Assumption 1
Users are seeking task efficiency in death admin
Assumption 2
Conclude simplifies and streamlines death admin
Assumption 3
Industry partnerships are a key channel to customer acquisition
Assumption 4
Trust and reliability are at the core of Conclude's user experience.
Assumption 5
Conclude's financial plan ensures long-term viability and scalability
Assumption 6
Conclude provides emotional support to guide users through grief
Validation 1
Users are seeking task efficiency in death admin.
Reason - to verify user needs.
What exactly does our use need from us? This is the fundamental question to be answered to start an attractive and successful business. Initially, we assumed that 'digital legacy' was what users cared about, but through interviews, it soon became clear that admin was what people actually struggled with. After pivoting towards the direction of death admin, the user's requirement for efficiency was immediately identified as the fundamental assumption that we need to validate.
Method
Desk Research
User Interview and testing
Onsite visit
Survey
Key Insights
On Reddit, people complain about "There's a lot to decide in a short time".
The whole process took 8 months to one year even when a lawyer is hired to complete the admin.
One of the interviewees was forced to take 2 days off work only to make phone calls to settle everything.
92% of respondents of the survey need more than 5 hours just to identify what accounts they need to take care of. Only 8% needed less than 20 hours to complete all admins.
In the Survey, understanding the process is the most difficult among all issues that can potentially occur. All top 3 problems are related to the complexity of information.
The bereavement team at St. John's Hospice provided an information pack but specifically stated that "these don't work" since it only provides information and families still don't know exactly what to do.
People had to argue for months with the bank to withdraw just 13p and close the account due to mistakes made.
The research paper published by the University of Manchester quotes: it’s another £75, please...I just wasn’t in a state to argue about it."
With Thames Water, the reference number got mixed up, people were accidentally mistaken as illegally occupying the house.
An interviewee mentioned can not remember in extreme grief and thus would miss important information or appointments.
Next Steps
Validation 2
Conclude Simplifies & Streamlines Death Admin
Hypothesis
Methods
Desk Research
Expert Validation
User Surveys
API Feasability Study
Insights
Through research and direct user interviews, we uncovered the core elements that drive trust in a platform like Conclude. Users are not just concerned about security but also about transparency, control, and social proof.
Platform Selection
Web application is preferable over a mobile app, as as middle-aged and older users prefer completing serious administrative tasks on desktops. A web extension for autofilling forms further simplifies the process.
Automation Strategies
Pre-written Email Templates: Drafting closure request emails based on company-specific requirements and allowing users to review before sending. Dashboard Tracking: Users can monitor which businesses have been notified, track responses, and manage follow-ups.
Next Steps
Additional Challenges
Some companies lack dedicated bereavement departments and direct calls to general customer service. For example: A user reported confusion and delays when contacting Thames Water due to miscommunication with their support team.
Validation 3
Industry partnerships are a key channel to customer acquisition.
Reason
To assess whether conclude can leverage existing networks, established trust, and targeted customer bases from potential industry partners as our first step to market.
To understand and refine our go-to-market strategy.
To understand the financial implications with various types of industry partners.
Method
Success Metrics
In ideal case, we shall track the conversion rate across different partner organizations, measuring the total customer visits from various endpoints to sign-ups, and calculating the cost per acquisition (CPA).
As we are at early stage development, we opt to the following qualitative metrics:
Stakeholders believe that conclude is adding value to their clients, and whether they are willing to introduce conclude to their customers.
The team visited the St. John’s Hospice to pilot partnership. Social Work and Bereavement Team Lead - Marie Berteau has kindly gave us a tour around the hospice and had an in-depth discussion with us.
Marie heartbrokenly stressed that the current system is not helping people. They have witnessed many people really overwhelmed by these admin tasks.
Family members missed important appointments because the emotional toll of grief.
People called in and mentioned they cannot find files/documents from 20 years ago, which causes frustration.
Patients/ residence at hospice are very engaged with knowledge-based workshops and activities.
