Procurement details: RM1043.8-1-ICO User Research and User Centred Design

• Summary of work:

  The ICO’s User Centred Design (UCD) Team are looking for a supplier who can undertake a wide range of research and design activities to support them in the development of better user experience (UX), user interfaces (UI) and service design for the ICO’s website and digital services.

• Where the supplied staff will work:

  No specific location (for example they can work remotely)

• Why the work is being done:

  The ICO website is visited over 5 million times a year and has a large amount of content and services. It is one of the most direct and well engaged with tools that the ICO have for communicating with various stakeholders. There is a need to constantly develop and evolve the content and functionality of the website to ensure it meets the needs of users, in the short and long term and these changes need to be informed by solid user research and intel. All changes must be informed by solid user research. The ICO want to ensure it designs new products and services for internal users that promotes increased levels of productivity and inclusivity and put the end user and their needs at the heart of any changes within the organisation. The ICO currently has a User Centred Design Team. The team are looking for a supplier to help provide specialist advice and guidance and to support improvements to the quality of UCD deliverables, so they can meet the requirements of their stakeholders in a more proactive and agile manner.

• The business problem:

  The UCD team at the ICO are given outcomes to achieve for users. The team want to ensure these outcomes are delivered in a proactive and agile way, taking a user centred design approach. The supplier should enable and support this delivery, ensuring that decisions about what, how and when the ICO designs solutions for users are made based on user research and insight not on assumption. Any products and services designed should addresses clear user needs that have a measurable impact on a user group and should also be designed in ways that are inclusive by default. Accessible and equitable service design is a high priority.

• User type:

  Members of the public

• Definition:

  The ICO is a cross-sector regulator which serves all UK citizens, therefore our user base is large and must consider universal barriers, inclusivity and accessibility in design. Our three key user groups are members of the public, representatives of organisations and our own internal staff/ colleagues. These user groups can be broken down further when focussing on specific products or services. Here are some examples of our main users and some specific products or services they may use: Members of the public As a citizen, I need to understand my information rights (eg access to my data, access to official information, right to complain etc), so that I can exercise my information rights. As a citizen, I need to be able to easily follow and understand an online complaint journey, so that I can tell the ICO about how my data has been incorrectly used by an organisation and they can investigate my complaint.

• User type:

  Representatives of organisations

• Definition:

  As a data controller, I need to understand and meet my information rights obligations, so that I can comply with the law and be seen as a good and trustworthy organisation by my customers/stakeholders. As a data controller, I need to know whether I need to pay a data protection fee, how much it is and how to pay so that I can comply with the law.

• User type:

  Internal staff

• Definition:

  As a creator of digital services at the ICO, I need to understand user needs of people who will use my service, so that I can use data and insights to inform the design of new products or changes to existing products. As a member of staff at the ICO, I need products, services and systems that I use to complete my tasks to be designed around my user needs, so that I have access to standout digital services that enable me to be productive in my role.

• Any pre-market engagement done:

  Not applicable. No pre-market engagement has taken place.

• Work done so far:

  Not applicable.

• Which phase the project is in:

  Live

• Existing team:

  The existing team consists of a Senior User Centred Design Manager and two User Centred Design Leads together with service owners and product owners.

• Address where the work will be done:

  We expect the work will be completed remotely, and/or at the supplier's user research lab. We do not require the supplier to carry out work at the ICO's offices.

• Working arrangements:

  We see this as a service that can be delivered remotely therefore, not expecting or accepting any expenses in relation to this delivery. Our office ours are 9-5 Monday to Friday. We need a supplier who is able to carry out the research remotely; the supplier should also be able to provide and conduct user research in a lab environment that would also allow ICO staff to observe the research. There is no requirement for the supplier to work in the ICO offices. There may be times for on-site attendance in exceptional circumstances.

• Security and vetting requirements:

  Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

• More information about the Security requirements:

  BPSS or similar. Willingness to undertake an ICO security assessment which is an independent validation of your technical controls - if required.

