The problem: the limitations for adding locations to services
We identified 2 issues with the way locations were added on an earlier version of Manage family support services (Manage).
Firstly, local authority (LA) and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisation account managers only had the option to add family hubs. These would appear as their own listings in the directory (Find support for your family), rather than being locations that could be associated with services. The idea behind this had been that users could find family hubs where support services were run. However, through research we identified that organisations often run support services from locations that are not family hubs.
Secondly, user research also showed that LAs and VCS organisations can run the same service from multiple locations or run multiple services from the same location.
However, the only option available in the previous version of Manage was to create a new individual service for each different address. This would create a lot of unnecessary work and make services harder to search for end users.
A rejected solution: copying services
To solve these problems, we first looked at copying a service’s details at the end of a journey and allowing users to change the address. This would save time for the users adding services but would not solve the problem of making it harder for end users to search for services. We needed another way for LA and VCS users to add locations for services.
The start of a solution: using data and managing locations
The previous journey for adding locations was designed before the family hubs project decided to start using the Open Referral (OR) data standard. The way data is stored in OR provides the option of a 'locations table’, meaning locations can be added and stored separately to services. Along with the previous user research, this gave us the idea to create a locations section on Manage. This would allow users to add and manage various types of locations, without having to add a new service. This would also offer the ability to add multiple locations to a single service.
New locations page
We designed a locations page that shows a list of all the existing locations that have been added within the LA area. There is then a filter to allow users to search for the location and filter by family hubs. Users can add to this list using the add a new location link at the top of the page which takes them into a form. We decided to put this link at the top of the list of locations as it will make users look at their existing locations before adding another one. We hope this will help reduce the chance of duplicate locations being added to the service while we are still using manual address entry.
Add a new location form
We simplified the form to capture the information we require for the minimum viable product (MVP). We will then iterate the form as we learn more about user needs and behaviour based on its use. The form to add a new location has three question pages.
Address page
On the address page we are using the GOV.UK address pattern for users to add an address of a location for MVP. We added an optional building name field, which allows uses to capture any specific name for their location, for example the family hub name. This will also hopefully mean locations are easier to search – something we will test further.
Family hub page
On the family hub question page, we added a simple GOV.UK radio button question to ask if the location is a family hub. From speaking to LA account managers, we understood it was valuable for them to identify family hubs as a type of location. They will now be able to do this using a filter on the locations page.
More details page
The more details page is the final page of this journey and allows users to provide us with any other important information that they may not have captured whilst completing the form. We have used a text area with a GOV.UK character count to allow users to enter free text. We plan to learn from what the users put in this section and use this information to improve the form in future iterations.