Why we looked at tone of voice
During alpha, our research showed that early years teachers often feel undervalued and overlooked. They felt that other teachers (for example school teachers) were recognised for their skills in education more than early years teachers. While the policy intent included a financial payment, teachers told us that money would be helpful, but they also wanted their work, expertise and contribution to be recognised.
User research also showed that the service might seem like a scam to some users. The service also asks for bank details to pay teachers, so we needed to rely heavily on GDS style to increase trust in the service. If the service and comms sound too familiar and unlike the department, it might increase distrust and make the users think it is a phishing scam.
This insight shaped our content design approach. We needed a tone of voice that balanced these two needs. It needed to:
- reduce uncertainty
- increase trust
- reflect teachers’ emotional needs
- use language they naturally use
- align with the policy intent to value early years teachers
What we learned in alpha
Through interviews, prototype testing and language exploration, we found that the tone of voice was received well by teachers. We still found that users might be sceptical about the service. Because we ask for bank details, we needed to give users clear ways to check the service is real.
We include a dedicated support email address with a recognisable GOV.UK domain so users can contact us if they’re unsure. When we move to public beta, the service will be linked from a published GOV.UK guidance page, which should give users much more confidence that the service is legitimate.
Naming workshop: choosing the service name
To build on this insight, we ran a structured naming session with the multidisciplinary team. We explored options including:
- Claim early years teacher incentive payments
- Register for early years teacher payment scheme
- Accept an early years teacher payment
- Teacher payments
- Get an early years teacher payment
We evaluated each against:
- user research findings
- policy intent
- clarity and accuracy
- GOV.UK style
- emotional resonance
- risk of misinterpretation
The team voted, and Claim an early years teacher recognition payment was our choice to run with during private beta.
This decision became a cornerstone of the service’s identity.