Pivoting to private sector: My first 6 months at Virgin Money

It wasn’t an easy decision. Leaving something familiar, having worked in public sector and healthcare for the last 5 years, is never easy. But I knew the switch to private sector finance was a fantastic challenge to take on.

As a senior user researcher, there was something about joining the Human Centred Design team at Virgin Money that struck me. It’s a larger-than-life brand. Completely different from where I’ve worked before. But the design team’s principles of putting users first really resonated with me.

The project I’m working on here is an exciting new proposition, and I’m looking forward to help shape this based on user needs. ‘Making people happier about money’ is Virgin Money’s purpose after all, and I think it’s something we can only truly achieve if we put our users at the heart of everything we do.

Going private

My career in User Research started with stints for private sector companies but since 2017, I’ve mostly worked for government departments in the public sector.

No doubt there are noticeable differences from working across squads in a tribe in private, rather than being embedded in just one multidisciplinary project team in public. But the transition is something I’ve embraced and seen as a positive challenge.

The project I’m on is fast paced, and it means I’m really invested in the work. I can already see research and design making a hugely positive impact on what we deliver for our customers.

On a less serious note, one thing I’m glad to see less of is the use of acronyms. Coming from the public sector where there is an acronym for everything, I can safely say that the odd acronym I do find at Virgin Money doesn’t faze me. Banky acronyms and jargon is something the content design team here is always quick to snuff out!

Red hot research

I’m part of on an exciting new project where we’re working on new propositions for the business. I’m busy gaining feedback on design iterations from prospective and current customers.

One thing we’ve been doing is collecting feedback from small groups of users who have got early access to the first version of our app. By gathering feedback through short surveys, we’ve been able to understand what works well for them. Perhaps most importantly, we’ve also been finding out what isn’t working well, so we can address this.

I’ll be doing 1-2-1 feedback calls with this group of customers as well, to understand more about the ‘why’ and give people the opportunity to expand on their experiences. Similarly, we are looking to capture in-app feedback which will allow our customers to share their experiences ‘in the moment’ and give insights on specific features.

I believe I’ve joined the company at a compelling time, as we can work together as a team to ensure this is driven by user needs and feedback. Ultimately, this enables us to build the right thing and have something that is meaningful for customers

The dream (UR) team

At the time of writing, Virgin Money has a tight knit team of 8 user researchers. We have regular meetings throughout the week, focused on different things, whether it be development sessions, reviewing our practises or winding down in a reflection at the end of the week.

Without the support of each other, we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs as efficiently and it’s refreshing to share the same goals and improve our ways of working as a team. It’s remote-working first here, and we’re based all over the UK. But we meet up occasionally and have regular video calls and catch ups, so this certainly hasn’t held us back.

A life more Virgin

A great thing about working here is adopting ‘A life more Virgin’. This means being encouraged and supported to live our best lives by being flexible in how, where and when we work. Doing this creates a positive working environment, where there is a sense of trust and helps people prioritise their wellbeing.

Recently I had an event after work hours but due to train strikes, the possibly of missing this or arriving late was high. Thanks to ‘A Life More Virgin’, I made my journey during work hours to avoid traffic and worked in a different location for the reminder of the day. It caused little disruption to my personal life, as well as my work life, due to the approach we take to flexible working.

Fancy a change of pace?

I do believe that in your career, you’ll regret the opportunities you don’t take, over the ones you do. Even if it’s something different and feels a little scary, you’ll know if it feels right for you or not. So, if you’re curious about exploring something new, I’d say go for it. It could be the start of something great.

It’s only been six-months, but I’ve been really impressed by the passion everyone has in the Human Centred Design team. We’re all working well to support each other to meet Virgin Money’s purpose and I can’t wait to see what my next 6 months here has instore.