Jason

Jason Bell

Helping government digital teams turn user research into decisions that shape roadmaps, cases, and services
Lead Design Researcher at Catseye Digital

Areas of expertise

I help organisations close the gap between user research and the decisions that actually shape services - when insight exists but never makes it into roadmaps, business cases, or governance.

  • Research that sits in a deck nobody reopens after the project ends
  • Digital services built without a clear, evidenced understanding of user needs
  • Fragmented manual processes that need turning into assessable, user-centred services
  • Findings that stakeholders treat as a checkbox rather than a reason to change direction
  • Internal teams without the skills or confidence to run and communicate research themselves
  • Services hitting GDS assessment gates without a strong enough evidence base

I work with teams to make research impossible to ignore - building the habits, outputs, and capability that outlast my involvement.

About Me

I'm Jason, a senior UX researcher and fractional Head of Research with 12+ years working across UK government and private sector - including GDS, Defra, and DBT.

I specialise in connecting user research to delivery decisions, standing up research functions from scratch, and turning fragmented manual processes into evidenced digital services that pass GDS assessments.

I work with teams where research exists but isn't shaping roadmaps, business cases, or stakeholder decisions. I translate raw findings into Jobs to Be Done frameworks, user needs statements, and journey maps that non-research stakeholders actually act on - then train internal teams to keep running research themselves after I leave.

I led user research for a national digital licensing service replacing manual processes across roughly 650 UK local authorities, delivering the research base and JTBD archetypes underpinning its GDS Beta assessment. I have built two user research functions from scratch.

Available for one-off sessions, project-based work, assessments or evaluations, and on-call advisory

Send Me a Message
Intro Call

30 minutes

A quick introductory call to discuss your needs and see if we're a good fit to work together. No commitment required.

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Details

Years of Experience

13 Years

Country

United Kingdom

Qualifications
Master of Arts (M.A.), World Politics and Popular Culture Newcastle University 2011 - 2012
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science and Government Newcastle University 2006 - 2009
Certified Scrum Product Owner Scrum Alliance 2015 - 2015
Social Links

  • Lead Design Researcher at Catseye Digital

    As Principal Strategic User Research & Design Consultant at Catseye Digital, I lead transformativ...

  • Led Research for 650-Authority National Licensing Service

    Delivered research base, JTBD archetypes, and GDS-compliant materials underpinning Beta assessment for DBT.

  • Senior User Researcher at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Professional experience in Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Specialties and Expertise

Areas of Expertise

Product & Innovation

Strategy

Training

Specialties

Usability testing Persona creation User journey mapping Insight synthesis Design research plan Run customer interviews Build customer personas Synthesise findings Present insights Plan discovery research

Sessions

Intro Call

A quick introductory call to discuss your needs and see if we're a good fit to work together. No commitment required.

30 min
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Common Questions

This is a good fit for government digital teams, service owners, and delivery leads who have user research happening but aren't seeing it shape decisions, roadmaps, or business cases - or who need to stand up a research function quickly on a complex, high-stakes service.

I help teams break the cycle where research sits in a deck nobody reopens. That usually means connecting fragmented findings to delivery decisions, building the artefacts that stakeholders and assessors actually act on, and ensuring services move through GDS governance gates with a credible evidence base.

Research findings get cited in business cases and roadmaps rather than shelved. Stakeholders start asking for evidence earlier. Internal teams gain the skills and templates to keep running research independently, and services reach Beta or Live assessments with fewer late-stage surprises.

It depends on where the gap is. I can come in hands-on to lead research on a specific service, work at a fractional Head of Research level to shape the function, or focus on upskilling an existing team. Engagements are scoped around the outcome, not a retainer.

If you're building a public-facing digital service and decisions are being driven by assumption or anecdote rather than evidence, that's the signal. You don't need a mature research function already in place - some of my most useful engagements have started from scratch.