Research, Evaluation & Insight
Research and evaluation grounded in lived experience
Ask better questions, hear what people are actually experiencing and turn the findings into something your organisation can use.
LENs can bring Experts by Experience into a complete research or evaluation project, or strengthen one stage of work already under way. Our current offer covers interviews, focus groups, thematic analysis, plain-English reporting, recommendations and support presenting findings to boards, teams and stakeholders.
What it includes
- Co-facilitated interviews and focus groups
- Thematic analysis and plain-English reporting
- Action-focused recommendations
- Support presenting findings to stakeholders
Understand what sits behind the numbers
Service data can show where something is happening without explaining what it feels like, why it is happening or what people think needs to change. Research can also miss important questions when the design is shaped without the people whose experience is being studied.
Involving Experts by Experience can improve the questions, the way conversations are held and the interpretation of what is heard. LENs can join the project at the beginning or contribute to a defined stage where lived experience input is most useful.
Support for a full project or one stage
01
Research and evaluation design
LENs can help clarify the question, consider how lived experience should be involved and shape an approach that fits the audience and decision the work needs to inform.
02
Interviews and focus groups
Experts by Experience can co-facilitate interviews, focus groups and other lived experience research activity. The format, questions and responsibilities are agreed before fieldwork begins.
03
Thematic analysis
LENs can review qualitative material, identify recurring themes and distinguish between common patterns and individual experiences. The scope will explain what material is included and how the analysis will be checked.
04
Plain-English reporting
Findings can be brought together in a report that explains what was heard, what themes were identified and what the organisation may need to consider next.
05
Presenting the findings
LENs can support the presentation of findings to boards, teams and other stakeholders. The presentation format and who will take part are agreed during scoping.
What this service does not replace
The written scope will state who is responsible for research governance, ethics, data protection, clinical oversight and any formal approvals the project requires. LENs’ involvement does not remove those responsibilities from the commissioning or sponsoring organisation.
Experts by Experience as part of the research team
Experts by Experience can contribute to design, fieldwork, analysis, reporting or presentation. LENs supplies the contributors required for the agreed scope.
The organisation provides the project context, access to relevant materials and any approvals it is responsible for. LENs agrees the working arrangements, support, confidentiality and boundaries with the organisation before the work begins.
How the research is scoped and delivered
Define the question
Start with a call about what your organisation wants to understand and which decision the work needs to inform. LENs will help refine the question and identify where lived experience can add the most value.
Agree the approach
Together, we work through the audience, methods, responsibilities, information available, practical constraints and outputs. LENs then prepares the written scope.
Prepare and gather the insight
Once the approach is agreed, LENs prepares the relevant activity and Experts by Experience contribute to the interviews, focus groups or other work set out in the scope.
Analyse and report
The material is reviewed against the agreed question. Findings, themes and recommendations are presented in the format set out in the proposal.
Share the findings
LENs can talk the organisation through the work and support presentation to the relevant board, team or stakeholder group. Any further phase is agreed after the findings have been considered.
What your organisation can receive
The current LENs service offer supports:
- Input into research or evaluation design
- Co-facilitation of interviews and focus groups
- Lived experience research activity agreed in the scope
- Thematic analysis
- Plain-English reporting
- Recommendations linked to the findings
- Support presenting findings to boards, teams and stakeholders
- A written scope covering responsibilities, methods and outputs
LENs can support a complete project or a defined stage. The proposal will make the boundary clear.
Agree the ground rules before gathering information
Research and evaluation may involve personal or sensitive information. LENs will agree practical arrangements with the organisation before the work begins, including consent, confidentiality, access needs, data handling, role boundaries and routes for raising a concern. Formal governance and approval responsibilities remain as stated in the written scope.
Research, Evaluation & Insight FAQs
Can LENs support a complete project?
Yes. LENs can support a full project or strengthen a particular stage, such as design, fieldwork, analysis, reporting or presentation. We will define the boundary during scoping.
Can Experts by Experience conduct interviews or focus groups?
Experts by Experience can co-facilitate interviews, focus groups and other agreed research activity. The methods, preparation and responsibilities will be set out in the proposal.
Can you analyse research we have already collected?
Potentially. We will need to understand how the material was gathered, what permissions apply and which question the analysis needs to answer before confirming the scope.
What will the report contain?
The current offer includes thematic analysis, plain-English reporting and recommendations. The exact structure, level of detail and audience will be agreed before the work begins.
Can LENs present the findings to our board or team?
Yes. Support presenting findings to boards, teams and stakeholders forms part of the current service offer. The format will be included in the scope.
Do we still need research ethics or governance approval?
That depends on the project. The commissioning or sponsoring organisation remains responsible for the formal approvals that apply to its work. The written scope will state the division of responsibilities.
Can this service be combined with product testing or co-production?
Yes. Research may lead into product testing, service redesign, a strategic workshop or an advisory board. LENs can scope the services together and explain how the stages connect.
Move from insight into design and decision-making
- ServiceProduct & Service TestingFor focused feedback on usability, dignity, safety, accessibility and real-world fit.
- ServiceStrategic Co-Production & AdvisoryFor using lived experience in policy, pathways, governance and service redesign.
- ServiceLived Experience Advisory BoardsFor continued advice after a research project ends.
Related guides
- GuideCo-production, consultation and engagement: what is the difference?Understand the difference between consultation, engagement, co-design and co-production, and choose the form of lived experience involvement that fits the work.
- GuideWhat does good lived experience involvement look like?Good lived experience involvement has a clear purpose, starts early, supports people to contribute and gives organisations a route to use what they hear.
- GuideHow Experts by Experience contribute to service review and improvementLearn how Experts by Experience can add patient and/or carer insight to service visits, feedback, review activity and practical improvement work.
Start with the question your organisation needs to answer
Tell us what you are trying to understand and what decision the work will inform. LENs will help refine the question, recommend an approach and put the proposed work in writing.