Before you launch: test with a few people, then make it simpler
Small usability tests and simpler forms are two of the cheapest ways to improve a new website, app or digital product before launch. Here is how to do both.
The power of AI in growing a business, used with care
AI is now part of everyday work for many UK businesses. Used well, it frees people to do the work only people can do. Used badly, it creates confident mistakes at speed. Here is how I think about it.
AI is no longer a niche tool
The Office for National Statistics asks UK businesses about their use of AI every quarter. In September 2026, around 3 in 10 businesses (30%) reported using at least one type of AI technology, up from 9% when the question was first asked in September 2023. Among businesses with fewer than 10 employees, the figure was 29%. [S45]
The most common uses are not exotic. For businesses with 10 or more employees, the most frequently used AI technologies were text generation using large language models (21%) and visual content creation (19%). [S45]
So the question for most leaders is no longer whether to look at AI. It is where it will genuinely help your business grow, and where it will quietly cause harm.
Where AI can help a business grow
In my experience, AI earns its place in four kinds of work.
- First drafts. Proposals, product descriptions, social posts, job adverts and training outlines. A good first draft saves time, as long as a person who knows the subject edits it properly.
- Making sense of information. Summarising long documents, meeting notes or customer feedback, and spotting themes you might otherwise miss.
- Admin that slows people down. Sorting enquiries, drafting replies, tidying data and preparing reports, so your team spends more time with customers.
- Research and preparation. Getting up to speed on a market, a buyer or a policy area before you speak to a real expert.
What these have in common is that a person still decides. AI speeds up the work around judgement. It does not replace the judgement.
Where it can hold you back
AI tools can be fluent and wrong at the same time. They can invent sources, misread figures and sound certain about things they have no way of knowing. In a sales proposal that is embarrassing. In health and care it can be harmful.
There are three risks I would always plan for.
- Accuracy. Every fact, figure and quote needs checking against the original source. On our own website, every statistic links to its publisher and its date for exactly this reason.
- Personal data. Putting client, patient or staff information into a tool you have not assessed is a data protection risk. The Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance on AI and data protection; it notes the guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act, so check the latest version. [S46]
- Claims you cannot stand behind. If AI writes your marketing, it will happily promise outcomes you have never measured. That is a reputational risk everywhere, and a regulatory one in health.
How to start without regretting it
The businesses I see getting value from AI tend to do the same few things.
- Start with the workflow, not the tool. Map how the work happens today, find where time is lost, and only then ask whether AI is the right fix. Often a simpler change does more.
- Pick one job and measure it. Choose one task, agree what good looks like, try it for a few weeks, and keep what works.
- Keep a human check in the loop. Decide who reviews AI output, and make that step part of the process rather than an afterthought.
- Write down the rules. A one page policy covering which tools are allowed, what data must never go into them, and who signs off is worth more than any tool.
- Train people. Short, practical training on how to prompt, check and correct makes far more difference than buying a premium licence.
The same principle runs through our own product work. In Coming Home: Family Care, our iPhone app for families, the plain English summary of an official letter is there for the family to check, not to replace reading it.
Growth comes from people, helped by tools
AI is a genuine opportunity for growing businesses, particularly smaller ones that cannot yet afford large teams. But growth still comes from understanding your customers, offering something they value and delivering it reliably. AI can help with all three, if you use it on purpose.
If you would like help working out where AI fits in your business, start with our Workflow analysis and digitalised improvements service, or book a discovery call.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 8 October 2026 (Business Insights and Conditions Survey), released 8 October 2026. [S45]
- Information Commissioner's Office, Guidance on AI and data protection (marked as under review). [S46]
- Caresque, Coming Home: Family Care case study.
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