DDaT – BEIS – HER GOV.UK Enhancement Alpha/ Beta copy

Tender description

Summary of the work Alpha – conduct multiple phases of user testing to feed into design and development of the high-fi eligibility checker prototype and scheme referral system Beta – Build upon prototypes from Alpha through continual user testing and design improvements to have ready-to-launch services that meet project objetives Expected Contract Length 18-22 weeks Latest start date Sunday 30 October 2022 Budget Range £250k to £575k (includes internal and external costs) Why the Work is Being Done In July 2022 the Government launched an online energy advice tool (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency) which was the first step to transition the existing Simple Energy Advice website (https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/) to GOV.UK. This GOV.UK site offers tailored recommendations to consumers on how to improve the energy performance of their home so they can make informed choices on how to cut their energy consumption as well as making their home greener. This is the first step to provide homeowners households with trusted and impartial information on how to improve the energy performance of their property. We have made a series of public commitments (inc. Net Zero Strategy, British Energy Security Strategy) to create a government-led home energy advice journey, help households to improve the energy performance of their homes, and move towards net zero. Over the coming months and years, we intend to enhance the website with additional functionality to improve the customer experience. Problem to Be Solved To provide additional functionality which integrates with online customer journey and provides consumers with information and choice on Government funding schemes for retrofit. There are currently several live Government schemes with different eligibility criteria and scheme administrators. Consumers need to proceed through one single eligibility checker that covers multiple schemes and be referred to a scheme that is suitable for them. This tool will increase consumer awareness, provide them choice and increase trust in delivery partners working on behalf of Government. A Discovery is being conducted to identify the user need and initial findings will be shared in due course. Outcome of Alpha – a prototype for each service that has been tested and meets user needs and is adequately substantial to move to Beta Outcome of Beta –ready-to-launch, cost-effective service(s) that meet all Service Standards and BEIS approvals. Additional background/requirements can be provided by william.laing@beis.gov.uk. Requests should be submitted prior to questions/clarifications closing to ensure suppliers can ask any related questions. Who Are the Users Homeowner: needs a tailored recommendation on available finance to support them to improve the energy performance of their home (owner occupier) or tenant (landlord). They need to understand which financing options they are eligible for and be referred to the relevant scheme administrator/administrators. Policy officials: needs access to effective MI and reporting to inform policy development and website enhancements. Scheme administrators (eg. local authorities, energy supply companies): They need to receive details about eligible and interested consumers, relevant to their scheme. Work Already Done The online energy advice tool (https://www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency). A Discovery is being delivered that will identify the user need for the service. Objectives: 1. Understand user needs for home energy retrofit finance eligibility checker and referral mechanism 2. Understand current landscape of financial schemes to support home retrofit work, eligibility criteria for each scheme+ measures supported 3. Understand where in the GOV.UK user journey the eligibility checker fits and how it links to the new GOV.UK tool 4. Understanding how referral mechanism allows energy suppliers to contact eligible customers Previous outputs/backlogs/etc will be given to shortlisted suppliers. Existing Team The supplier will predominantly be working with the Net Zero Buildings & Industry - Domestic team in BEIS, eg: - Product Owner (CAI Digital Lead) - Service Owner (CAI Team Lead) Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience of identifying users who require assisted digital services, including vulnerable consumers, and their respective needs and usage patterns. • Demonstrate experience of ensuring prototype services cater to user needs. • Demonstrate experience of building easy-to-use consumer-facing web-based applications. • Have a proven track record of delivering complex software projects in the UK government sector in line with the GDS and GOV.UK Standards. • Demonstrate experience of rapidly developing and iterating prototypes based on user testing, findings from discovery and policy context, including assisted digital. • Demonstrate experience of communicating complex issues using clear and concise language in both written and verbal ways to a variety of audiences and expertise levels. • Demonstrate experience of delivering projects using agile project management methodologies. • Demonstrate experience of conducting and documenting user research and using findings to iterate project work and software development. Nice to Haves • Demonstrate knowledge of the issues surrounding domestic energy efficiency, particularly in respect of consumer advice and consumer energy usage. • Detail familiarity with the principles of