"The prototype looks absolutely awesome and that’s down to the great work you guys have been doing. Your efforts and ideas are helping to create a platform which we can be proud of. You guys really helped kick off the user experience and frame the importance of great UX design as being integral to development."

"As an organisation we were looking to work in a person-centered or user-centered way but we lacked the knowledge, skills and understanding for how to translate an ambition into action and work more collaboratively with people in the development and design of our services. We were looking for an external partner to come on board and help upskill our teams and deliver demonstration projects to show how it can be done within the NHS.

There were two main reasons Mace & Menter stood out. Firstly they were the only agency to spend time discussing the brief and our needs with us and this was really reflected in the proposal. They understood where we were as an organisation and what we needed from a partner, demonstrating enthusiasm and also flexibility to work within our restricted budget and ambiguous timelines.

Secondly they challenged our assumptions of what we needed and so offered alternative solutions to deliver the training and upskilling via delivery of demonstration projects and on the job training and development.

We have delivered two projects together to date. The first project - North Somerset SEND Local Offer - has provided a depth of understanding about parent carers current experiences of using the Local Offer website and service that was previously missing and also engaged a variety of stakeholders in the potential solutions and concepts (delivered in form of sketches).

This has led to the team immediately implementing the feedback and considering how to transform service around user needs in the longer term.

The second project - NHS 111 First - has exceeded our expectations. The approach we took was quite innovative for us - testing a conceptual pathway or prototype service with people - and the interest and impact this research has had cannot be understated.

For the first time we engaged senior leaders, clinicians and operational staff around our insights and the potential implications and the insights have been taken on board at all levels around what we are trying to deliver in terms of an experience for people when using a new service and encouraging a change in behaviour. The recommendations have been carried into action in our communications, messaging and long-term developments for the service.

The best thing about working with Mace & Menter was the fact that the team really spend time immersing in the service or business challenge or need and work openly and collaboratively with stakeholders to plan, execute and act on the research and design.

This is so important when you are looking to transfer skills into the organisation and unlike other agencies or consultants we have worked in the past they do not exclude clients from the process or take specific parts of the project, work on it and then deliver a finished product.

They spend time to include you at each step of the way and work collaboratively where appropriate. In true partnership, they are also open to working in different ways, flexing budgets and making the work go further which is crucial when you are working with limited budget and looking to make a case for working in a different way.

I’d recommend Mace & Menter because service design and user-centred design are new concepts within the NHS but having delivered the two demonstration projects successfully I am now sure this is increasingly the way engagement and programme managers need to work to help bring the principles of co-production and co-design to life. We need to spread this way of working and mindset."