We’ve recently improved our joint scoping process with Plan Tech to capture the user needs and policy intentions for any given standard topic. We’ve also got to grips with our near existential crisis around what a standard is and isn’t.
But in our end-to-end process, we were still missing key policy and subject matter expert (SME) checks in the steps immediately after joint scoping — when we sort through the scoping boards, creating themes for our initial standard titles and draft outlines of the content ready for pair writing.
Why we needed the checks
Our goals in adding the checks were to:
- make it as easy as possible for content designers to get from scoping to pair writing, in a consistent way
- make sure we stayed focused on balancing user needs with policy intent and SME factual detail
How we added in policy and SME checks
We iterated the process after sorting through the scoping information by:
- creating bulleted lists and outlines of what we aim to cover in each standard — showing how it ties back to the original policy intent and what factual points will be covered
- sharing the titles and outlines with policy and SMEs
- having a focused follow up session with policy and SMEs to talk through the changes, before agreeing to begin pair writing
The results
We have improved the process so that:
- policy intentions and SME agreement are now built into every step leading up to pair writing
- it helps the content designers stay focused on the purpose of each standard they are writing
Next steps
We will continue to iterate the process by looking at:
- step-by-step guidance for creating standards from scoping through to publishing
- guidance on the format and what to include in each part of a standard
- ways of working to build a joint understanding and knowledge sharing across the content team — such as group 2i sessions on standards or Plan Tech content