Document stages
First, we needed to clearly understand the steps and stages a legal document task went through.
We knew that not all documents were used in every project. There are a couple of core documents that every project must use, but the rest depend entirely on the school's circumstances.
Through the research and informal conversations with caseworkers, we established a clear list of documents, what's always required, what's options and what stages they go through.
There are several stages in a document's development through a conversion project.
Documents can be:
- Received by the caseworker
- Cleared by the caseworker
- Cleared by the legal advisers office
- Signed by the school, trust or their solicitors
- Saved to SharePoint
- Signed and sealed by the Secretary of State or their representative
- Redacted by the caseworker
- Uploaded to GOV.UK
Not all documents go through all these stages or statuses.
Through research, we were able to compile a table that shows which documents go through which stages.
How we're showing progress
We're showing progress in two ways.
Firstly, through the status tags. We currently use:
- Not started
- In progress
- Complete
Secondly, we can show project progress through the language we use alongside the task action checkboxes.
With a combination of clear language and short descriptions that use words the caseworkers are familiar with to describe the status or action next to the checkbox, and the interactive element of the checkbox used to tick the action off as done or not done, we expect that the user will be able to quickly establish the status and progress of a document and the tasks and actions related to it.
What we'll do next
We need to test that this design works and users are able to understand project and task progress.
To bring our status tags in line with other products in the division, we need to update complete to completed.
We're also aware that as we learn more about the process, there may be a need for further status tags to help differentiate more clearly and specifically. We need to learn more about this.