• Latest start date:

  1 October 2024

• Contract length:

  2 years 0 months 0 days

• Optional extension:

  1 years 0 months 0 days

• special term or condition:

  Standard Framework and Call Off Terms and Conditions. All suppliers are obliged to provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the processing meets the requirements of UK-GDPR and ensures the protection of the rights of data subjects.

• Indicative maximum:

  £80000

• Indicative minimum:

  £40000

• Further information:

  Year 1 budget: £40,000 including VAT (around 33,300 excl VAT) Year 2 budget: £40,000 including VAT (around 33,300 excl VAT)

• Contracted out service or supply of resource?:

  Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply

• How many suppliers to evaluate:

  4

• Technical Competence:

  60%

• Cultural fit:

  10%

• Social values:

  10%

• Price:

  20%

• Essential skills and experience:

  10%

• Nice-to-have skills and experience:

  5%

• Technical questions:

  85%

• Description:

  Experience of designing new services or improving existing services.

• Weighting:

  15%

• Description:

  Experience recruiting participants for research and testing from a wide range of demographics including those with accessibility requirements and from hard-to-reach demographics (e.g. those who are less digitally literate, from rural areas, or minority or vulnerable populations) and ability to conduct in person lab based user research.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Extensive experience producing user centred design deliverables such as user personas, service or user journey maps service blueprints and wireframes.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Extensive experience in UX and UI, including ability to produce low and high-fidelity prototypes of UX designs or UI components for testing.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Extensive experience analysing and synthesising data from user research and testing and writing actionable recommendation reports.

• Weighting:

  10%

• Description:

  Experience of advocating for inclusive practices and helping teams design and deliver accessible services that work for all users and experience working with organisations who must adhere to the accessibility regulations.

• Weighting:

  15%

• Description:

  Experience of working with public sector organisations

• Weighting:

  50%

• Description:

  Experience adhering to the government service standards.

• Weighting:

  50%

• Question:

  Give an example of an end-to-end service design project where you took a user centred approach.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Share all user research methodologies you have available and previous examples or evidence of their applied usage within projects, highlighting where each method has been used to deliver a user centred outcome.

• Weighting:

  30%

• Question:

  Share examples or evidence of when you’ve worked in a collaborative and transparent way with another organisation or team to deliver a service design project.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  How do you ensure your service designs are as accessible and inclusive as possible? Share examples and evidence.

• Weighting:

  30%

• Question:

  Be accountable and take responsibility for their work.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Transparent and collaborative when making decisions.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Be comfortable standing up for their discipline.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Ability to share knowledge and upskill ICO staff.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Be comfortable and adaptable speaking to non-technical user base.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  What action do you take to support health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health for your staff and or the wider community.

• Weighting:

  100%

• Pricing model:

  Capped time and materials

• Additional assessment methods:

  None

• Question and answer session details:

  Not applicable

• Level:

  Not met

• Score:

  0

• Description:

  The response does not meet any of the requirements or no response has been provided. An unacceptable and / or non-compliant response with serious reservations, demonstrating no understanding of the requirement.

• Level:

  Partially met

• Score:

  1

• Description:

  The response has met some, but not all elements of the requirement, which poses risk that the proposal will not meet the deliverables required. The response does not demonstrate a full understanding of the requirement posing major concerns.

• Level:

  Met

• Score:

  2

• Description:

  The response is acceptable and meets all the basic requirements. However, the response is not sufficiently detailed to minimise risk and / or the proposed approach may require additional support (in addition to that outlined in the Statement of Requirements) from the Contracting Authority to meet its deliverables.

• Level:

  Exceeded

• Score:

  3

• Description:

  The response exceeds requirements, providing detail that minimises risks to delivery. The response is comprehensive and unambiguous, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the requirements and providing details of how the requirement will be met in full without additional support from the Contracting Authority, other than that outlined within the Statement of Requirements.

• Publication of stage 1:

  09/08/2024

• Clarification period closes:

  15/08/2024 16:00

• Deadline for suppliers to submit their stage 1 responses:

  23/08/2024 16:00

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