PR-0209 Service & Interaction Designer

Tender description

Summary of the work The requirement is for an experienced service designer who has the ability to create high-fidelity user-interface using the gov.uk (GDS) design patterns and standards. The designer will join a multidisciplinary agile team of delivery, user research and software engineering. As well as the opportunity to work with the policy team. Specialist role Designer Expected Contract Length 3 month with a possible further 3 month extension Latest start date 22/11/2016 Maximum Day Rate £650.00 Who Speclialist Work With The Service & Interaction Designer will work with a multi disciplinary team of specialists. They will work particularly closely with user researchers, content designers and policy specialists to challenge assumptions, test ideas and design user interfaces which meet user needs, as clearly and quickly as possible. What Specialists Work On The Service & Interaction Designer will initially focus on services to support the newly established Small Business Commissioner and the related prompt payments policy. They will work in a small, multidisciplinary agile delivery team. Over time the team will move on to work on other services to be delivered by the BEIS digital group, including Discovery, Alpha and Beta phases. Skills & Experience • Ability to take a strategic design view across the service. Create a service design map and develop the overarching proposition for the service. • Substantial experience of interaction design for the web. • Ability to work closely with user researchers to understand and interpret data, analytics and user research findings. Able to translate user needs into simple, clear user interfaces. • Knowledge of, and passion for, user centred design practices in public facing and internal services and applications. • Experience of working to a pattern library, style guide, or other established set of design standards. • Basic knowledge of WCAG accessibility standards and good accessibility practices. • Conviction that digital services should address the needs of all possible users so that no one is excluded, with particular reference to access needs and assisted digital. • Strong communication skills; confident in explaining user-centred design decisions to stakeholders. Skilled at justifying design decisions with reference to evidence from user research. • Able to create visualisations of data, organisations and processes. Provide information design that helps the team and stakeholders understand work to be done and problems to be solved. • Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team in an agile development environment. Able to work at pace; at ease with rapidly changing deadlines, workloads and goals. Nice to Haves • Experience of working on GOV.UK and other government services. • Strong understanding of the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard. • Experience of prototyping in code (HTML, CSS, Javascript) • Experience of delivering accessible web design, for example user interfaces that work with assistive technologies. • Able to contribute to areas beyond the usual boundaries of the discipline, for example helping the team understand the service’s legal and regulatory environment. Work Location Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET. There will be a need to travel to locations within and outside London, for example, to work with stakeholders and to participate in user research during the development of the service. Working Arrangments Monday to Friday. A professional working day, hours and working pattern are needed to deliver the service efficiently. Mainly based from our office in Westminster, London. Security Clearance Minimum Baseline Personnel Security Standard No. of Specialists to Evaluate 3 Cultural Fit Criteria • Work well in a collaborative agile team • Demonstrate courage (e.g. express controversial views, confront reality, make tough decisions, question actions inconsistent with group behaviours, candid about progress/estimates) • Demonstrate vulnerability (for example, declare uncertainty, fear, recognise mistakes, apologise, acknowledge weaknesses) Demonstrate vulnerability (for example, declare uncertainty, fear, recognise mistakes, apologise, acknowledge weaknesses) • Demonstrate responsibility (for example, act like a leader, serve your team, look for solutions, engage in external/internal environments, seek the best for the organisation beyond your team) • Demonstrate simplicity (for example, take simple steps to goals, do less but better, mitigate failures, talk straight with respect) • Demonstrate excellence (for example, seek actionable feedback, set challenging targets, know users, deliver cost effective high level customer satisfaction) • Demonstrate enthusiasm (for example, bring whole self to work, celebrate success, share passion and energy with others, optimistic) Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is there any flexibility around working from home for 1-2 days a week? 1 day a week is fine on the proviso that you are accessible to the rest of the team via Skype, Slack, Hangouts etc. 2. Do you require a Service Designer who understands Interaction, or an Interaction Designer, who understands Service? We appreciate you may want a 50/50 balance, people usually lean towards one or the other. The critical thing is that the candidate is able to both help form the proposition and produce interaction designs. The service is relatively simple so it may be either:A) A Service Designer with a background in Interaction Design who is still proficient in using design tools and can work with the GDS patternsB) A senior Interaction Designer who is capable of making the transition to Service Design. In practice that means an ability to map the entire service, develop the proposition and define an overarching SD goal and hypotheses. Just being very good at IxD is not sufficient.