Here are some of the things I learned over 3 fascinating days of user research training at GDS.
Category: User testing
Easy read content now available
What is easy read? Easy read is simplified information for adults with learning disabilities. This includes a huge range of different needs and abilities. GOV.UK encourages local authorities to provide easy read information, particularly for key stages and decisions in someone’s life. The information should be distilled to just the key elements. We have 12 … Continue reading Easy read content now available
Visit our beta!
We have launched a beta version of our new website. The beta includes: homepage (with limited functionality) bins and recycling council tax news Please take a look and let us know what you think. What is a beta? A beta is a great way to test our new website. It’s like a demo – it … Continue reading Visit our beta!
How the beta came to life
We began this blog not quite 2 years ago – in April 2015, to be exact – though the project had been going prior to this. We took a look at some of the work we did in 2015 in our end of year roundup post. We've come a long way in 2016. Here’s a … Continue reading How the beta came to life
Design testing
Last week we went out into key areas of the borough to ask members of the public what they thought of our initial website designs. We visited libraries, sports centres and shopping centres to find a range of people to talk to. We had flip charts with print outs and clipboards with questions; nothing hi-tech about … Continue reading Design testing
Wireframe User testing
Last week we held a user testing session on our initial website wireframes. With 10 participants at the session, we were able to test the wireframes across desktops, tablets and mobiles, giving us an insight into how the website would perform across all devices. The participants were recruited through our Open Learning Centre, and as … Continue reading Wireframe User testing
Homepage navigation survey: the results
Our recent homepage navigation survey produced some interesting results. In all, 281 people took part, with 201 participants completing all of the tasks. Whilst we are analysing these in our team, we thought it might be interesting to share what we learnt about our proposed navigation with you. We will take a look at the … Continue reading Homepage navigation survey: the results
Take our homepage navigation survey
We are pleased to have entered the next phase of our website redevelopment and are now testing the structure of our new homepage. We would love to have your feedback – if you have 5 minutes to spare, please help us by taking our homepage navigation survey. Thank you.
Lessons from a GDS service assessment
I spent much of yesterday at the Government Digital Service (GDS) in London observing a four hour(!) service assessment. Service assessments by the GDS currently take place at three occasions: at alpha, before beta, and before go live. You can see this full process outlined on the GDS service design manual. It's worth a read, even if you are … Continue reading Lessons from a GDS service assessment
Content navigation
As we get more involved in content creation, we are looking closely at how customers will navigate our site, and how we want to structure section content. After each workshop with a service team, we are going away and mapping out what we think is the best structure for the information required. Each section is being built into … Continue reading Content navigation
Bracknell Forest Digital Services 