The Co-operative Bank + UserTesting

Rather than growing the research team, The Co-operative Bank trained its wider UX team, HR function, and Business Readiness team to run their own UserTesting studies to democratize research access across the organization.

Newly trained colleagues used UserTesting to gather feedback on journeys across Business Banking, Retail, and Help & Support, from early-stage prototypes to live public-facing experiences. They tested navigation, content clarity, decision-making moments, and overall task success, watching real customers and colleagues interact with each journey in their own words.

The Co-operative Bank applied these learnings directly:

• Redesigned the Business Banking Savings hub based on customer testing
• Reshaped the retail instant-access hub to reduce friction
• Completely re-architected the Help & Support hierarchy using card sorts and tree tests

Designers began validating ideas earlier and more often. Product Owners shifted to evidence-based questioning. Cross-functional partners like HR and Business Readiness started using customer insight to shape their own strategies.

Twenty colleagues at The Co-operative Bank now run their own UserTesting studies independently. Decisions across squads became faster and more evidence-based, with teams aligning around the same real-time customer stories.

The redesigned Business Banking Savings hub delivered a 17% increase in account openings. The retail instant-access hub saw a 168% engagement uplift. The re-architected Help & Support experience cut bounce rates 11% while increasing category page visits 601%.

The organization now operates with a shared mindset: listening to customers is embedded, scalable, and central to how The Co-operative Bank delivers value.