User research for CODEx Inline XBRL viewer

Tender description

Pre-market engagement N/A Work done so far We have conducted outreach with our partner regulators and agencies to help us identify the problem to solve. We can provide a summary of these findings to the successful supplier. Which phase the project is in Discovery Existing team The existing team consists of accounting and taxonomy subject matter experts and a project manager Address where the work will be done Remotely Working arrangements The supplier's staff will work in their own premises and FRC is not responsible for providing any work infrastructure. User research is expected to be conducted remotely. Virtual meetings can be arranged to work with FRC between 9.00am and 5.00pm BST Monday to Friday. However, the FRC is willing to facilitate face-to-face meetings at the London Wall (London) office if required and agreed by both parties. Provide more information about your security requirements: No security clearance needed Latest start date 2023-11-13 Enter the expected contract length: 1 year Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 40000 Provide further information: The maximum budget is £40,000 (excluding VAT) for the combined deliverables of the Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live phases. Funding for Alpha, Beta and Live will be conditional on the successful completion and result of the Discovery phase. 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 The FRC requires user research services throughout the CODEx viewer project, in compliance with the UK government service manual (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-research). The supplier will organise, facilitate user and document user research sessions. Based on the user feedback during the discovery phase, the provider will document user needs and requirements. The supplier will also provide user research throughout the alpha, beta and live phases, including user testing. The provider will be responsible for recruiting members of the general public, including users with accessibility needs and assisted digital needs. The FRC has existing contacts for the other user groups (see 'The people who will use your product or service'). Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Why the work is being done UK agencies and regulators, such as the FCA and Companies House, are collecting and publishing company reports in inline XBRL format. Users need an iXBRL viewer tool to open those reports and see the tagged data in situ in the human-readable report. Various open source and commercial viewers are available but (1) there are barriers to their use (2) they do not meet UK government standards, for example in terms of accessibility and security and (3) certain functionalities are missing. Therefore, we are exploring the development of a bespoke UK iXBRL viewer in line with the UK government service manual. This tender only covers user research services - the development of the viewer will be procured separately. The timeline for user research during the project phases is as follows: - Discovery user research: November - early December 2023 - Alpha/beta user research: April - August 2024 - Live user research: September - November 2024 The project is financed through the 'Regulators Pioneer Fund'. The grant funding does not allow for any over-spend or expenditure after February 2025. The business problem you need to solve The intended outcome of this procurement is to understand the needs of users in order to inform the design and build of a free, secure and accessible inline XBRL viewing tool that works for them. First user type: Various / See below Enter more details about this user type: The output of the user research will be used by developers building the CODEx iXBRL viewer. The iXBRL viewer will ultimately be used by : - Supervision staff within regulators and agencies - to allow them to review and assess structured reports against legal and regulatory requirements. - Policy staff within regulators and agencies - to allow them to analyse the impact of current and future corporate reporting policy in practice. - Investors - to help them make investment decisions - Preparers of company reports and design agencies - to allow them to review their own reports and compare them against peers - FinTechs - to incorporate a viewer into their own tools - Academic and students - to analyse structured reports for education/research purposes - Other members of the general public who wish to view company accounts The user research must include potential users from these groups with limited digital access and confidence and users with a range of visual, hearing, motor and cognitive impairments. User research participants should be spread geographically across the UK.