5iveCubed

User Research

Our user research services are designed to uncover deep insights into user behaviour, needs, and experiences. We combine qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, interviews, diary studies, and task-based testing to support the development of intuitive, user-friendly, and inclusive products. Our approach is grounded in a trauma-sensitive methodology that prioritises emotional safety, informed consent, and cultural awareness throughout the research process. We also conduct accessibility and inclusion audits, contextual inquiry, co-design and participatory research, journey mapping, service blueprinting, and prototype validation to support agile delivery and strategic alignment. Whether at alpha, beta, or live stages, we help organisations build not only usable systems but systems that recognise, respect, and respond to real human needs.

Trauma Sensitive Research

Understanding the impact of trauma on user experiences is crucial for creating inclusive and supportive products. At 5ivecubed, our trauma-sensitive research services focus on ethical, reflexive, and context-aware approaches to gathering data, ensuring that participants feel safe, respected, and in control throughout the process. We collaborate with the Patterns Institute to embed best practices in trauma sensitivity, drawing from psychotherapy, intersectional theory, and lived experience. Our work includes consent and ethics strategies that go beyond compliance, sensitive participant recruitment that accounts for power dynamics and systemic barriers, and tailored research methodologies designed to minimise retraumatisation while still capturing meaningful insight. By prioritising care and psychological safety, we support organisations to generate deeper, more equitable understanding and design systems that honour the complexity of human experience

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within workplaces is at the core of what we do at 5ivecubed. Our DEI services are designed to help organisations build cultures that are inclusive, accountable, and actively anti-discriminatory. We provide comprehensive DEI audits that assess organisational practices, culture, and representation. Our team develops strategic frameworks grounded in lived experience, intersectional analysis, and sector-specific insight to guide long-term inclusion efforts. We support the implementation of inclusive initiatives across recruitment, policy, and service delivery, and offer continuous benchmarking and evaluation to measure impact and identify opportunities for growth. Through this work, we help organisations move beyond performative gestures toward meaningful, systemic change.

AI Consultancy

we help organisations harness the power of artificial intelligence to drive innovation, build ethical systems, and achieve their strategic goals. In partnership with Astronomical AI, we offer comprehensive support from initial strategy development through to implementation, integration, and ongoing optimisation. Whether you’re enhancing current operations, developing new AI-driven products, or exploring the potential of AI within your sector, we guide you every step of the way. Our services include AI strategy consulting, machine learning model development, data analytics, and AI integration, all underpinned by robust approaches to AI ethics, governance, and a decolonial lens. We recognise that AI systems are shaped by social and historical contexts, and we work to surface and address the embedded biases and structural inequalities that often go unchecked. Through ongoing support and critical reflection, we help ensure your AI solutions are not only effective and efficient, but just, inclusive, and responsive to the communities they serve.

Software Development

Our bespoke software development services are designed to create purposeful, ethical, and human-centred digital solutions. We work closely with organisations to build tools and platforms that not only meet functional needs but also reflect values of justice, accessibility, and inclusivity. Our approach is grounded in trauma-sensitive design principles and guided by a decolonial lens, ensuring that the systems we develop challenge structural bias, centre user dignity, and respond to the lived realities of diverse communities. From discovery and architecture through to build, testing, and launch, we collaborate to ensure every element of the software is intentional, usable, and future-ready. Whether it’s internal systems, public services, or mission-driven platforms, our team combines deep technical expertise with ethical insight to deliver impactful, scalable solutions.

Education & Training

Our education and training services are rooted in critical thinking, care, and the belief that learning should challenge dominant systems while equipping people with practical tools for change. We partner with Lateral Patterns to deliver trauma-sensitive research training that supports researchers, designers, and practitioners to approach their work with psychological awareness and ethical clarity. We are also developing a decolonial AI course that brings together technical understanding with governance practices, helping organisations and individuals navigate the structural inequalities embedded in data and automation. Alongside this, we have created a free-to-use GPT called Beyond the Colonial Mind, designed to support reflection, education, and action around systemic injustice. Whether through workshops, curriculum design, or digital learning tools, our educational offer is designed to equip people and teams with the insight, rigour, and accountability needed to build more just and informed futures.

Beyond the Colonial Mind GPT

Beyond the Colonial Mind is a free-to-use educational GPT we created to support self-guided learning around systemic injustice. It helps users unlearn colonial conditioning, understand systemic racism, and practise decolonial allyship without placing the burden on people of colour. The tool encourages critical reflection, historical awareness, and action rooted in anti-racism and collective liberation. Designed as an accessible resource for individuals and organisations alike, it offers a starting point for meaningful, accountable change.

Blog posts

• Educating Without Extracting: Building Inclusive Futures with AI and Ethics