Episode
UX, Accessibility and Brave Leadership | Emma Kirk of User Vision
- Published
- Mar 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2595
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Summary
In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Emma Kirk of User Vision , a UX and accessibility consultancy that has been helping organisations create better digital experiences for 26 years. User Vision uses research-led insight to help clients understand real user needs and design services that work for everyone, including people with disabilities. Over the years, the team has worked with more than 350 clients globally, from major brands to public sector organisations, always with a focus on bringing humanity to design and making digital services both inclusive and commercially effective. Emma explains why inclusive design is still being missed by so many organisations. Too often, businesses race to launch digital products based on internal assumptions, tight budgets or legacy systems, without asking how real people will actually use them. She shares why that is such a costly mistake, and why accessibility is not a niche issue but a commercial, practical and human one. Whether it is a website, an app, a kiosk or another digital touchpoint, Emma argues that businesses are leaving both people and revenue behind when they do not design with real users in mind from the start. We also dive into the practical side of user research. Emma’s advice is simple and powerful: test early, speak to people and do not build until you know what your audience actually needs . She talks about lightweight ways small businesses can do this, from interviews and focus groups to low-cost sketches and simple concept testing, rather than wasting time and money “racing to the finish” with the wrong solution. Emma’s own business story is fascinating too. User Vision was founded by Chris Rorke, but Emma joined just a year later after seeing the gap between what dig…