Certified WBE Area: Discovery Research for Platform Improvement

Context

WBE Canada was looking to improve its member-only platform geared towards providing members access to learning resources to make the most of their certification and membership. One of the primary areas needing improvement was the Certified WBE area, a space for women-owned businesses to watch lessons, read, and learn more about their certification and business development. Rather than improving the Certified WBE area based on our assumptions, I saw it as an opportunity to rethink it around how members actually navigate and use it. Before touching the design, I wanted the redesign to be driven by evidence, not assumptions about what members wanted.

Being WBE Canada's only designer, I also wanted to build a research approach that could scale: a repeatable baseline we could later extend to other user groups like Members and Partners, and a foundation for follow-up methods such as usability testing once the redesign shipped.

Hypotheses

Going in, the team held four hypotheses about why the Certified WBE area was underused. I treated each as an assumption to investigate rather than a fact:
‍
1) Members underuse the area because the layout makes it hard to find relevant content.
2) Sequentially gated content (having to watch one program to unlock the next) discourages members from working through it.
3) The content isn't relevant to members' actual businesses.
4) Members judge content as less valuable when it looks dated, for example older recordings.

I translated these into research questions across two lenses:
‍Quantitative: How often do members use the Certified WBE area?
‍Qualitative: Do members get value from it?
‍Both: What are members actually using it for?

Approach

I chose a mixed-methods design. A short survey prior to the interviews gave me a quantitative read on usage frequency and satisfaction and doubled as the recruitment funnel for interviews. Semi-structured generative interviews then gave me the depth to understand attitudes and behaviours behind the numbers. I kept the interview format semi-structured on purpose: enough consistency to compare across participants, enough flexibility to follow unexpected findings. For sample size, I followed Nielsen Norman Group guidance that a small number of participants surfaces the majority of issues with diminishing returns beyond that, and ran 7 interviews.

Recruitment, Screening, and Ethics

Recruitment

The survey went out to certified business owners through the community team, under the Director of Certification's name to build rapport and trust. Members who opted in, filled out the survey and left their contact details. Members who were not interested in the research, filled out the survey omitting the contact details part, still leaving us with some quantitative research to base future decisions on. I then reached out personally to schedule sessions, with a follow-up sequence for non-responders.

Screening and segmentation

I built a screening matrix (certified WBE, employee of a certified business, prior use of the area, completed orientation) and deliberately recruited across usage frequency: a mix of higher-frequency and lower-frequency users, so I'd hear contrasting experiences rather than only from the already-engaged.

Incentive

Participants received a conference ticket at a flash-sale rate. I chose an incentive to improve response rate, respect participants' time, and encourage follow-through on booked sessions.

Consent and data handling

Every participant signed a research consent form with per-item consent: to participate, to be recorded, for internal use of recordings and notes, and separately for any anonymized external sharing of findings. The form covered voluntary participation, the right to skip questions or withdraw at any time, and a clear statement that no sensitive personal information would be collected. Recordings were stored securely and used only internally.