Case studyGroupM

Starting from Limited.

GroupM, the global media investment company, asked us to run a bespoke UX Fundamentals programme for a six-person group through GroupM University, their internal L&D function.

Client

GroupM

Team trained

Six-person group

Delivered via

GroupM University

Format

UX Fundamentals programme, evening cohorts

Duration

4 weeks

Delivered

2024

Note: GroupM was rebranded WPP Media in May 2025. This case study describes the engagement as it ran, under the GroupM name, in 2024.

The challenge

A team that knew it needed something — but not what.

Where the group told us they were starting from

GroupM, part of WPP, was evolving into a more technology-driven organisation. The group that came to us described their own starting point this way:

UX team

The gap they namedNo dedicated UX person or team in-house.

What we coveredUX fundamentals: the core design process, for a group that had never had a dedicated UX person to learn it from.

Agencies

The gap they namedWanted to reduce dependency on agencies.

What we coveredA grounding in UX fundamentals, so the group could start making decisions that speak to real people’s needs and expectations.

Skills gap

The gap they namedAware they lacked UX skills, but unsure what they actually needed.

What we coveredA bespoke programme, built around the gaps the group described in their own starting point — starting with the fundamentals.

Figma

The gap they namedUsing Figma, but not fully competent with it.

What we coveredFigma in a design process: using the tool the group already had as part of an end-to-end design process, rather than in isolation.

Testing & data

The gap they namedDidn't know how to conduct user testing or analyse quantitative data.

What we coveredUser testing: how to plan and run it. And working with quantitative data: how to analyse it as part of a design process, not just report it.

The goal

Give the group a grounding in UX fundamentals so they could start making decisions that speak to real people’s needs and expectations, delivered around their client work rather than instead of it.

Where they started

Placing the starting point on a known model.

Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) describes UX maturity across six stages, from an organisation with no UX practice at all through to one where UX drives strategy: Absent, Limited, Emergent, Structured, Integrated, User-Driven. Based on what the group told us about their own starting point — no in-house UX person, unsure what they actually needed, no capability to run user testing — GroupM was at Limited at the point we were engaged. We're describing where they told us they were starting from, not where the group is now.

Maturity model: Nielsen Norman Group. This is our own diagram, not NN/g’s.

Our approach

Four weeks, around client work.

We ran a bespoke UX Fundamentals programme for the six-person group through GroupM University, their internal L&D function, over four weeks in 2024. Sessions were structured as evening cohorts, so the group could attend around client work rather than have training compete with it.

In their words

What GroupM told us.

“The trainer did a great job of navigating our level and aspirations (which varied across the group). She responded well to our request to keep the sessions as interactive as possible. It was the right amount of content for a Fundamentals course. It was this grounding that we needed, as a team, to be making decisions that will speak to real people’s needs and expectations on the site.”
Julian P. — Team lead, GroupM

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