User research to support the development of an improved Essex Local Offer digital service

Tender description

Summary of the work The ECC Service Transformation team have undertaken discovery and alpha phases of work on the SEND Local Offer. We are looking for an experienced User Researcher to support the testing of redesigned content and Information Architecture for the beta and live phases of the new local offer digital service. Specialist role User researcher Expected Contract Length Expected length is 6 months with the option to extend by up to 6 weeks with 2 weeks notice Latest start date Monday 28 February 2022 Maximum Day Rate Up to £450 a day depending on experience Who Speclialist Work With You’ll be working with our in-house delivery team (content designer, interaction designer, service designer and product manager) and a commissioned partner who will be developing the technical solution for the Local Offer What Specialists Work On •Develop a research plan with the Local Offer team and align user research activities to inform decisions •Recruit professional and non-professional users for user research •Manage the scheduling of user research activities and communication with participants •Test content, information architecture and navigation elements of the new website •Lead a collaborative process of data synthesis so the team understand the user findings •Share insights and recommendations in a clear and concise manner •Document findings so there is a clear thread between the data collected and design decisions •Undertake assurance of ethics and consent processes, develop necessary privacy and equality impact assessments Skills & Experience • Extensive experience of conducting user research for digital content and websites • Able to plan user research for services with challenging user needs and complex user journeys, and advise on the research methods to assure best practice • At least one example of working with users of public and / or government digital services • At least one example (in addition to the previous) of developing and conducting inclusive and accessible research • Able to help teams understand the diversity of users of government services, advocate for inclusive practices and help design and deliver accessible services that work for all users • Experience of successfully recruiting and retaining research participants using a range of techniques and incentives Nice to Haves • Experience of research with users who have experience of disability, special educational needs and / or are carers • Examples of communicating research in a meaningful way that engages stakeholders and teams to create shared understanding • Experience of working in agile, multi-disciplinary teams from discovery through to supporting a live service Work Location The work will take place remotely, however, your research will be carried out with users of the Essex Local Offer website who predominantly live and/or work in the county of Essex Working Arrangments The supplier will carry out the work remotely and communicate with our content designer and service designer using Microsoft Teams or Slack and use other collaboration tools such as Trello and Miro. No. of Specialists to Evaluate 5 Cultural Fit Criteria • how the specialist works with other people • how the specialist solves problems • the specialist’s approach to making decisions • how the specialist shares knowledge and experience • the specialist’s attitude to making mistakes Assessment Method Interview Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is there any incumbent? No, previous user research around the SEND Local Offer has been undertaken by our in-house design team. 2. Is there any flexibility on rate? No the rate for this work is set as up to £450 a day 3. Please confirm this is outside IR35? Can confirm this is outside IR35 4. Is there an expected minimum size for the public/citizen user research group? We do not have anticipated quotas for specific groups or a set minimum sample size. Instead we would like recruitment to represent the ‘range’ of Local Offer users and to fill the gaps that we have identified from previous research. 5. For the public/citizen user research are there any anticipated quotas for representative user research i.e. specific percentages of older adults, or people from ethnic minority communities? We would expect the user researcher to advise on sample sizes and provide a view on when participation has reached a point of saturation that no new insights will alter the main findings.