Jul 31
At GDS we iterate. One of the key contributions to that iteration is the post change checking to make sure that the users needs truly have been met and that the rules of the game have not changed. Peter Jordan, Product Analytics Lead unravels the Bank Holiday story.
Youtube is the third biggest website in the world which means a massive potential audience, but only if you get your content right. Here, John Ploughman, Digital Communications Manager at the Driving Standards Agency explained how GDS values inspired a re-evaluation of their content, and the big difference it has made to their audience.
Jul 27
I was recently invited to give a short talk at Agile Teacamp, an event where people come to learn about and share their experiences with agile software development. They’re friendly and informal events held over a cup of tea in a department store cafe. I offered to share some things I’ve been learning and thinking about recently while doing product management at GDS.
Every year, central and local government serve citizens and businesses through one and a half billion transactions.
At GDS we have weekly show and tell sessions where new prototypes and iterations of work are shown. These always focus on user need. A few weeks ago, Tom Loosemore showed us a prototype of a tweaked online tax disc application process and spoke about the brilliant work done by Carolyn Williams, Head of Electronic Customer Services, Electronic Vehicle Licensing at the DVLA. Here Carolyn explains why her MBE, while special, is not the thing she is most proud of and how there’s never a dull moment running DVLA’s digital services – amongst them the government’s flagship digital service.
Last Thursday the second iteration of a tool to allow comments on Bills passing through the House of Commons process went live. Steph Gray from Helpful Technology explains why a second iteration was needed and how putting users needs first shaped his approach.
After we launched the iteration of GOV.UK two weeks ago we received a lot of feedback via Twitter and email regarding the changes we had made to the visual design of the site. Alex Torrance, User Experience Designer at GDS explains how that feedback is being used to shape a homepage that meets the users needs.
We started using a new font on GOV.UK last week, and received feedback that it wasn’t working in everyones browsers. Creative lead Chris Heathcote details the changes the team has made to make sure the font works well for everyone.
To coincide with the recent release of the next iteration of GOV.UK, Louise Kidney, Digital Engagement Lead explains why we are changing the name of our Twitter account and what you can expect to see from the renamed @GDSTeam Twitter account.
At GDS we’re using search data to inform every aspect of content production. It’s no dry data analysis though, search logs reveal surprising insights about what people really want. Lana Gibson, Product Analyst at GDS, explains how understanding search behaviour is the root of all good content, and how our search-based approach helps people find trusted government information over content that doesn’t deliver.
