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Updating the User Researcher role in the Capability Framework

Blocks spelling the word skill. A column chart above the blocks illustrating the growth of skills over time

Updating the User Researcher role in the Capability Framework

Those of you with eagle eyes will have noticed the ’user researcher’ role in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework, published by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), has recently been updated. This blog post shares some of the background and thinking behind the changes, and highlights some of the things it means for user researchers working in government.

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How to be a better user researcher: shadow 2 hours every 6 weeks

Posted by: Leisa Reichelt, Posted on: 28 August 2014 - Categories: Team sport
Exposure hours: 2 hours 6 weeks

User research may be a team sport, but it’s not uncommon to be the only user researcher in your team.

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Using prototypes in user research

Posted by: Katherine Alsop, Posted on: 27 August 2014 - Categories: Agile, Tips and techniques
GOV.UK paper prototype

In this post, I’ll share how we’ve been using and building prototypes in user research to inform the development of digital services.

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Including users with low digital skills in user research

Posted by: John Waterworth, Posted on: 20 August 2014 - Categories: Digital inclusion, Tips and techniques
Digital inclusion scale showing 14% and 7% split.

The digital inclusion team at GDS recently published the digital inclusion scale.

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Changing the game: the participant researcher

Posted by: Jude Rattle, Posted on: 13 August 2014 - Categories: Tips and techniques
Popup research

Though I'm careful about it, setting the scene has always been something I've found really helpful when doing user research - I ask a participant to imagine they’re in a particular situation and have a particular need.

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Have you had your recommended dose of research?

Posted by: Dipa Shah, Posted on: 6 August 2014 - Categories: Team sport
GDS poster with the statement, user research is a team sport.

We have a well-loved mantra: research is a team sport. It’s not just about embedding a user researcher in the team to report back on what the user said, it’s about the team participating and collaborating with the researcher.

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Reversing a circle of mistrust

Posted by: Ben Holliday, Posted on: 30 July 2014 - Categories: Case studies
A drawing depicting a circle of mistrust

I’m working on Apply for Carer’s Allowance, 1 of 25 exemplar services we’re building as part of Digital Transformation.

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Tales from a rural user researcher

Posted by: Cathy Booth, Posted on: 23 July 2014 - Categories: Research stories
Picture of a bull staring the CAP research team down

We had just travelled up a long, deeply potholed dirt track, ominously called ‘unnamed road’ on the GPS and were now looking for ‘Three Chimney farmhouse’. 

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Desk chair and eye tracker combinations: valid concern or wild goose chase?

Posted by: Kate Towsey, Posted on: 17 July 2014 - Categories: User research infrastructure, User research lab

We originally published this blog post about 4 months ago on a makeshift Tumblr, which we used to journal the building of our lab.

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From chickens to pigs

Posted by: John Waterworth, Posted on: 15 July 2014 - Categories: Ethos, Team sport
a curious pig

Have you heard the story about the chicken and the pig? The chicken is having a meal in a restaurant with her friend, the pig. "We can cook better food than this," she says, "we should open our own restaurant." …

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What the user research team’s been doing this week

Posted by: Leisa Reichelt, Posted on: 11 July 2014 - Categories: Week notes

It's been another busy week of user research. Here are some of the highlights.

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User research in government

This blog showcases the projects user researchers are working on across government in the UK.

It's what we're learning and thinking about and a place for us to share case studies and project updates.

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Government Service Design Manual: resources for user researchers

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