Key Insights
Leaflets
With Marie
Lobby
Funeral Service
Conclude initially reached out to funeral directors through cold emails, messages, and calls, but received limited responses. Pivoting, we visited Chelsea Funeral Directors, a family-run business, where we initiated the discussion about introducing our platform to their clients. Additionally, we connected with the founder and CEO of FuneralExperts.com, a digital platform that helps users plan funerals with greater transparency. We were in touch with the National Association of Funeral Directors.
Chain funeral directors often have front-line staffs who do not have the authority to adjust operational procedures, while it's challenging to connect with management level employees.
The lady at Chelsea Funeral Directors has told us they only focus on funeral arrangement and not offering any guidance or support such as handling documentation, estate probate, and account closures for their clients.
Jason as a pioneer in modernising and digitalising the funeral service industry has seen huge potential in the end-of-life industry and significant value in humanising and streamlining the death admin tasks.
Jason acknowledged the difficulty in establishing collaborations with funeral directors, remarking, 'They are still stuck in the stone age.'
Key Insights
Bereavement Support
Let's talk about Loss has 40 groups across the UK and support around 500 people per month.
Beth also introduced us to the National Bereavement Alliance and Lucy Carpenter, her contact at Hospice UK.
Let's talk about Loss has 12.4K followers on Instagram.
Conclude donated £50 to Let's Talk About Loss as a small way to give back to the community and strengthen the connection.
Key Insights
Summary
Strong interest and positive feedback have been gathered from bereavement organizations, hospices, and the founder of a modern funeral service platform.
The team also spoke to Claire Johnsen, Head of Innovation for Hallmark Care Homes. She have shown moderate interest in our platform and remarked 'this is a useful service. I can see people benefitting'. Care home could be explored as a secondary route for customer acquisition.
Traditional funeral directors are not willing to engage with death-related administrative services. Given the time constraints, we were only able to explore a limited number of funeral homes, and the research suggests that this route to market may not be viable.
Potential partnerships with banks, utility companies, will, legal, and probate services, as well as hospitals and public services, have not yet been explored. These could provide additional avenues for growth.
Next Steps
Validation 4
Trust and reliability are at the core of Conclude's user experience.
Hypothesis
Trust is the foundation of any service handling sensitive personal and financial data. Without it, users will not adopt the platform, making it impossible for Conclude to succeed.
Methods
Desk Research
Expert Validation
User Interviews
Why is this important?
Conclude must establish both corporate and consumer trust to mitigate high business risks:
Compliance with regulations such as GDPR, the UK Data Protection Act and cybersecurity is essential to minimise risk of legal penalties.
A lack of user trust will leads to low adoption rates due to reluctancy to engage with the platform.
Poor security measures or a potential data breach poses the risk of severe credibility damage & reputational costs, which could potentially be unrecoverable.
Institutional partnerships with banks, utility companies and other stakeholders require strong security credentials before collaborating.
Insights
Through research and direct user interviews, we uncovered the core elements that drive trust in a platform like Conclude. Users are not just concerned about security but also about transparency, control, and social proof.
Next Steps
Validation 5
Conclude's financial plan ensures long-term viability and scalability
Reason - to verify user needs.
Price is a strong motivator
Methods
Desk Research
Expert Validation
Survey
AB Testing
User Interviews
Desk Research
blah blah
Expert Validation
blah blah
Survey
blah blah
AB Testing
To assist with modelling our price we conducting AB Testing on our public website
validation success
Validation 6
Conclude provides emotional support to guide users through grief
Reason - validate a core product function
To identify to what extent users need emotional reassurance throughout the death admin and bereavement process.
To verify if the design, features and function of the platform meet and exceed user emotional needs and expectations.
To investigate charity collaboration to provide emotional support for our user.
Methods
Desk Research
Expert Interview
On-site visit
User Testing
Survey
Initially, we obtained the evidece of user need emotional supoort through research Reddit posts.
On Reddit, people complain about "There's a lot to decide in a short time".
The whole process took 8 months to one year even when a lawyer is hired to complete the admin.
One of the interviewees was forced to take 2 days off work only to make phone calls to settle everything.
92% of respondents of the survey need more than 5 hours just to identify what accounts they need to take care of. Only 8% needed less than 20 hours to complete all admins.
validation success