Groundwork Let’s talk

Experience & barrier mapping

What encourages people to begin, participate, or return—and what gets in the way? Groundwork studies how people experience a category, service, or behavior, connecting practical moments with the emotions and expectations that shape them. We bring a psychologist-led perspective to the experiences behind your next decision.

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Which moments shape participation?

  • What does the experience feel like from people's point of view?
  • Where do uncertainty or friction appear?
  • What supports participation?
  • What interrupts it?

How we study it.

An engagement may combine interviews, focus groups, observation, and experience mapping. We begin with participants' perspectives to understand the journey they describe, rather than assigning generic stages before hearing from them. Connecting practical moments with emotions, expectations, and the context around a behavior helps us examine where participation feels possible and where it becomes difficult. The research design reflects the audience, experience, and decision you need to understand.

What the work
can provide.

  • Experience maps

    A grounded account of the journey from participants' perspectives.

  • Motivations and barriers

    The emotional and practical realities that support or interrupt participation.

  • Key moments and tensions

    An understanding of where expectations, uncertainty, or friction shape the experience.

  • Opportunity areas

    Areas that merit attention when improving an experience.

  • Experience recommendations

    Practical direction connected to the audience and scope of the study.

These are possible outputs. The final research design and deliverables are agreed around your question, participants, locations, and project complexity.

A clear path from
question to direction.

  1. 01

    Clarify the decision

    Define the question and what remains uncertain.

  2. 02

    Design the study

    Choose the methods and people that fit the question.

  3. 03

    Find real-world signals

    Listen, observe, and engage directly with people.

  4. 04

    Interpret the patterns

    Connect behavior, meaning, and cultural context.

  5. 05

    Provide direction

    Translate findings into practical starting points for action.

Before we begin.

Can you examine why people stop participating?

Interviews and experience mapping can investigate the practical and emotional barriers that interrupt participation, within the audience and scope agreed for the study.

What determines the scope and investment?

The decision, methods, participant requirements, locations, and expected outputs shape the scope. We clarify these with you before proposing an engagement.

Do we need a finished research brief?

Start with what you are trying to decide and the assumptions that feel uncertain. We can work with you to turn that into a focused research question.

Find the moments that shape participation.

Tell us about the experience you want to understand and the people who begin, continue, or step away from it.

Discuss your research needs