Understand user requirements and design for the FCERM Research Programme website - Discovery

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done This work supports the findings from the FCERM (Flooding and Coastal Erosion Risk Management) Digital Strategy. One of the key implementation actions was to undertake discovery work to look at continuous improvement of existing services and development of new services. The flood digital team was set up predominantly to concentrate on 'static data'. Our website falls into this category, and would like to undertake discovery work to help shape an improved digital service. Problem to Be Solved The current service is a legacy from the old EA website and was retained after GOV.UK couldn't meet our requirements to move our information across in 2014. The service cannot be improved as it's running on old technology and there's no hardware/software support in place for it. A new website is needed containing better functionality in order for our users to find what they're after easier. The first step to achieve this is discovery work to identify user needs/personas, design and scope out what a website would look like for the build phase including costs and support. Who Are the Users Based on subscribers, our users are typically academics, consultants, internal colleagues, risk management authorities (i.e. Local authorities, drainage boards, coastal groups. We have around 5,500 monthly hits (Source - Google analytics) on our web pages and have a list of subscribers to our newsletters. Our current assumptions are that a user will want one place to go to find all our research, so that, they can find what they're looking for with ease and keep up to date with what we're doing and create better links with the research community. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done An internal survey has been produced, which will be sent out at the beginning of the new year to our subscribers. The aim will be that we will have some basic feedback on what users use our research for, how they access it, what they would like to see on a new service. Existing Team The supplier will be working with the FCERM research programme who require the new digital service. Current Phase Discovery Work Location The successful supplier will be able to carry out a desk based exercise. Location of our office: Horizon House, Deanery Road, Bristol, BS1 5AH Working Arrangments The work can be done remotely. A start-up meeting (teleconference) going through the programme of work and timeframes should be arranged with the team. EA stakeholders should be communicated with throughout the discovery work through regular verbal or written progress reports. Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience experience of user research experience of agile/product backlog development website development website design website content management Experience of effective engagement with current and potential users, including assisted digital users. Nice to Haves development of government websites knowledge of flood research/data No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology Demonstrate how the suggested approach meets our users needs estimated timeframes for work Work with us as part of a team demonstrate value for money for next phase of work Cultural Fit Criteria Works well in a multidisciplinary team with a variety of stakeholders Share knowledge and experience with the team Be respectful of different opinions and constructive in feedback Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 15% Price 35% Questions from Suppliers Budget range 15,000