User research into digital engagement with Leicester City Council

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done Leicester City Council are in the process of improving and expanding our existing digital offering. To inform this work and to ensure a targeted and successful delivery we are undertaking user research to ascertain the needs and preferences of our customers in order to make online the channel of choice. We also need to understand whether there are any barriers stopping our users engaging digitally, and if so what those barriers are. Problem to Be Solved Our current digital offerings have not driven the extent of channel shift that we would like, and we have recognised that our website design is not optimised for users. We need to understand any barriers that stop our users interacting with us digitally. The user research is intended to inform the build and design of our website and associated digital offerings ensuring a focus on user-centred design. The outcomes of the work will support delivery of a strong online presence for the council and ensure that digital routes are the first preference of customers due to speed, ease, and relevance. Who Are the Users As a council, Leicester City Council needs residents, visitors and business owners to be able to access digital services that are simple, easy to use and understand and intuitive. Therefore, we need to understand what users want from our digital services so that we can make their visit, not only effective, but also welcoming, accessible and user friendly. We also need to understand how we can make our digital offer more appealing to all our users to increase user engagement. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We are currently undertaking a website rebuild and redesign. Parts of the user research undertaken are likely to inform Leicester City Council as to the direction we should take with online user interactions. We have undertaken user research on our My Account platform and our e-forms offer and found that there was a lack of knowledge around our digital services in the wider community. Existing Team Work will be carried out in conjunction with the Digital Transformation team at Leicester City Council Current Phase Discovery Work Location Leicester City - with residents, visitors and businesses. As we want the provider to work primarily with our users the majority of this work can take place off site. However, we expect time to be spent at locations within Leicester City Council that offer face to face contact. We would expect some time to be spent at our offices for briefings, reporting and feedback and for any interviews with stakeholders Working Arrangments We want the provider to communicate with our users and potential users so they can do this in whatever way they feel is most appropriate and we would not require them to be on site for any specific amount of time. We would expect them to visit our teams in Leicester, as required, for meetings and workshops as well as be available for regular tele-conferences. They may need to visit our offices more in the initial phase of work as we plan and agree the scope of the project. Expenses should be covered within budget for the project Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Major tasks and deliverables Acceptance Criteria • Collation and publishing results as raw data, to enable us to review each user’s experience if necessary • Report detailing all aspects of research undertaken highlighting the user and business needs • Adherence to meeting the digital service standard’s “How to do user research in discovery” Skills & Experience Have 3+ years’ experience conducting user experience research Have 3+ years’ experience establishing and validating user needs for digital services Have In-depth understanding of user-centered research, design principles, methods and tools Experience of identifying non-users and users of digital services in the public domain and securing their participation in user research Have experience of designing user research for users with low digital literac Experience of eliciting an understanding of why users choose not to engage with digital solutions Experience of effective engagement with current and potential users, including assisted digital users. ave excellent analytical, problem solving, written and verbal communication skills 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 Experience of engaging with a wide range of demographic groups, including the elderly, students, young professionals and a diverse range of ethnic groups Nice to Haves Experience working with local or national government Experience of taking a service through the GDS service assessment process Experience of working in/with public sector teams, particularly those with no/limited experience of Discovery work within the Digital Marketplace framework Have demonstrable experience of working in a culture of continuous delivery and improvement Experience of leading Discovery phases within the public sector Experience of delivering the expected outcomes for the Discovery phase work An understanding of Leicester as a city in terms of the demographics and the challenges the council may face No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology How the approach or solution meets users needs How the approach or solution meets Leicester City Councils stated goals Estimated timeframes for the work How they've identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Team structure Value for money Work well in a collaborative agile team and be confident at communicating and demonstrating developments and ideas Demonstrate courage and challenge the status quo (e.g. can express controversial views, confront reality, make tough decisions) Demonstrate responsibility (e.g. act like a leader, provide solutions to problems, seek the best for the organisation beyond your team) Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes Be respectful of different opinions and constructive in feedback Can work with users with low digital literacy Share knowledge and experience Have proven experience of stakeholder management and strong negotiation skills Proven experience of eliciting information from a diverse and transient population Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Case study Work history Reference Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 15% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet Budget range the research we have completed suggests that this work can be undertaken for between £5k and £15k