Provision of a ‘Student SuperApp’ including design, implementation and support services

Tender description

MySouthampton is an app designed to meet the needs of (principally) students for ‘information and services on the go’. Primarily designed for use on mobile devices, the app also presents on desktop.<br />As part of the University’s digital transformation programme, we seek to procure an upgrade/replacement for the current app that will provide users with enhanced features, performance and user experience.<br />The primary user group for the app will be University of Southampton students. We currently have 24,000 students and this number might be expected to grow by 4% a year over the period of the contract, reaching perhaps 28,000 by April 2028.<br /><br />The current MySouthampton app achieved approximately 500,000 menu clicks from users in the month of January 2024. Figures for unique users are not available.<br /><br />The use of the term ‘SuperApp’ represents a working title and is indicative of our ambition; that the new MySouthampton app should be best-in-class, creating a compelling user experience with features and content to rival the best University student apps currently available. High availability and performance are considered crucial for adoption of the app, and for it to become an indispensable tool for students at the University.<br />The University expects functionality to be delivered to an Agile methodology, with an initial Minimum Viable Product release by mid-March 2025 and final release by end July 2026, as detailed in (File 4) Specification Requirements.<br /><br />The University proposes to enter into a Contract for seven (7) years – this will be the maximum contract period, including any potential extensions with the successful tenderer(s). <br />This will comprise of an initial contract period of 4 years with an option to extend by a further three twelve (12) month periods up to 31st July 2031 subject to satisfactory performance and at the discretion of the University.<br /><br />