RM1043.8-1-Crown Commercial Service-Content Improvement UR

Tender description

Pre-market engagement N/A Work done so far A significant amount of work has already been conducted: - historical guidance documents were audited - c.40 user research interviews were conducted - based upon findings new templates were iterated and agreed with CCS - training materials created to upskill colleagues on completing the new templates in a consistent way - c.100 new agreements have had their guidance documents transitioned into the new templates; the vast majority of these are now online and available to customers We now must understand the impact of this content transformation. Which phase the project is in Live Existing team The succesful supplier will work closely with the CCS content team, lead by the Head of Content, who will manage this work on a day-to-day basis. Collaboration may also be required with the CCS user research team, subject matter experts (for example to debate a change in how the templates are worded), and senior stakeholders. Address where the work will be done We expect that the vast majority of this work will be done remotely. This project will operate a 'remote by default' approach. Working arrangements We would expect for the vast majority of this work to be done remotely and will operate on a ‘remote by default’ basis. While each sprint is running, we would envisage weekly status review calls with the supplier. Likewise, CCS would be comfortable with kick off meetings, presentations summarising user research, discussions around iterations, and wrap up meetings being held remotely. We would be happy for the successful supplier to conduct user research remotely (e.g. - via video conferencing software). CCS has office space in Liverpool, London, Birmingham, Newport, and Norwich. Likewise, staff are encouraged to travel where there’s a business need. To that end, we would be open to, by exception, face-to-face meetings with the successful supplier where both parties agree it would be beneficial. Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2023-09-01 Enter the expected contract length: 7 months Extension period: 3 months and 15 days Write the term or acronym: CCS Explain the term or acronym: Crown Commercial Service Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 55000 Provide further information: We expect each 3 week sprint can be delivered for c.£20k while we acknowledge that further time and resource will be involved in planning the sprints, research approach, designing materials - thus incurring more cost. As previously stated, if user research surfaced significant iterations that could not be reasonably completed in the set time frames, this would be considered beyond the scope of this project. CCS would then explore the most appropriate next steps. Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work Crown Commercial Service (CCS) have recently undertaken a large scale content transformation project to, based upon user research, provide more consistent and user-centric agreement guidance documents to our customers. We now require user research and content design support in order to assess the efficacy of this content transformation and, where necessary, make iterations to the guidance templates (and their associated, internally-facing, training materials) based upon feedback. We envisage the successful supplier will work with us twice during the remainder of this financial year to deliver 2 ‘user research sprints’. Both of which are covered by this procurement. Our working assumption is that these sprints will take place in late Q2 and late Q4. We expect each sprint to last c.3 weeks and to cover interviewing a small, balanced sample of external and internal users (in addition to potentially sending a survey to a border group) to understand how they are interacting with the documents and the impact they are making. This research will then be presented to the CCS project team and potential iterations to the templates discussed, agreed, and implemented by the supplier. We would expect any iterations to be reasonably minor: tweaking copy or structure for example. If the research surfaced anything more substantial that could not be reasonably implemented in the timeframe of the sprint, we would look at extending the scope of the work. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who the organisation using the products or services is Crown Commercial Service plays an important role helping the UK public sector save money when buying common goods and services. We use our commercial expertise to help buyers in central government and across the public and third sectors to purchase everything from locum doctors and laptops to police cars and electricity. More information on CCS can be found here: www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/about-ccs/ Why the work is being done This work is being done for 2 reasons: 1. we must follow user centred design / Government Digital Service best practices and must continually test our product (in this case, the guidance documents) with users and make any appropriate iterations based upon feedback. 2. to help CCS understand the value of the content transformation: by speaking to users, we seek to understand the impact the work has had on our users We also envisage that findings from this work can contribute to CCS bank of user research and help inform other projects across the organisation. The business problem you need to solve Historically, there was huge variation in the guidance documents we offered customers. There was no standardised structure, language, length, or contents. We know our customers found this very confusing. Likewise, internal colleagues found creating these documents an onerous task. The work we’ve carried out means we now have 3 user-tested guidance document templates to be used depending on how the agreement is structured. An example of a new guidance document, in the new template, is appended to section 3. We also offer guidance to internal colleagues on how to complete these templates in an accurate and standardised manner. By mid-summer 2023, many of these templates will have been live for c.6+ months. We therefore now need to understand how users are interacting with these templates so we can iterate them (if appropriate) and begin to understand the value the content transformation has brought. First user type: N/A Enter more details about this user type: N/A Questions and Clarifications 1. 