Does 40Q offer UX design as a standalone service, or only as part of a build?

Both. We regularly run standalone discovery and UX engagements — audits, IA workshops, wireframe sprints — for clients who already have a development team or an existing site they want to improve. We also handle UX as an integrated phase of every full build project. Either way, the work is the same quality.

How do you approach UX for content-heavy sites like publishers or higher education?

Content-heavy sites have unique UX challenges: deep navigation, complex content hierarchies, multiple user types with different goals. We've worked extensively in higher education and media, so we understand how to design for an academic prospectus, a newsroom, and a marketing homepage within the same site. The key is IA that separates those audiences cleanly before the design begins.

What does a UX audit actually produce?

A UX audit from 40Q produces a prioritised findings report — typically 15 to 30 specific observations, each rated by severity and effort to fix, with a recommended action. We walk through it with your team in a readout session and help you decide what to address immediately, what to schedule into a roadmap, and what to accept for now. It's actionable, not academic.

What's the difference between UX design and UI design?

UX (user experience) design is about structure, flow, and function — does the site work logically for the people using it? UI (user interface) design is about the visual layer — colours, typography, components, and aesthetics. The two are deeply connected, and we handle both, but the UX work always comes first. Visual design applied to a broken structure just makes the problems harder to see.

We already have an agency — can 40Q provide strategy support only?

Yes. We work with in-house teams and alongside other agencies as a strategy partner. If you need an independent assessment of a platform recommendation, a second opinion on a proposed roadmap, or facilitation for an internal planning process, we can scope that as a standalone engagement without any obligation to hand the build work to us.

Expertise

User Experience

Great design isn’t how a site looks. It’s how clearly it communicates, how naturally it guides people, and how confident visitors feel taking the next step. That’s what we design for.

Capabilities

Design that earns trust before a word is read

40Q designs digital experiences grounded in real user behavior — from information architecture through to interaction details. Every project we build is shaped by how people actually think, move, and decide online.

UX Research & Audits

We review existing sites and products against real user behaviour — identifying where people drop off, where they get confused, and where the design is working against the business. Heuristic reviews, session recordings, and stakeholder interviews all feed into a clear picture of what needs to change.

Information Architecture & User Flows

Before any visual design begins, we map out how content should be structured and how users move through it. Good IA is invisible — visitors find what they need without thinking about it. Bad IA is where conversions go to die.

Wireframing & Interactive Prototyping

A prioritized roadmap of what to build, in what order, and why — with effort estimates, dependencies, and clear decision points. Built for teams who need to justify investment to a board, not just a dev team.

Accessibility Design (WCAG 2.2 AA)

Accessible design is good design. We build to WCAG 2.2 AA as a baseline on every project — not as a compliance checkbox, but because it makes sites faster, clearer, and usable by more people. For clients in higher education and the public sector, we can extend this to full accessibility audits and remediation.

Conversion Rate Optimisation

We look at where a site is losing people and test our way to better outcomes. Landing page structure, form design, CTA placement, messaging hierarchy — small changes, tested properly, compound into meaningful improvements in leads and revenue.