Equality and Human Rights Commission website discovery phase

Tender description

Summary of the work We are commissioning a standalone discovery phase to help inform the full redesign and development of our website. This is the first stage of work to improve our digital offer, help us meet the needs of our website users and extend our reach among our target audiences. Expected Contract Length 8 weeks Latest start date Monday 28 January 2019 Budget Range £25k to £30k Why the Work is Being Done Our website is currently built on a platform that is unlikely to be supported by the end of next year. We must either upgrade to the latest version of our current platform or move to a new one. Either way, this will involve substantial redevelopment work, so we wish to use this as an opportunity to make sure that the redeveloped site is best serving our users’ needs, while also meeting our changing business needs. Problem to Be Solved We want to better understand our audiences, so we can redevelop our website to meet their needs. We want the successful supplier to conduct user research with a range of audiences to: • define user personas • identify user needs and user stories • identify important user journeys • make recommendations based on their findings Who Are the Users We hope to better understand this following the discovery phase. Early Market Engagement not applicable Work Already Done Before our last website redesign project in 2015, we commissioned our website development agency to define our user personas. No recent work has been done on these. We have also carried out several pop-up polls on our web pages to find out more about the users who visit specific sections of the site. The user personas and poll results will be shared in full with the successful supplier. Existing Team The successful supplier will need to work closely with our small communications and content team, mainly the: • Website and Digital Content Manager • Web Project Manager and Content Executive • Content Associate Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • have 3+ years’ experience conducting user research • have 3+ years’ experience establishing and validating user needs for digital services • have in-depth understanding of user-centred research, design principles, methods and tools • experience of identifying users of digital services in the public domain and securing their participation in user research • experience of effective engagement with current and potential users, including assisted digital users • have excellent analytical, problem solving, written and verbal communication skills • have experience of analysing and presenting outputs from user research in the context of digital development • proven experience of organising, managing, executing and analysing usability test sessions • knowledge and experience of delivering digital services to the GDS service standard and design principles Nice to Haves • experience of working with government or arm’s length bodies • experience of working on equality or human rights projects • experience of working with public sector teams, particularly those with limited or no experience of Agile, discovery or iterative development • experience of leading discovery phases within the public sector Work Location The successful supplier may work from their own premises but we expect to hold at least two face to face meetings (kick-off and wash-up meetings) at our offices in either Manchester or London. Working Arrangments We want the successful supplier to talk to our users and potential users. They can do this in whatever way they feel is appropriate and we would not need them to be on site for any specific amount of time. We would like the work to be completed within approximately 8 weeks, by 22 March 2019, working to milestones: Weeks 1 to 4: user research Weeks 5 to 6: analysis Weeks 7 to 8: presenting results and recommendations Exact milestones will be determined with the successful supplier, post-appointment. Expenses should be covered within budget for the project. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • how you will ensure the requirements, set out in section 5 of the project brief, are met • a summary project plan and timetable: your proposed approach to conducting the discovery phase and how you will ensure the work is completed on time • the team you plan to use to complete the project and how you plan to work with us • value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • a commitment to equality and diversity • a commitment to accessibility: both as an employer and in your user research practices • published gender pay gap information (if applicable, if you have 250 or more employees) • compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty (if applicable, if you are a listed public authority under schedule 19 of the Equality Act 2010) • compliance with data protection law and responsible data protection practices Payment Approach Fixed price Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 10% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. How do I get a copy of the project brief? To request a copy of the project brief, either contact us through the portal or email website@equalityhumanrights.com and include ‘EHRC 1819-46: Equality and Human Rights Commission website discovery phase’ in the subject line. 2. Project brief now online at: http://bit.ly/ehrcdiscoverybrief 3. Does the budget include VAT? Yes. The fixed price must be inclusive of VAT. 4. The deadline for submissions is New Year's Eve. Is there any chance the deadline can be extended into the new year? Unfortunately not. The Digital Marketplace system only allows opportunities to remain open for a fixed time, two weeks, and buyers are unable to extend this. 5. Does your existing team have any experience of conducting discoveries and will they be allocated to this discovery to work on this? If so, in what capacity will this be i.e. part-time/ full-time. The existing team has experience of working with other teams and suppliers to conduct discoveries but not conducting discoveries themselves. The team does also have experience of conducting user research. The existing team will support the successful supplier on a part-time basis, as they will also be required to continue business as usual work on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website. 6. Are we supposed to answer the questions via the portal, or section 7.4 of the brief? If it's the latter, where should our proposal be sent to? All evidence should be provided through the portal. 7. How many web pages do you currently have? Approximately 1,500 pages. 8. Is there anything behind a login on the website? Please clarify the question. There is no login for website users. There is a login for editors and administrators. 9. Is the budget of £25k-£30k excluding VAT? No. As per question 3, above, the fixed price must include VAT.