User Research Recruitment Agency for end users to partake in Research SR1345761533

Tender description

About adding context and requirements test How often research will happen This will be project dependant however research is carried out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Research location The research will be undertaken at various locations. Face 2 Face usability sessions take place at the HMRC user labs located in Cardiff, London (Stratford), Manchester, Worthing, Cardiff, Newcastle, Leeds and Edinburgh. International Research will be remote only. Access restrictions at location All labs are wheelchair accessible. Description of your participants The participants recruited will be dependant on the projects requirements. HMRC expect the type of users the Supplier will need to recruit, but not exhaustive are,- Importers/exporters, sole traders, Making Tax Digital - PAYE/Self-assessment, prospective applicants for Child Benefit, Landlords, high income earners, inyear calculations within SA and Hidden Economies in Northern Ireland, Taxi drivers & Private hire. Users who are already engaging with HMRC via digital services and those who are not and users with English as their second language. The Supplier will be expected to recruit users with additional requirements when necessary (eg. participants must come from specific industries or specific roles). In these situations HMRC will discuss the brief with the recruiter and allow for additional lead time and costs. The Supplier will be expected to recruit users who live inside and outside the UK. Participants can be from any demographic including age and gender. HMRC would preferably like users to agree to be recorded and/or filmed, but this not essential. It is preferable for users to have not participated in user research in the last 3 months on the same projects to ensure they are not biased. Assisted digital and accessibility requirements This will be dependant on the projects requirements however, 1/10 users recruited each round should have either low digital skills or accessibility requirements. The Supplier must be able to recruit the full range of users with accessibility requirements (visual, hearing, cognitive, mobility, etc) over the contract term, Research plan The Contract will cover multiple research plans. The Supplier will be expected to adapt to new requirements as new plans emerge. Special terms and conditions Service level agreement required - Confirmation is required from the Supplier within 2 working days, whether they will be able to meet the user recruitment requirement. Special terms and conditions Service level agreement required - 15 days notice maximum to recruit and mobilise participants. Special terms and conditions When recruiting users the Supplier must adhere to our consent procedures. The Supplier will be required to issue an MS forms link to obtain consent. Consent must be gained before any research can go ahead, the Supplier must support gaining consent. Special terms and conditions HMRC Mandatory Terms & Conditions will be incorporated into the Call-Off Agreement. Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 912000 Provide further information: The contract budget provided is excluding VAT. The contract length will be for 24 months. Write the term or acronym: PAYE Write the term or acronym: SA Write the term or acronym: B&T Write the term or acronym: UR Write the term or acronym: AD Users Write the term or acronym: Accessibility Users Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: Pay As You Earn Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: Self Assessment Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: Borders and Trade Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: User Researcher Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: Assisted Digital - Some users may need support to use online services Write a definition for the term or acronym explaining what it means: Users who may have difficulties in accessing online services such as visual for example those who may require screen readers, jaws, dragon. Auditory, learning/cognitive such as dyslexia. Summary of work HMRC require a 24 month contract for the use of user research recruitment agencies to work as partners to recruit external end users (citizens and business users), which are located in the UK (including NI) and Overseas to part take in user research to gain user insights to support the build of our digital services. The type of users HMRC will need to recruit, but are not exhaustive to are - Importers/exporters, sole traders, Making Tax Digital - PAYE/Self-assessment, prospective applicants for Child Benefit, Landlords, high income earners, inyear calculations within SA and Hidden Economies in Northern Ireland, Taxi drivers and Private and Users with English as a second language. HMRC also require users such as accessibility and assisted digital users. The users required are a mixture of those already using digital services and those who do not. HMRC Digital Strategy underpins our vision setting out how we will redesign our services to become a digital organisation, meeting the Government Standards for designing digital services to meet user needs as outlined by the Government Service Manual. HMRC need to recruit users for research, both individuals and business customers (small, medium and large) that use or may need to use HMRC's services. Research participants are required for projects which are complex, for example but not exhaistive, traders who export inside and outside of the UK and those that live outside of the UK. Participants are also required for straightforward projects, for example users who regularly submit self assessment returns or use