Content designer: Ivy Halstead-Dawber
Interaction designer: Steve O'Connor
In the alpha phase of the project, there was a recognised user need for access to relevant support and guidance. Following this, as part of the initial launch of DfE Connect, we've created a support page so we can start to meet this need.
The aim of the support page is to allow users to view resources and support content that can help them with the tasks currently included in DfE Connect. This is mostly financial at this point of the service.
Finding the right resources
We worked with subject matter experts (SMEs) in the department to pinpoint some of the most important and valuable resources for school business professionals (SBPs).
Our SMEs also identified some services across DfE that might help SBPs carry out their tasks or help them make financial decisions related to their tasks.
We decided at this point to only add guidance and support that applies to a broad range of the tasks on DfE Connect. This is because we're looking to redesign some of the task content so that all the support and mandatory guidance is listed directly with the relevant tasks rather than in a separate journey.
We also chose to order the links alphabetically so that we don't suggest specific guidance is more or less important.
Grouping using sections and headings
Once again, looking at the alpha phase user research, it showed us how important it was for our users to know what guidance is mandatory or lawful to comply with and what guidance is intended as best practice or advice. To reflect this, we've grouped the resources into sections using headings 'statutory guidance' and 'advice and support'.
We named the section with specific services 'data and insights' as user research has shown that our users are not familiar with what we mean by 'a service'. This highlights another difference in how people within DfE talk about the department and how our users talk about the department. 'Data and insights' also better explains what users can gain or get our of accessing these services.
Card design
The team in the alpha phase iterated on the layout for support. One of their designs used cards which users reacted favourably to. At that time there was no single agreed card design in any government department's design system, so they worked using a design that had been created and tested in another service.
Since then, the DfE Design Ops team has worked to create a single card design for all DfE services. Therefore we have used the latest iteration of that component.
Future learning
We're going to test this page with users to learn more about the type of guidance and support they need for completing their mandatory tasks on DfE Connect.
As we develop the product, those needs will change and so this page will also change to meet the revised user needs.