Inclusive UX that supports all users, regardless of hearing ability

  • Purpose-Led Retail: A digital experience that lives up to RNID’s mission of empowerment

  • Human-Centred Functionality: A shop that acts more like a support tool than a sales funnel

Recent Projects

Working with one of the UK’s largest retailers, our team helped define, plan, and scope a comprehensive loyalty programme that now serves as the foundation for a wide range of functional benefits. What began as a retail initiative has evolved into a platform that extends well beyond shopping—integrating seamlessly into the daily lives of over 8 million users and driving long-term engagement, utility, and brand value.

Our team has played a central role in shaping the processes behind a newly established fund, purpose-built to support the innovation ecosystem by improving access to capital. Recognising the unique challenges faced by venture capital, growth, and private equity managers, we collaborated closely with private asset managers across Europe and North America to design systems tailored to the specific financing needs of this sector.

Many brands face challenges integrating acquired businesses, often lacking a clear strategy for whether the brand should remain, merge, or be retired.

Our work with a leading insurance firm, following multiple acquisitions has helped build stronger collaboration across the organisation and contributed to a 165% increase in market value.

Case Studies

 

What we believe in

  • For over two decades, we’ve been observing, understanding, and engaging with human behaviour in all its complexity, capturing what makes us unique and what brings us together.

    At FIT, our researchers immerse themselves in the real world, because we believe the best way to understand change is to experience it up close, from within.

  • As Nicholas Negroponte noted, we’re shifting from atoms to bits. Data is becoming central to everyday life. But data alone, no matter how big, isn’t enough. On its own, it doesn’t lead to the right decisions.

    We go beyond surface behaviours to explore emotions, fixations, and deeper human needs. What truly creates value? How can that value be captured, and scaled?

  • We design projects in partnership with our clients and stakeholders, knowing that collaboration leads to real impact and practical results.

    Using collective intelligence and design thinking, we create artefacts, films, books, prototypes, products, and narratives that drive meaningful change.