Educational Website User Research

Tender description

Summary of the work A thorough series of user research and digital discovery activities with a range of health care professionals to determine the objectives, function and structure of our new website. Expected Contract Length 14 months Latest start date Monday 8 January 2018 Why the Work is Being Done The Genomics Education Programme website has grown from its initial objective of supporting the 100,000 Genomes Project to becoming a world leading 'one-stop-shop' where healthcare professionals from around the globe learn about, access and use genomics resources. However the diversity of this extended audience with differing needs, requirements and levels of understanding means our current website needs updating and revision. It is therefore our intention to completely overhaul the user experience to align with these new goals. Initially, via a process of discovery, we need to establish who this audience are, what they understand, and how we can help them. Problem to Be Solved Conduct a thorough and objective series of user research activities to gain a more detailed and evidenced understanding of the needs of the diverse audience of the GEP. The team are seeking recommendations from the supplier to ensure the launch of a new web service will meet both the needs of users and the objectives of the programme. We would also be seeking ongoing recommendations for continuous improvements during the optimisation phases of the solution. We anticipate the work to require user participant recruitment, usability testing sessions, user satisfactions surveys and user interviews as part of a longitudinal survey. Who Are the Users As a healthcare professional I need to understand what genomics is and its relevance to me. As a healthcare professional I need to understand what genomics resources are available to assist patient care, practice and professional development. As an educator I need to understand what resources are available for teaching and for my students. As an international collaborator I need to understand what genomics resources are available and how HEE is supporting workforce transformation. As the GEP we need to drive the mainstreaming of genomic medicine and deliver workforce transformation. Existing Team You will be working with the in-house digital team at the Genomics Education Programme who are responsible for the configuration, implementation and support of the new website. The team have solid experience of conducting user research with NHS professionals. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Possess demonstrable experience of delivering user research activities and outputs in line with the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard • Possess demonstrable experience of leading user research activities for a digital service during an iterative development project • Possess demonstrable experience of facilitating face-to-face and remote usability testing sessions with end users • Possess demonstrable experience of setting up and analysing web analytics for actionable insights • Possess demonstrable experience of recruiting and setting up user research groups with multiple healthcare professional groups. Nice to Haves • Demonstrate experience of working with public and Government health departments and arms length bodies • Demonstrate experience of digital online learning and assessment services Work Location We anticipate that this work will require both on-site working at our offices (below) plus remote working. There may also be some work conducted in other locations throughout the UK. We are located at: 213 St Chads Court Hagley Road Birmingham B16 9RG Working Arrangments We will want the specialist/team to be outcomes focused rather than to work for set times in set locations. So, we will want the specialist/team to work on dedicated, pre-planned user research activities with planned outcomes. We intend this work to be spread over a 12-14 month period, with some periods of intense work (in Dec 2017-Feb 2018, for example) and periods of much less intense work. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Evidence of delivering user research activities and outputs in line with the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard • Evidence of leading user research activities for a digital service during an iterative development project • Evidence of facilitating face-to-face and remote usability testing sessions with end users • Evidence of setting up and analysing web analytics for actionable insights • Evidence of recruiting and setting up user research groups with multiple healthcare professional groups. Cultural Fit Criteria • Work in a very transparent and collaborative manner with our organisation • Be open to including members of the in-house team to be part of an intense, immersive, insightful experience of unearthing answers Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Location: how often do you expect the successful agency to be working on-site? As much as the supplier deems necessary for the initial stakeholder interviews, discovery and subsequent ongoing implementation collaboration. 2. Are you able give an indication of budget please? No, not currently. After shortlisting, we expect to work collaboratively with our supplier to agree the overall scope and cost of the work. 3. Is this procurement solely for a website discovery phase (GDS specifies approx 8 weeks), or it is a discovery phase PLUS continuous research through potential development phases (project contract length is 14 months). Please could you clarify? The contract would be for initial discovery and subsequent continuous research through optimisation phases. 4. How many (approx) web pages does the site have? 400 5. Do you have a max budget for this work? No. After shortlisting, we expect to work collaboratively with our supplier to agree the overall scope and cost of the work. 6. Is anything under a login on the website? Yes, but it is manged via our partners LMS and out of scope for this project. 7. Who is currently maintaining the site? Is this internal? This is internally managed by one person. 8. What CMS is currently being used? The current website consists of both Wordpress and Joomla CMS. However we plan to replace this with a single CMS, our preference would be Wordpress but we welcome recommendations. 9. Do you anticipate the development of the potential new site to be done internally or outsourced to a supplier i.e alpha/beta/live phases? This decision is yet to be made. The outcome of the initial discovery work will dictate the course of action. 10. When do you anticipate this project to start? With the Christmas holidays, evaluation of evidence, time for proposal writing, proposal review period, the award and completion of contract, the start date of 8th Jan wouldn't be achieved. Yes, it could be tight but the closing date for applications is the 27th December. I expect we may be flexible with the start date. 11. Do you expect this opportunity to be fulfilled by a single individual or a team of experts? Given the scope of work involved I suspect it would be difficult for an individual to complete the opportunity. 12. Demonstrate experience of digital online learning and assessment services. Is this asking have you been involved which producing an online learning portal or do you provide online learning/assessments. Have you been involved with producing an online learning portal 13. Is this full-time for a team across 14 months? As stated in the oportunity: We intend this work to be spread over a 12-14 month period, with some periods of intense work (in Dec 2017-Feb 2018, for example) and periods of much less intense work. 14. Do you have contacts with potential users which can encouraged to participate in the user research e.g newsletter contacts, focus groups? We may have access to groups thorough newsletters, focus groups or website popups, yes. However we expect the supplier to lead on the recruitment criteria and selection process. 15. Would you cover project expenses such as associated expenses for working from the Birmingham office and any travel to other areas of the UK as stated? Quote should include all reasonable expenses.