behavioural insight and behavioural change. Experience of applying these principles to consumer-facing services, particularly online. • Demonstrate experience of working across multiple government departments, including data-sharing protocol. • Detail, with an example, experience of researching, designing or building digital services in the energy or net zero space. Work Location With the team hybrid working , it is expected the supplier will do the same. This means , if the need arises, the supplier’s team would need to travel to the BEIS 1 Victoria Street HQ in London for meeting(s)/workshop(s). Working Arrangments The supplier’s staff will be expected to be available during the typical working hours of the policy team (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm) in order to maximise knowledge transfer. We require the supplier to hold agile ceremonies as well as weekly update/‘show and tell’ sessions for BEIS stakeholders, which will take place over MS Teams. Other potential tools tbc. Security Clearance All individuals must have BPSS as a minimum. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Describe the approach and methodology you will apply to Alpha, including how priorities will be determined and emerging findings presented • Describe how the approach will achieve the objectives and intended outcomes • Describe how the structure of the team and how their technical skills and experience will be used to deliver the need, including estimated resource dedicated to the project • Please provide a project plan with proposed timelines which clearly details areas for mobilisation and delivery and action points around these • Identify the risks and dependencies you associate with the project and how you would provide mitigation actions to manage them • Please provide details as to how the requirement will provide value for money, including how you will take previous learning to deliver better value for this project Cultural Fit Criteria • Detail how you will proactively engage with stakeholders to progress the project and communicate in an appropriate manner to the audience • Detail how you will ensure you work in a way that is that is open, honest and constructive • Detail how you will work successfully with the team collaboratively considering it is a multidisciplinary agile team • Detail how your team will work in a user driven approach, using research and evidence to challenge underlying assumptions/present findings in a way decision makers can easily digest • Detail how your team will respond to change throughout the project. • Detail your plan for taking ownership of the requirement. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 15% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. Could you please provide info on what tech stack is expected to use? The current live service is built on an ASP.NET Core MVC website that makes use of a variety of external services and stores state in a PostgreSQL database. Any additional technologies required by new functionality should be selected based on evidence that they are the right tools for the required purpose – please see standard 11 in the Service Standard for further information (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard/point-11-choose-the-right-tools-and-technology). 2. Please could you disclose the name of the incumbent supplier that conducted the discovery? The incumbent is a supplier called Softwire 3. Could you confirm who is completing the Discovery please? Softwire completed Discovery 4. Please can you clarify if Stage 1 scores will be carried over and used in the evaluation at Stage 2? Stage 2 is evaluated independently of Stage 1 5. Please can you provide a full timeline for the procurement including the dates you intend to shortlist, when you will invite suppliers to respond to Stage 2, when you intend to award etc.? "Dates are indicative and subject to change, but currently:Stage 1 shortlisting by 26th AugProposals due 9th SepProposals evaluated by 16th SepPresentations 19/20th SepSelect by end of Sep. 6. Regarding the second “Nice to Have” question, ‘Detail familiarity with the principles of behavioural insight and behavioural change. Experience of applying these principles to consumer-facing services, particularly online’, please can you confirm if this was intended to be 2 separate questions or if suppliers are expected to answer both parts in 100 words? This is 1 question and as such the 100 word limit applies 7. What is meant by external costs? Is that meant to cover hosting, licensing etc? External costs means 3rd party (supplier) costs. The scope is solely website creation and excludes support/maintenance. 8. What technologies are currently being used or that the eligibility checker would need to be compatible with? See question and answer above regarding the tech stack 9. What type of resource do you think you will need and what level of experience do you think they will require to deliver this project? BEIS are expecting suppliers to use their expertise and experience to propose a team which has the optimal mix of roles and seniority to deliver the project in a cost-effective and efficient way. BEIS expect a delivery plan with milestones to be provided which includes details on resource allocation at the various stages of the project. Some of the typical roles BEIS have seen in similar projects include:Delivery Manager, Product Manager, User Researcher, Prototype Developer, Service Designer, Interaction Designer, Content Designers, Developers, Technical Architect, Data Architect."