What needed doing

The Internet Society had around 60,000 members but not enough engagement or participation. Many members had signed up years ago and their only connection to the organisation was receiving emails. The online community space was rarely used. Some members had forgotten who the Internet Society was.

The organisation’s knowledge about its members and the wider audience was limited and organisation-centric.

The Internet Society came to us to find out how members think, to see how comparator organisations are doing membership and to draw conclusions about how engagement and participation could be revived and reimagined.

How we did this

We conducted landscape analysis and created a list of comparator organisations. We chose others in a similar space, as well as unusual suspects who are pushing at the boundaries of traditional membership, such as the Guardian. We looked at their setups, tested their onboarding, assessed their communications and interviewed people who worked there.

We also conducted quantitative and qualitative user research, starting with a survey and following it up with in-depth listening sessions, where we learned exactly what a cross-section of members around the world wanted and how they thought about the internet.

We synthesised and analysed all of this information and used it to make informed recommendations about how the organisation can use content and community to create a more engaged and sustainable membership.

What happened

The Internet Society now have a more holistic understanding of its members based on relevant, accurate, and useful groupings that inform how they serve and communicate with people. They also have a foundation of data on which to make decisions about everything from organisational strategy to content development and delivery.

The organisation have a basis on which to transform into a much more user-centred organisation, with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the wants and needs of its members and wider audience. We also hope this project will be that start of a culture and practice shift within the organisation towards a sustainable listening, testing and iterating cycle.