Unboxed were tasked with undertaking technical discoveries, user research and iterative prototyping, to:
11 million users
each week on GOV.UK
12 week discovery
from hypothesis to tested prototype
Millions of people use online services as their main interaction with the UK government through the GOV.UK website. A small number of government apps already exist, such as the HMRC app and the ID check app that allows users to prove their identity online. The Government Digital Service (GDS) have an ambition to grow the GOV.UK presence to ensure people are getting better outcomes from government across a wider range of formats and channels, including an app.
GOV.UK is recognised internationally for its user-centred, accessible approach to engaging people with digital services.
Governments around the world have looked to GOV.UK for inspiration as they move towards modern, digital government.
And GOV.UK is constantly and rapidly evolving to meet the needs of the population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 700,000 questions were submitted through gov.uk/ask for the COVID-19 press conferences; and a postcode checker, which allowed people to find lockdown rules in their area, received 32 million unique page views.
GDS are exploring how app technology could make it easier for the users to get quicker and easier access to information and services. In particular, they wanted to understand how the features and functionality of an app could bring benefits that are not available in the web experience, and how an app could enable more personalised, proactive interactions with the government.
We have worked with the GOV.UK Design System and the GOV.UK Prototype Kiton many digital transformation projects within the public sector. Our designers and developers are familiar with the GOV.UK Service Standard and already have a strong understanding of content patterns, components and the building blocks of the GOV.UK user experience.
From project inception, we worked as a single team with GDS, embedding our designers in user research teams to deliver two rounds of user research to rigorous GDS standards.
One of the challenges of working on a national government service is the sheer scale of the user base. An early prioritisation workshop helped us identify specific life journeys where we could test our hypothesis that an app would enable a more personalised and effective user experience.
We started with a series of home visits to people expecting a baby or with young children, who were experiencing financial difficulties. This is a period of life when someone may have multiple interactions with public services and where people can benefit most from government support. Using low fidelity prototypes, we explored users’ perceptions of personalised features such as push notifications and a user dashboard, as well as gaining insights around their behaviours around managing money and accessing benefits.
At the same time, we carried out a technical discovery to understand the ‘building blocks’ for a GOV.UK app. These are a series of components that a GOV.UK app would require to deliver a combination of native and web-based content and transactions. We looked at:
As we learnt more about each of these building blocks, we iterated our prototypes to test across common transactions.
We also engaged with multiple research and development teams working across GDS to draw on learning from projects like One Login for Government.
Through a series of collaborative workshops and ideation sessions, we developed a further set of prototypes for testing to bring together our technical and user insights. Our aim in this round was to test the components that a GOV.UK app would need to serve a combination of native and web-based content and transactions.
Working closely with our Product Owner, user researchers and content design lead, we developed a set of working design principles for GOV.UK app. These centred on utility, ease of use and personalisation.
We wanted to discover a useful starting point for a GOV.UK app. Rapid prototyping - using simple mock ups and then more refined, clickable prototypes - allowed us to get something tangible into the hands of users. Enabling users to interact with an interface gave us valuable insight very quickly and meant we could observe instant emotional and physical responses.
Our work informed a vision for a GOV.UK app that will create an ongoing relationship between users and government services by meeting the users where they are and making it easier to do the things they need to do with the government.
Our key findings informed our principles of utility, personalisation and ease of use:
People find it useful to see relevant personal information that the government holds on them in one place.
Many one-off transactions are easily completed using the GOV.UK website. But an app could enhance the user experience for:
People find it useful to receive relevant, actionable and timely notifications to help them find out what to do, how and when to do it.
Many GOV.UK services require the user to provide documentation to prove their identity or entitlement, such as ‘applying for child benefit’ or ‘registering to vote’. Technology and user expectations around digital storage are changing rapidly and represent an opportunity to improve many user journeys.
Many GOV.UK services require the user to provide documentation to prove their identity or entitlement, such as ‘applying for child benefit’ or ‘registering to vote’. Technology and user expectations around digital wallets are changing rapidly and represent an opportunity to improve many user journeys.
A GOV.UK app needs to work with a wide range of devices. It needs to be compatible with older handsets while making use of the most up to date tech.
We collaborated with multiple teams across GDS throughout the project.
“by providing a more proactive, interactive and relevant GOV.UK user experience, we can help people to get the right support from government, and help government to communicate and deliver services to people.”
We worked with multiple teams across GDS throughout the project and we knew that implementing an app of this scale will need extensive cross-government collaboration, so it was vital to bring other teams on the journey with us.
This collaborative focus and sharing our thinking meant that our Product Owner could immediately start working on the next phase of the project with confidence. GDS senior leadership were able to take our findings and recommendations into the next phase of thinking for a GOV.UK app and where it would be essential to get input from stakeholders.
If you're exploring innovative ways to enhance user experience and engagement, we can help bring your ideas to life. Contact us to learn how our user-centered approach and rapid prototyping can support your digital transformation journey.