agents. The requirement will include remote and face to face research. HMRC expect approximately 70% Remote use of Microsoft teams or UserZoom or go to meeting 30% F2F. As well as contract management and recruitment queries being processed via email and telephone, recruitment requests will be submitted and progressed through the project via the use of Trello. The supplier must be able to engage with HMRC via Trello. Where the research will take place North East England Where the research will take place North West England Where the research will take place Yorkshire and the Humber Where the research will take place East Midlands Where the research will take place West Midlands Where the research will take place East of England Where the research will take place London Where the research will take place South East England Where the research will take place South West England Where the research will take place Scotland Where the research will take place Wales Where the research will take place Northern Ireland Where the research will take place International (outside the UK) Who the organisation using the products or services is H M Revenue & Customs Describe any pre-market engagement done HMRC contacted all 351 suppliers from Lot 3 asking for their comments and feedback on the following three questions - 1)Do you recruit from users in the categories listed in the email? 2)We are interested in a contract for 2 years, are you interested in this? 3)Is there any other issues or suggestions you might make when we procure this contract? 27 Suppliers responded and provided comments on the user research specification, locations, contract documentation and pricing which will be used to develop the tender documentation. Number of research rounds HMRC anticipate on average 2-3 rounds of research per project. However this will be dependant on each project and is subject to change. Number of participants per round HMRC expect the research rounds will involve 5 participants however this is dependent on the research project and is subject to change. Research dates Call-Off Contract from July 2023 until July 2025 Questions and Clarifications 1. How will Small, Medium & Large companies be defined, and what proportion of tests will be conducted with each? The Companies’ Act SME definition requires that two out of three characteristics are met – turnover (less than £25m), employees (less than 250), and gross assets (less than £12.5m). SMEs are further subdivided into micro enterprises (fewer than 10 employees), small enterprises (10 to 49 employees), medium-sized enterprises (50 to 249 employees). Large enterprises employ 250 or more people. We are unable to specify the proportion of tests conducted within each definition as this is dependent on the project. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 12:20 2. How many participants in total do you expect to need to be overseas recruits? This is dependant on each project requirement. Due to working in an agile environment this will be fluid during the duration of the contract. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 12:16 3. What proportion of users currently do not use digital services? We currently do not hold any data for users who do not currently use digital services. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:27 4. How many projects are anticipated and at what frequency? There are 9 key areas with 3-25 individual projects embedded in each key area. In terms of frequency we work in an agile environment and sprints run at least every 2 weeks and projects can be between 1-4 rounds. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:24 5. How many non-digital service users will be required? This will be dependant on each projects requirement but it is part of the GDS Standards that our services will be accessible for all users. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:22 6. Will there be evening availability for tests? Evening availability may be arranged for users who are only available at this time. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:22 7. For overseas recruits, is there any particular specification you can provide? The overseas recruits will be more weighted but not exclusive towards sole traders who may import and export inside and outside the UK and Individuals who may work in 2 or more countries. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:21 8. Will the 30% F2F will be weighted towards a particular location or if it will be a mix of the areas? It will be a mixture of the areas. Last Updated: 5 May 2023, 10:19 9. Your answer to a clarification question regarding MRS RAS Accreditation you have stated " The company should work in partnership with the MRS...". Can you clarify what you mean by this? Do tendering companies need to be MRS RAS Accredited or if not, they need to be MRS Members/MRS Company Partners? Tendering companies need to be either MRS accredited or MRS/Members or MRS Company partners or have individuals as MRS accredited. Last Updated: 4 May 2023, 15:10 10. In relation to MRS RAS Accreditation, can you please confirm whether you are seeking company accreditation, or will individual accreditations suffice? The company should work in partnership with MRS but individual MRS accreditations will suffice Last Updated: 4 May 2023, 11:01 11. Approx how many overseas and NI residents will you be seeking per month? On average a minimum of 20 NI residents and a minimum of 10 residents in other overseas. There is no preference for specific countries however countries where we have had to recruit before have included users who have resided or worked in Ireland, EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Last Updated: 4 May 2023, 11:00