UK SBS DDaT20255 UKRI Funding Service User Research and Design

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done UKRI is building a unified digital funding service to act as a single place for the provision of funding to support research and innovation in the UK. The new service will also include simplified and standardised processes which will allow for future schemes to be easily included. A pilot service launches in August, with further features and releases planned to extend the service functionality. Problem to Be Solved The existing legacy service is difficult to support, does not meet user needs and doesn't allow for the easy collection of data. Applicants typically must learn 9 different processes in order to apply for funding. Who Are the Users •As an applicant I need an intuitive digital platform to apply for and manage my grant funding. •As a research office user, I need to oversee approve and manage the grant applications submitted by applicants in my university •As a peer reviewer I need an intuitive digital platform so that I can securely review, score and submit feedback on applications •As an internal user, I need an intuitive digital platform so that I can: •Create and manage an opportunity •Manage applications, peer review, award offers, project setup •Pay grant funding and claims •Manage project assurance •Track funding Early Market Engagement Not Applicable Work Already Done The Discovery and Alpha phases have been completed and the service is in Beta development. A pilot launch is due in August which will deliver a portion of the service with a limited feature set. The team will continue to extend the service with the introduction of new features and iterate the service based on user feedback. The end to end journey involves several stages and serves a number of different external user types. Existing Team The team is made of a mixture of UKRI staff, contractors and other suppliers. Current Phase Beta Work Location Remote We expect this work will be done remotely for the foreseeable future. Should official guidance change during the duration of this engagement, you may be expected to attend meetings in Polaris House, Swindon, London or other locations as required. Working Arrangments We are looking for a supplier who is comfortable doing remote user research and design and can work in a blended, remote team. Workloads will be managed by the in-house Delivery Manager & ScrumMaster, with use of Confluence and Jira. Security Clearance • Onsite attendance at Polaris House requires basic security disclosure (Baseline Personnel Security Standard) • The successful supplier must sign our standard non-disclosure agreement • The successful supplier must provide proof of GDPR compliance • The successful supplier must adhere to UKRI’s information security and GDPR policies Additional T&Cs Not Applicable Skills & Experience Demonstrate your proposed team’s experience of working to the Government Service Standard, particularly around research and design (5%) Demonstrate your team’s experience in working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and the role of user experience consultants in this team (5%) Demonstrate experience of transferring knowledge to internal staff (4%) Demonstrate your proposed team’s experience in designing services which meet assisted digital needs (3%) Demonstrable experience of delivering digital solutions that meet Level AA of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 (3%) Demonstrate your team's experience of designing and developing services through iteration, research and testing (3%) Demonstrate your experience of working as part of a remote team (2%) Nice to Haves Demonstrate your experience of designing services within environments with multifaceted supply and delivery chains (1%) Demonstrate your experience of prototyping in code (1%) Demonstrate your experience of using the GOV.UK design system (1%) No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Demonstrate how your proposed team’s technical expertise will ensure the successful delivery of this project (6%) Demonstrate your methodology and tool kit for conducting remote research (6%) Describe how you have delivered similar projects for large public facing organisations (5%) Provide details of the suggested size, shape and make-up of proposed team, demonstrating how this team structure will maintain the ability to deliver the services throughout the project lifecycle (5%) Describe how will you ensure UKRI staff are ready to take on operational control and support upon completion of the work (5%) Detail risks and assumptions and a plan for mitigating against them (5%) Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrate how your team will work successfully with UKRI as part of a remotely distributed multi-disciplinary team (4%) Demonstrate your team’s ability to deliver in an open, collaborative, agile way according to the principles outlined in the Government Service Design Manual (4%) Demonstrate your ability to deliver outcomes, applying an agile methodology, in non-agile environments and successfully bridging the two worlds (4%) Demonstrate how you will deliver simplicity (e.g. do less but better, explaining complex issues in a clear, simple way, break down and prioritise complex issues) (4%) Demonstrate your approach to collaborating and maintaining initiative when part of a remote team (4%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range the total budget for the initial term of the contract shall not exceed £450,000 excluding vat. ukri shall have the option to extend the term for up to three months with up to £112,000 excluding vat. the total contract value shall not exceed £562,000 excluding vat. we will be hiring in permanent staff over the coming year, so we expect the number of people supplied to reduce over time.