Design and build a campaign website to support HM Government’s new childcare offer

Tender description

Summary of the work We require a supplier experienced in public sector website design to develop and build a website to promote the government's new childcare offer. An initial website, providing business and consumer audiences with tailored and reassuring journeys, must be delivered for public launch by 29th August, with updates being added later. Expected Contract Length 3 months (first delivery by 29th August) with potential for extension Latest start date 08/08/16 Why the Work is Being Done The government is introducing a new childcare offer via a public communications campaign. Our objective is to make citizens aware of and understand their options so that they know how, and whether to take up the support available. We need a single campaign website which our marketing and communications can drive traffic towards. The website needs to help users understand the three separate schemes comprising the Childcare Offer and encourage childcare providers and parents to sign up online. A quality initial product, ready for public launch, must be delivered by 29th August. Problem to Be Solved HM Government will promote one, unified, childcare campaign, made up of three new schemes: • Tax-Free Childcare • Extended Free Entitlement to 30 Hours Free Childcare • Universal Credit Childcare Support The campaign requires a website to aid understanding and encourage sign-up for the different schemes. We need a modern, mobile-optimised website, to promote our reassuring creative identity, and simply explain the childcare offer to parents, childcare providers and employers. Your user-focused functionality and intuitive platform design needs to be delivered by 29th August, with subsequent enhancements based on user testing and feedback. Who Are the Users We have three distinct users: As a parent, I need to understand the childcare offer and decide which scheme is best for me, so I can make an application. As a childcare provider, I need to know how the new childcare schemes affect my business, so I can sign up for Tax-Free Childcare and prepare for Extended Free Entitlement As an employer, I need to know how the new childcare schemes affect my employees, so I can inform my employees of their options. Existing Team You will be working with the HMRC communications team leading on the HM Government campaign. You may also be liaising with our creative agency, who will be providing the creative identity for the website. Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • have experience designing websites for multiple audiences, both business and consumer. • have experience designing websites for the public sector • achieve a public launch within our timeframe • be capable of building a platform accessible across all devices, on all browsers, and be integrated with Google analytics and SEO. • work collaboratively and transparently with our organisation and our agencies. Nice to Haves • carry out user research and testing • work iteratively, or using an agile approach or methodology • take an innovative and reassuring approach to digital platform design, tailored individually to all audiences Work Location London. We are happy to visit your working environment anywhere in London. For reference - we are based at 100 Parliament Street, SW1A 2BQ Working Arrangments After the contract is awarded, we expect: • Weekly progress updates and demonstrations throughout the project, highlighting any current risks • Regular face-to-face meetings • A project plan outlining key dates and milestones, indicating actions for HMRC or our creative agency. • Clear ownership rights • A willingness to work iteratively following our feedback, or in line with agile, ideally using open source methods, compiling with government information-security requirements • to be involved in user research and user testing • You should host the website, then provide a technical summary, transferring knowledge, allowing HMRC to maintain it and make updates. Additional T&Cs GDS marketplace contract: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-outcomes-and-specialists-call-off-contract No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Your capacity to deliver within the timetable • The technical quality of your approach and methodology • How your solution meets our overall objective, promoting understanding of the different schemes encompassed in the single government offer • How the solution meets user needs: does it accommodate parents and childcare providers with their own unique, and separate journeys (b2b and b2c)? • Your team expertise and experience: collaborative and transparent working, ensuring the website can be easily maintained and updated by HM Government Cultural Fit Criteria • work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • be transparent and collaborative when making decisions, taking us into account with all major changes • apply a personal approach, with consistent contacts and weekly progress updates, highlighting any current risks • be proactive in indicating actions for HM Government or our creative agency. • demonstrate a willingness to work iteratively and make changes in response to our feedback Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 15% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Q- Please can you confirm what you would expect to be delivered by 29th August as it is a very tight deadline? Can you also confirm if you have already been through the Discovery and Alpha phases, expected technology etc? Our requirement for the 29th August is a Minimum Viable Product website, with an effective structure and polished user interface, suitable for public launch. It would have the minimum pages necessary to display content and resources (provided by HMRC), with separate journeys for our three audiences (parent, childcare provider and employer). Further enhancements (through user research) to the structure, design and content, will be made the remainder of the contract period. As the requirements show, this project has not started – we would expect the successful supplier to carry out a short discovery phase at the start of the project. 2. Q- Are you able to give an indication of what a successful but basic MVP would look like for HM Government/HMRC at a high level? E.g. do you require a CMS or would a static design suffice, at least for the initial MVP? What's the scope of content that you would expect to be included in the MVP for each of the three user journeys? Our requirement for the 29th August is a MVP website, with an effective structure and polished user interface, suitable for public launch. It would have the minimum pages necessary to display content and resources (provided by HMRC) with separate journeys for our three distinct audiences (parent, childcare provider and employer).We anticipate that the website would be based on an open-source content management system, but this is not a requirement and other approaches can be considered during a short discovery phase at the start of the project. 3. Q- What outputs will the creative agency team be providing, and when will these be available (even in early draft form for collaboration)? Our creative agency will work with you to help build the look and feel of the pages, developing content in parallel with the development of the website, to fit the website’s structure and design. 4. Q- Has a discovery phase been completed and/or is there output from any preliminary phase that can be shared with the successful supplier? As the requirements show, this project has not started – we would expect the successful supplier to carry out a short discovery phase at the start of the project, working with HM Government to rapidly define user needs and draft user stories. 5. Q- Do you have any design/brand guidelines and assets (e.g. images, tone of voice, iconography, etc.) relating to the 'reassuring creative identity' that will be shared with the successful supplier? Our creative agency will work with you to help build the look and feel of the pages. Full details of the audience and creative content will be provided at briefing stage to our successful supplier. 