1. Will CCS provide an access to the user research participant library from which research participant sample size necessary for the user research can be extracted or is it expected from supplier to reach to the user directly? 2. As the project starting date is in the middle of August do we need to assume the risk that this is holiday period and access to users of CCS services will be lower and more difficult ? Are the dates planned into the delivery milestones in case the actual research might start from the second week of September? 1. CCS has access to a pool of potential internal and external participants who we envisage will make up the sample. We will be happy to facilitate introductions to these potential participants. 2. Dates are indicative. As a guide, we wish to have completed a user research sprint by the end of Q2 and another by the end of Q4. However, we’re aware that timescales may need to be flexed depending on participant and colleague availability, holidays, etc. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:39 2. Could you please confirm the expected contract length as there seems to be two different timescales in the tender documentation? Many thanks. The contract is expected to run for the remainder of this FY: from expected award in mid-August until the end of March. Within this contract period would be 2x 3 week sprints when the agency and CCS would work together. One before the end of Q2 and one before the end of Q4. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:37 3. Could you clarify the relevance of the building works contract in the bid documentation? On award, will access be provided to extant documentation from previous work, referenced under the “Any work that’s already been done” section? This document is not a contract, but an example of a new agreement guidance document that is currently live on the CCS website. It is these documents that will be user tested and, if necessary, iterated. On award, CCS will walk the successful supplier through these documents and fully update them as to how and why they were developed. At this stage, there is no expectation that a supplier will have any significant knowledge of the documents and their background. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:36 4. Will the recruitment of participants for the research be sourced and paid for by CCS channels, (but specified and managed by the UR)? CCS has access to a pool of potential internal and external participants who we envisage will make up the sample. As such, we do not expect to have to pay for user research participants. Should the successful agency have access to a pool of suitable participants, we would be open to augmenting our pool with them. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:35 5. Please can the Authority confirm whether or not the Private Sector organisation/s who supported the original large scale transformation project (assuming third parties were involved) will be eligible to bid for this opportunity? CCS worked with an external agency to deliver the first phase of this work. This contract has now finished and no incumbent is in place. CCS is committed to an open and competitive procurement process in-line with our obligations and regulations. As such, all suppliers on the DOS6 agreement are eligible to bid for this opportunity. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:33 6. Does the 750-character count exclude space? The character counts include spaces. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:32 7. Please can the Authority explain the relevance of the RM6157-Building-Materials-and-Equipment-Buyer-Guide-2-1 material included within the opportunity information material? This document is an example of a new agreement guidance document that is currently live on the CCS website. It is documents such as these that will be user tested and, if necessary, iterated. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:32 8. Please see below for a list of CQ's. 1. For the original user testing which was conducted was personas created? 2. What applications are being used to store templates e.g. SharePoint? Or other document management system? 3. What application are you currently using the track your sprints? Do we need to provide tooling for capturing sprint activities? 4. Have you got a ring-fenced user pool or are you happy for us to curate a new user pool to use for research? 1. CCS has a bank of user personas which helped guide this work. 2. Completed (customer-facing) templates are uploaded to the CCS website, and subsequently stored, on our website content management system. 3. Providing tooling is not necessary for capturing sprint activities. CCS has access to a number of programmes, including Jira and Monday.com. We also use the Google suite to collaborate on, and track the progress of, projects. Should the successful supplier wish to recommend a specific tool, this is something we would be open to, but is by no means necessary. We would be confident that one or more of our existing programmes would be appropriate. 4. CCS has some potential participants who we would like to reach out to as part of this research. However, we would be open to reaching out to new participants to augment our user research. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:31 9. Please could you advise who delivered the previous projects mentioned and/or whether there is an incumbent? CCS worked with an external agency to deliver the first phase of the work. This contract has now finished and no incumbent is in place. CCS is committed to an open and competitive procurement process in-line with our obligations and regulations. Last Updated: 5 June 2023, 07:27