About
We help people make better decisions about their digital services and products. Read about our story, our principles and our people.
Our story
“Lagom” is Swedish word that indirectly translates in English to: “balanced, enough, just right”. It nicely describes the work that we strive to do, the people in our team, and the way we like to work.
Lagom Strategy was founded in 2013, with the aim of helping people make better decisions about their digital services and products, based on rigorous research and evidence.
Over the last 7 years, we have built up a substantial body of work, specialising in delivering public-sector Discovery and User Research work, helping clients to develop strategies based on real evidence from users.
In that time we have developed concepts for new health and social care data services, we have led Digital Service Discovery projects in local government, and we have been the ongoing user research partner for major organisations.
We provide an expert, premium service, only taking projects on when we can see a clear need for the rigour of our methods. We like solving difficult problems.
We are a small, growing team. But we have been very careful to maintain the Lagom offer as we have grown. The people listed on this website are handpicked for their expertise and experience in government, academia and industry.
We have an office in Loughborough, but we are set up to be a largely remote-working business, enabling us to deliver projects for clients in all parts of the UK.
Our principles
- Work with people and organisations trying to do good things
- Champion the users at every stage by starting with their needs
- Validate research to make evidence-driven recommendations
- Don’t recommend building new services unless there is overwhelming evidence to do so
- Treat our clients and partners with respect and fairness
- Never take on too much work so we can give our clients our full attention
- Step away if we aren’t adding value
- Share our ideas and experiences for others to benefit from
- Adopt a state of Lagom in all things we do
Our people
Liam King
Founder and strategist
Liam is the founder of Lagom Strategy, and was the original member of staff in 2013.
He is hands-on across our work, and has led UX, discovery and strategy work for the RAF and NHS England among many others.
Before setting up Lagom, he held roles at Digital Eskimo, and as Head of User Experience at the UK Foreign Office.
Helen Taylor
Operations and delivery lead
Helen is our operations director. She has an integral role across all of our work, leading our approach to research operations and delivery, and is part of our leadership team.
She has a background in academia, with a PhD in scientific research. Before joining Lagom she held roles at the University of Sheffield and the University of Sydney.
Adam Spencer
User researcher
Adam is one of our user researchers, and has particular expertise in immersive and qualitative methods, meeting and observing users in their own environments – in offices, schools, hospitals, and homes.
Adam has led research for many of our clients, including UKRI and Skills for Care, for whom he has delivered user research through discovery, alpha, beta and live phases. He has a Masters degree in User Experience Design.
Chris Oates
Technology lead
Chris is our technology lead. He leads our technical reviews of existing services and products.
Chris has more than 15 years experience creating and delivering digital products and services and has worked across a wide range of industries including education, finance and social enterprise.
Stephen Hale
Strategist
Stephen is one of our strategists and is part of our leadership team. He has led discovery and strategy work with Department for Transport and Health Education England among others.
He is a respected public service digital leader, with many years experience doing digital work inside government. He was previously Head of Digital for the Department of Health.
John Gribbin
User researcher
John is one of our user researchers. He joined Lagom in 2019, and has since led user research across our work, including for the Department of Transport and Kirklees Council.
John has a background in academia, with a PhD in design-led innovation. Before joining Lagom, John was a Senior Research Associate at Northumbria University.
Charlotte Jais
User researcher
Charlotte is one of our team of user researchers.
Charlotte has a background in health research, with a PhD in human factors and ergonomics, focused on the design of dementia care environments. Before joining Lagom, Charlotte was a research associate for Loughborough University.
