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Procurement details: Provision of User Research Participants

3

Applications submitted

£

Indicative Budget

Not specified

Off-payroll status

30 March 2023

Application Closing Date

1. Context and requirements

• About adding context and requirements:

  test

• How often research will happen:

  It is anticipated research will be undertaken in line with two weekly project sprint cycles, however this may be changed dependent upon the requirements of the IPO's Transformation Programme.

• Evening or weekend research:

  Weekday evenings

• Research location:

  The majority of users will be participating in a remote setting, there may however be some flexibility to undertake in-person research if the participant is local to the IPO's office. This is Concept House, Newport, Wales, NP10 8QQ. The same flexibility could be applied if there are specific accessibility needs requiring that the research must be undertaken in-person.

• Access restrictions at location:

  In the event research is undertaken at the IPO's office at Concept House, this is wheelchair accessible. It is anticipated however that the significant majority of research will be undertaken remotely.

• Description of your participants:

  The majority of users will need to meet the following requirements (for different user profiles which will be included in the onboarding brief): -Owns or represents (in a formal or informal way) someone who owns Intellectual Property (IP), such as patents, trade marks or designs. -Is intending to apply for IP rights protection in the future -Have an interest in the concept of IP -Has applied for IP in the past but has been unsuccessful -Manages a portfolio of IP for their employer -Searches for IP - has challenged or been challenged (infringement)

• Assisted digital and accessibility requirements:

  A portion of users recruited should have either low digital skills or accessibility requirements. The recruiter should, over the contract term, be able to recruit the full range of users with accessibility requirements (visual, hearing, cognitive, mobility, etc). It may be necessary to recruit multiple users with low digital skill or accessibility needs within one round.

• Research plan:

  The Contract will cover multiple research plans to span various project workstreams. As Phase 2 is currently in the planning phase, it is not possible to lay out an accurate timeline of research activities for each workstream. As such, it is to be expected that research plans will change at short notice; suppliers should be comfortable with a flexible approach to recruitment, and prepared to recruit participants at relatively short notice.

• Are you prepared to show your budget details?:

  No

• Summary of work:

  Continuing the work done in Phase 1 of the Intellectual Property Office's One IPO Transformation Programme to create a single, integrated One IPO system for all our registered Intellectual Property (IP) rights, One IPO Transformation is entering Phase 2 which will focus on digitising our trade mark and design services. Within Phase 2, various workstreams will be undertaking multiple rounds of user research to assist with the development of this new digital service. This is a call-off contract to recruit participants from the profiles detailed to attend user research sessions with the Intellectual Property Office and have their chance to shape the future of our digital services.

• Where the research will take place:

  London

• Where the research will take place:

  South West England

• Where the research will take place:

  Wales

• Number of research rounds:

  As this is a call-off contract there will not be a set number of research rounds. The service will be required over the duration of the contract to satisfy the requirements of the IPO's Transformation Programme.

• Number of participants per round:

  The size of rounds will vary depending upon the research projects, however most are expected to involve between 6 - 8 participants.

• Research dates:

  The research will be undertaken across the duration of the contract. The contract is expected to commence on the 01st June 2023 for an initial duration of 2 years.

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• About assessment criteria:

  test

• Describe the question and answer session:

  The IPO will not undertake a question and answer event in relation to this requirement. We do encourage Suppliers to submit clarification questions via the Contract Award Service portal however. The IPO will endeavour to answer these questions within 24 hours of receipt.

• Create your scoring criteria:

  3

• How many suppliers to evaluate:

  3

• Technical competence:

  30

• Availability:

  30

• Social value:

  10

• Price:

  30

• Essential skills and experience:

  25

• Nice-to-have skills and experience (optional):

  0

• Technical questions:

  75

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of successfully recruiting participants within a short deadline, with a minimal no-show ratio. Please include experience from within the past 3 years.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  25

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of sourcing niche participants in categories relating to Intellectual Property.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  15

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of responding to new briefs and additional requirements of participants at short-notice.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  10

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Demonstrate how you would recruit participants within a two-week sprint cycle; Provide an outline of rescheduling fees and processes

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  15

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience where you have fulfilled user participant requirements where all participants met the brief. Experience related to Intellectual Property would be preferable but not essential. Please include experience from within the last 3 years.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  15

• Describe the essential skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of managing recruitment for multiple research projects with multiple researchers. Please include experience from within the last 3 years.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  20

• Describe the nice-to-have skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of using novel and unorthodox methods of recruitment to reach niche participants.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  50

• Describe the nice-to-have skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of shifting focus to different participant segments in each round of recruitment (I.e. not recruiting the same profiles twice). Please provide experience from within the last 3 years.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  40

• Describe the nice-to-have skill or experience:

  Please provide demonstrable experience of managing challenging participants and ensuring a safe working environment for your customer's researchers.

• Enter a weighting for this skill or experience in whole numbers, for example 30:

  10

• Explain the technical question:

  Please provide a detailed case study that demonstrates where you have undertaken similar work to that described in this requirement.

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  9

• Explain the technical question:

  Please provide a detailed case study where you recruited a niche participant base using novel and unorthodox recruitment methods.

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  4

• Explain the technical question:

  Please describe how will you recruit niche participants for IP related work?

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  15

• Explain the technical question:

  Please describe the strategy you would propose to use for managing a multiple research stream project for the IPO

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  12

• Explain the technical question:

  Please identify any risks you perceive with the IPO's approach to recruiting user research participants and how you would propose to mitigate these.

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  10

• Explain the technical question:

  Please describe your approach to delivery of the contract, and how you will ensure availability of suitable participants during the life of the contract. Suppliers should note that the IPO anticipates operating in regular 2-week sprint intervals.

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  25

• Explain the technical question:

  Please include your proposed service level agreements and key performance indicators that you would use to deliver this contract

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  17

• Explain the technical question:

  Please describe how you will provide suitable participants at short-notice for the duration of this of this contract

• Enter a weighting for this technical question in whole numbers, for example 30:

  8

• Explain the social value question:

  The IPO is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce. Please provide details of how you encourage equality, diversity, and inclusion in terms of representation and the ongoing professional development of your workforce?

• Enter a weighting for this question:

  100

• Additional assessment methods:

  Presentation

• Additional assessment methods:

  Interview

• Additional assessment methods:

  Case study

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• Publication of stage 1:

  March 16, 2023, 12:00 AM

• Clarification period closes:

  March 28, 2023, 12:00 PM

• Deadline for suppliers to submit their stage 1 responses:

  March 30, 2023, 3:00 PM

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Clarification questions and responses

There are no questions and clarifications relating to this opportunity.

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