6. Q- Have any personas been drawn up that cover the identified user types? We have three distinct audiences (parent, childcare provider and employer). Full details of the audience will be provided at the briefing stage once the expression of interest stage is complete. 7. Q- What is the envisaged website size (e.g. number of pages)? The website should have the minimum pages necessary to accommodate our audiences with their own separate journeys. As a minimum, we would expect to have four landing pages (for all users, parents, childcare providers, and employers), with potential subsidiary pages for each audience (for example, giving further details on specific childcare schemes). 8. Q- Is there an existing information architecture that will be shared with the successful supplier? This would be covered during a short discovery phase at the start of the project. 9. Q- Has all the envisaged content been written or will this be developed in parallel? Written content and resources will be developed by HM Government in parallel with the development of the website, to fit the website’s structure and design 10. Q- Could you give any further indication of budget, e.g. the cap on the T&M? This would help give us a further idea of the scale you are looking for. The budget will be based on a capped time and materials approach. If you finish the work before your deadline, we will pay you for the time you took to do the work. Our budget reflects the requirements set out in this brief, both the delivery of the MVP, and the subsequent iterations. 11. Q- Can you indicate what the budget is for this project? Our budget will be based on a capped time and materials approach. If the work is completed before your deadline, we will pay you for the time you took to do the work, as laid out in the Digital Marketplace Guidance. Our total budget reflects the requirements set out - the delivery of the MVP within our timeframe, and the subsequent iterations and updates. 12. The Childcare Bill: policy statement last Dec indicated that 'A joint online application system will provide a simple and straightforward way for working parents to access the schemes and will avoid the need to provide the same information twice.' and 'HMRC to provide an eligibility checking service for the Department'. As early implementation is due Sep this year we're assuming the application system is already in hand and the campaign site will link through to it, is that correct? Also, an eligibility checker is an obvious counterpoint to trying to explain/communicate a complex system. Is this in play as well? The campaign website should link to a childcare calculator on GOV.UK, which will help parents understand which scheme they are eligible for and how much support they may receive. This has been developed by HMRC (not yet publically available). From 2017, the site will also direct people to the joint application system. 13. Q - Although there are clear technical requirements for this project, it seems to us that how we help users navigate a childcare landscape that others have described as 'incredibly complex' presents more food for thought. You allude to 'How your solution meets our overall objective, promoting understanding...' but there doesn't seem to be any scope for scoring any 'innovative and reassuring approach' any agency may want to try (after testing with users)? Or even showing an understanding of the issues - the timescale for delivery means any supplier needs to get right to it. We welcome any innovative approaches to these requirements. Our timescale is for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), but we expect subsequent enhancements based on user testing and feedback to a longer timescale. 14. Q - The information mentions user journey and registration. Do you want the users to register in some way, i.e. via their email address to enable analysis of reach and exposure of the campaign? For the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), the campaign website should link to a ‘Keep me Updated tool’ on GOV.UK (developed by HMRC, not yet publically available), which will capture parents’ email addresses. We would not expect parents to register or sign-in to the campaign website. 15. Q - What is the role of the creative agency? Will they be providing branding, formatting and look & feel or would you like us to devise this? Our creative agency will work with the appointed website developer to present the pages using our logo, and appropriate look and feel. You will be responsible for developing a user interface based on this branding and look and feel 16. Q - Who will be creating copy for the website, the HMRC communications team? Will the copy have been tested for user comprehension - particularly with a sample of parents - before the agency receives it? HMRC communications team will be providing the copy for this website, ahead of any user testing carried out by an agency, so it can be tested with users in the digital environment. 17. Q - You do not state location as a mandatory requirement. Is it sufficient have meetings in London rather than being based there? You do not need to be based in London. You will, however, be expected to attend weekly meetings in London. 18. Q - Do you have a defined set of software you would like to use or is the choice open for the suppliers? - Does the 3 month contract period include hosting of the website? - Do you have expected traffic volumes for the website? - Is the website standalone or does it need to interact with any other systems? - Do HMRC on behalf of HM Government have any technology preferences? - Are there any requirements to support languages other than English? - Is there a previous campaign website which HMRC wish to use as a template? The software used to build the website is up to you, and your expertise. We would expect you to host the website during the contract period and potentially for longer, subject to further agreement. Our potential audience for the policy is over 2 million, with 82% digital literacy rate. The website will only signpost to GOV.UK services at MVP stage and at this stage it will just be in English. We can discuss similar campaign websites at evaluation stage. 19. Q - Good morning, we have the following questions: 1. What is your expected budget range for this project? 2. Do you have any preferred CMS technology / platform? 3. How do we submit our written proposal document? Our budget will be based on a capped time and materials approach and reflects the requirements set out above, both the delivery of the MVP, and the subsequent iterations. The platform used to build the website is up to you, and your expertise, although open source platforms are preferred. You will be informed if we would like you to submit a full written proposal after the Expression of Interest stage is complete. 20. Q - Can you please clarify whether the supplier has to be based in London? It is not essential that you are based in London. You will, however, be expected to attend weekly meetings in London. 21. Q - Do you have a view of the user volumetrics likely to land on the site? Our potential audience for the policy is over 2million, with 82% digital literacy rate. 22. Q - Does the system need to integrate in to any other government systems or meet any specific hosting or security standards? The website will simply link out to GOV.UK services at MVP stage, however later iterations may seek to integrate with our childcare digital tools. All suppliers should comply with government information-security requirements. https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/making-software/information-security.html#service-security 23. Q -Hello. This essential requirement below prevents any new supplier to UK government participating. Most Digital Marketplace tenders have this requirement. It creates a closed shop and prevents competition. Can you remove the requirement please? > have experience designing websites for the public sector Suppliers should have the experience necessary to complete the project within our given timeframe.