Supporting the Government Digital Service with innovative interaction design
Involvement
- UX
- UR
- Interaction Design
- Prototyping
- Accessibility
- Client
- Government Digital Service
- Industry
- Government
- Year
- 2020
Overview
We were approached by Government Digital Service (GDS) to assist with Interaction Design for Brexit-related services, enabling individuals to prepare for new rules in 2021 following the UK’s exit from the EU.
GDS sought our expertise due to our extensive experience in Government departments and our history of collaborating with them on various projects.
We worked on three services:
- Brexit Checker
- EU Funding
- Double Opt-in
Brexit Checker
Families and businesses need to understand how to navigate the impact of Brexit changes. We aimed to fill this gap by asking them to answer a few questions to receive a personalised list of actions.
A significant amount of user research and testing was conducted for this project. We gained a clear understanding of participants’ views on Brexit and the checker as a service, which allowed us to iterate and improve the design and offering.
We worked closely with a content designer to enhance the question flow and eliminate any confusion users had regarding certain questions. We prototyped and designed the complete flow, preparing it for testing.
User testing
We had numerous opportunities to test our prototype, which significantly contributed to our design decisions. Initially, we conducted internal testing of our prototype with the collaboration and expertise of our team, as well as performing pop-up testing at King’s Cross Station.
We attended an SME business event with Islington Council, where we engaged businesses in interacting with our prototype on mobile devices while taking notes for further discussions with the rest of the team. All user testing provided valuable insights towards delivering a user-centred design service.
What did we learn
We found that all participants were aware of the campaign through billboards and online advertising. Participants were generally reluctant to prepare for Brexit, either believing it would not impact them or wanting certainty about the outcome before taking action.
Ongoing challenges
Without going into too much detail, we faced numerous challenges, not only with the Brexit Checker as a service but also with individual questions. One, in particular, was regarding the ‘business sector.’ Research indicated that users found it frustrating to locate and select options relevant to their situation.
This challenge resulted in users receiving non-related actions on their results page, causing them to miss out on essential tasks they needed to complete.
Exploration of SIC codes
We decided to explore how we could utilise SIC codes to assist businesses in identifying the correct sector in the business-related question of the checker.
SIC codes describe the primary business activity when registered at Companies House. Business owners would likely be more familiar with the terminology used during the formation of a business.
We believed that we could potentially tap into the Companies House API and use that data to help business users identify their sector. We designed and prototyped a solution, presenting it to businesses as an alternative to the question that was not functioning as expected.
Brexit Checker user journey flow
A collection of designs to show a typical user journey flow for business owners.
Fig. 1 - Business sector question 
Fig. 2 - Business sector listings 
Fig. 3 - One business sector selected 
Fig. 4 - Second business sector listings 
Fig. 5 - Multiple business sectors chosen 
Fig. 6 - Overlay filter option, categorised 
Fig. 7 - Overlay filter option, multiple filters applied
EU Funding
UK organisations have been receiving funding directly from the EU. The Government guaranteed some of that funding in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The challenge was that Government departments did not know who all of those organisations were, prompting them to require registration.
Previously, this process involved a business completing a spreadsheet and emailing it to the Cabinet Office for review. If an organisation met the specified criteria, they would be deemed eligible for funding.
User journey for the EU Funding service
A collection of designs to show a typical user journey flow for the EU Funding service to determine if a business is eligible for funding.
Fig. 1 - Register as an organisation 
Fig. 2 - Who should we contact 
Fig. 3 - Organisation type 
Fig. 4 - Organisation details 
Fig. 5 - Do you have a company 
Fig. 6 - Do you have a grant agreement 
Fig. 7 - What programme do you receive funding 
Fig. 8 - Project details 
Fig. 9 - Does the project have partners
How we did it
We had only four days to complete the project, leaving no time for user research. We combined our collective experience and knowledge gained from working on various services over the years and devised a plan.
We built a prototype using patterns from the GOV.UK Design System. Our team collaborated closely with two content designers on different days to ensure the content was clear and easy to understand. The questions were refined and simplified, while the user journey was streamlined.
With a few days remaining, we addressed several bug fixes, improved error validation, and made minor content adjustments. The developers were then able to use this prototype as a reference to build the necessary functionality to fulfil the task.
Double Opt-in
The team agreed that we needed a pattern for a double opt-in feature for our email subscription signup journey. Initially, we began discussing the sign-up process for Brexit-centric notifications but quickly realised the potential for an extended, service-agnostic pattern that could enhance services across GOV.UK.
The reason behind this decision
Legal requirements imposed by GDPR meant that we must not send emails to users without their consent. These regulations also govern the storage of personal data. Additionally, there was a user need to protect data and to assist users in making informed decisions about signing up.
User flow for email subscriptions across GOV.UK
A collection of designs to show a typical user journey flow for email subscriptions across the whole of GOV.UK.
Fig. 1 - Get and check an MOT 
Fig. 2 - Get email updates 
Fig. 3 - When do you want to be updated 
Fig. 4 - Check your email to confirm 
Fig. 5 - Confirm your email address 
Fig. 6 - You’ve subscribed 
Fig. 7 - Your link has expired
What is double opt-in?
Double opt-in is a standard feature of email and other subscription journeys as part of an online service.
The existing journey offered a poor user experience and was not legally compliant. We proposed a new, simplified flow that provided a better user experience alongside double opt-in functionality.
In this updated process, a user would choose to sign up for alerts and updates by entering their email address. They would then receive an email containing a link that they must click to confirm their subscription, thereby validating their email account.
What did we do
We captured all existing GOV.UK notification journeys and agreed to start with a service-agnostic user journey to provide clarity of purpose while maintaining a small scope. Requirements were identified page by page, and content was drafted and refined. A prototype was then designed and built, which we tested with users.
We organised research planning sessions to analyse the journey from a user perspective. From these sessions, we compiled a list of user research questions to confirm specific insights. The prototype was subsequently tested again, leading to refinements and improvements based on the findings.
What we delivered
Due to technical implications and time pressures, we had to roll out an MVP version of our prototype. This version improved the user journey and included the double opt-in feature, although it did not encompass all the elements we had initially desired.
The results
Three fully accessible Government services were delivered within a short period.