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user research

Mastering design iterations: The power of documentation

Have you ever struggled to remember the context behind a particular design iteration? In the fast-paced world of UX design, decisions are made quickly and iterated even faster. But, as the designs evolve, it’s easy to lose track of the …

Making the service assessment process easier and more consistent

For the last 18 months, we’ve been investigating and implementing initiatives for how we check and improve our digital services against standards, specifically, the Government Service Standard. Our research findings show that the way we assess these services in DfE …

Better Together: Co-Designing with Local Authorities

Our family hubs digital project is complex - we knew we would need sustained involvement.  The DfE’s family hubs digital team are developing services to help families and the local authority professionals who work with them. As local authorities open …

Desk Research in Discovery

Screenshot of a Google Search

Desk research can help you find your bearings at the start of a project. Finding information about your users’ habits and priorities will give you a good basis to work from when user research begins. In some cases, you may …

Working Collaboratively Across Professions

Working in a multi-disciplinary team is important to deliver great services. Equally, it is important to make time for community. There are lots of ways we work in collaboration with our users and professionals in DfE (Department for Education). Our …

Innovative Approaches to User Research Recruitment Challenges

Childrens play area at a family hub

User researchers help teams understand the people who will be using Government services. We investigate who the users of a service are, what their experiences have been and what they need. We then consider how we can meet those needs through design and delivery of services.  

Overcoming different ways of working to improve a public service

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: multidisciplinary teams, Service design, user research
Illustration showing ‘Previous flow’ and ‘New flow’. The previous flow starts with a screen titled ‘Requesting a reference’, then ‘Check your answers before sending your request’ then there’s an alarm clock with the title ‘Wait for references’ followed by a screen titled ‘Which 2 references do you want to include in the application?’ followed finally by ‘Send application’. In the new flow, the first screen is titled ‘References to be requested if you accept an offer’ followed by sending the application, then a step titled ‘Receive offer’ and then a screen titled ‘Confirm your reference details and accept your offer’ followed by an alarm clock with the title ‘Wait for references

People who apply for teaching training have found that getting 2 references before submitting an application, can be a real barrier. Here, Frankie Roberto and Myles Jarvis go into more detail about how data, research and working more closely with policy colleagues has brought about a significant change.