Published by isobel.regan@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 30.04.2024 
We certainly didn’t start Full Clarity with any expectation of award recognition. We simply wanted to help enterprises achieve digital transformation and complete software platform modernisation projects, and in so doing, help our customers meet their business goals.
But that’s not to say that it’s not hugely welcome when an award win or nomination comes along. We feel humbled and honoured to have been shortlisted for a Global Business Tech Award in the Small Tech Company of the Year category, seeing this as a massive achievement for us. It rounds off the most successful year in our history, packed with impactful client work, widespread industry recognition, and a focus on employee wellbeing.
About Full Clarity
We founded Full Clarity in 2018 and have survived the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis to be the company we are today – a specialist UX design, product strategy and technical consultancy, that’s agile, fit, and with a lengthy track record of client success behind us.
We’re a small team of five core members – although we often augment that with freelance support – and we’re a business that lives and breathes its values in every project we undertake. My co-founder Jon Hewines and I have carefully built a team around our core values – experienced, precise, balanced, meticulous, pragmatic and focused – and created a culture to reflect those.
Client successes
Alongside other client work, which included the continuation of our successful partnership with Harrods and innovative projects for VR scaleup Mesmerise and Ed Tech platform BSquared, we concluded a project for ITV that ranks as one of the most ambitious technology projects the broadcaster has ever embarked on.
Planet V is ITV’s self-serve platform for advertisers and media agencies to plan and buy automated video ads on ITV’s streaming platform. Version 1.0 was launched in 2020, but ITV had major goals for Planet V that went beyond its own use and involved it becoming a platform used by other commercial broadcasters and eventually the industry’s de facto video ad platform.
To achieve this, it soon became apparent that Planet V needed to be much more user-friendly and deliver a seamless user experience – in short, it needed transforming. The Full Clarity team worked alongside the Planet V internal team throughout the project, undertaking an extensive research round with Planet V’s agency users and internal stakeholders and delivering high-fidelity Product UX/UI designs, as well as an overarching component-driven design system.
Commercially, Planet V is now the UK’s second-largest video ad platform behind Google, providing advertising agencies with access to data-enabled, fully addressable audiences at scale. ITV is now also beginning to attract other broadcasters to the platform, with Scottish media company STV Group and Sky Media joining Planet V.
Employee wellbeing
We’ve always been a business that has facilitated remote working, and the days of a long commute are long gone. However, like many companies, the pandemic was a rude awakening regarding the impact of working in isolation.
We grew substantially during the pandemic, but with employees working remotely, we were concerned about isolation and digital burnout. We felt that fully online environments could have a detrimental impact, so we applied our design skills to create an offline experience for the team.
The two-day event, which took place in March 2023, was designed to alleviate the impact of large amounts of screen time on mental health and loneliness. The first day was about looking after yourself, and we booked a day for the team in a five-star spa hotel.
The second was a forest day, in which the team decamped to a local forest and participated in whittling, nettle tea, campfires and natural food. Employees were encouraged to sit in the forest for an hour in silence without phones or any distractions to focus on their thoughts and connect with their natural environment. The following hour saw employees answering questions (privately) about personal goals and what orientates them.
This all helped bond the team further. Wellbeing is critical, and we will always make this a priority.
2024 and beyond
The last 12 months have been phenomenal. The ITV project was one of the most strategically important the broadcaster has ever attempted, and to play such an integral role in making that happen was a landmark achievement for us.
We’ve won and been nominated for several industry awards during this time. Winning Small Tech Company of the Year would be the icing on top of the cake and set us up for further success in 2024 and beyond.
Ed Kemp – co-founder, Full Clarity
