Senior User Research · Contract
Senior freelance user research expertise — brought in when the stakes are high, the problem space is complex, and the team needs clarity fast. 20+ years across UK Government, regulated financial services, and enterprise SaaS.
Focused engagements across discovery, evaluation, and research leadership.
Defining problem boundaries, testing assumptions, and giving teams the confidence to focus on the right thing — before a line of code is written.
Usability testing, accessibility testing, and continuous improvement research. Finding what's broken and making the case for what needs to change.
Setting research direction, mentoring researchers, and establishing standards and cadence in teams that need to raise their game.
Implementing OKRs and evidence frameworks so research feeds the roadmap — not just a slide deck. Measurable impact, not just insight.
Working credibly with senior leaders, product, design, engineering and policy teams. Translating deep insight into clear, actionable direction.
Participant-centred, accessibility-led research practice. GDS-aligned and built around the needs of the full range of people who'll use the service.
Usercentred.co.uk is led by Ifraz Mughal MSc — a Senior / Lead User Researcher with over 20 years of contracting experience. Ifraz is typically brought in to de-risk delivery and give teams confidence about what to prioritise — and what not to build.
His background spans major UK Government programmes, regulated financial services environments, and fast-moving enterprise SaaS product teams. He works at senior stakeholder level and embeds naturally into cross-functional delivery teams.
Trading name of Elevate Performance Limited.
Available for remote, hybrid and on-site engagements across the UK. Discovery-led and delivery-focused contracts welcome. Inside and outside IR35.