Department for Education
Mixed methods Discovery phase of a service replacement project for the UK government.
Role: UX Researcher/Lead
Background
Key to Success was a service used by over 60,000 school staff and local authorities in the UK. It provided secure access to student grades and important subsidies such as Free School Meals.
The service was reaching the end of its technical life, so the Department for Education needed to complete a total re-platforming, or else decommission it. As with all UK government services, we followed the GDS agile delivery process.
Research questions
1
Viability
Is this a necessary service?
2
Use cases
What do people use Key to Success for?
3
Users
Who are the main users of Key to Success?
4
User needs
What are the needs of Key to Success users?
5
Pain points
What, if any, are the current issues with the system?
Approach
The project followed the Government Digital Service (GDS) Discovery phase, with the primary objective of understanding the problem space before defining solutions.
The focus was on gathering evidence through research, stakeholder engagement, and analysis. I collaborated with stakeholders, reviewed analytics, and conducted extensive primary user research.
Insights were synthesised in a variety of artefacts including personas, anti-personas, user needs, user stories and a research report.
Summary of interviewees
Activities
Survey
Gathered quantitative insights from 737 users to inform personas and interview recruitment.
Interviews
Gathered qualitative insights through in-depth interviews with 30 users and 7 staff.
Analytics
Analysed 2 years of tool usage data to identify opportunities for consolidation and pruning.
Stakeholder workshop
Facilitated an in-person workshop with the technical team (secondary users of the tool).
Personas
Created 7 personas representing diverse user needs and behaviours, plus 2 anti-personas with undesirable behaviours.
User stories
Translated research insights into user stories capturing key requirements for the future service.
Findings log
Synthesised Discovery findings into a structured log, bringing together insights from multiple research methods.
Findings report
Produced a comprehensive report summarising key findings, themes, and recommendations, brought to life with quotes.
Presentation
Presented Discovery findings to 30+ stakeholders at the Department for Education office.
Outcomes
The Discovery answered all of the research questions set out by GDS, building a clear evidence base around user groups and user needs, and the existing service landscape.
I delivered a complete set of research outputs and artefacts, packaged and ready to support progression into Alpha.
The work also validated the continued need for a service in this space, providing the evidence needed to justify further investment and development. Years later, the service has been successfully replaced by the Get Information About Pupil (GIAP) service.