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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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22 off-topic books all user researchers should read

Posted by: Martha Edwards, Posted on: 3 February 2017 - Categories: Ethos
A row of books on a shelf

Being a good user researcher involves thinking about a variety of subjects, like psychology, business, communication and science. Here's a list of books to help you do that.

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Three ways we’ll be supporting the user research community in 2017

Posted by: John Waterworth, Posted on: 19 January 2017 - Categories: Ethos, News, Service Assessment, Service manual
Understanding the problem provides a map to guide you through rocky terrain

An important part of my job is supporting user researchers across government. This year GDS will be introducing: new guidance and resources, a new job family and an improved assurance process.

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There is a whole world of users out there just waiting to be discovered

Posted by: David McCrae, Posted on: 11 January 2017 - Categories: Case studies
An image with text saying users pointing at a world map

We wanted to understand what international users thought about GOV.UK. This is how we carried out user research with this group.

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Researching with webchat advisers and managers

Posted by: Emma Graham, Posted on: 20 December 2016 - Categories: Case studies, Tips and techniques
A webchat adviser sits at their desk looking at a computer monitor, reading from a word document. The text on the monitor is blurred and not legible.

Recently, we blogged about our research on how users feel about webchat, and the way we used roleplay to test human interactions in a webchat. Our third piece of research took us out of the lab.

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Webchat role play

Posted by: Emma Graham, Posted on: 9 December 2016 - Categories: Case studies, Tips and techniques, User research lab
A screenshot of a webchat process for advisers and potential adviser responses. The text reads: Adviser process: Greet user / ask what their problem is Ask for car reg Ask for date they want to pay for Ask for their credit card number Ask for their expiry date Ask for their security code Try to process the transaction Process this - it works! Give them a transaction reference Close the chat Wait 10-20 seconds before responding each time Make sure you close the chat at the end! Potential adviser responses: [Hi you’re chatting with xxxxx. What can I do for you today?] (prefilled) OK. I can help. What’s your car registration? What date do you want to pay for? That will cost £2.50. Can I take a credit card number? And the card’s expiry date? And the security code - the last 3 digits on the back of the card? Thanks. Let me process this now. The transaction has been processed. Your reference number is 8QU45337.

In our recent webchat alpha we looked at whether there are common webchat needs across government. We also investigated what opportunities there might be to meet those needs in a more consistent way. This involved lots of user research including …

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The pluses and pitfalls of streaming user research

Posted by: katievalentine, Posted on: 5 December 2016 - Categories: Tips and techniques, User research infrastructure

Hello, I’m a user researcher on the GOV.UK Notify team. For the past couple of months I have been doing research with developers to see how easy it is to integrate Notify with their services, and streaming the sessions back …

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Breaking user journeys to research webchat

Posted by: Emma Graham, Posted on: 28 November 2016 - Categories: Case studies, Tips and techniques

In our recent webchat alpha, we looked at whether there are common webchat needs across government, and what opportunities there might be to meet those needs in a more consistent way.

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Practice makes perfect: evolving our user research for GOV.UK

Posted by: Emma Maxim, Posted on: 20 October 2016 - Categories: Case studies, Tips and techniques
GDS user researchers analysing research data

The GOV.UK Finding Things team is committed to improving the navigation across GOV.UK. We’ve already created a user-centered single taxonomy and improved our navigation design patterns.

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We’re (still) looking for a Head of User Research

Posted by: John Waterworth, Posted on: 18 October 2016 - Categories: Jobs
Sticker sheet showing "Users First"

We’re re-opening our search for a Head of User Research at GDS. This is a fantastic opportunity to build the government’s user research capability, and help make government services work well for all the people who need and use them.

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Don’t forget! 2 hours every 6 weeks

Posted by: Katie Taylor, Posted on: 29 September 2016 - Categories: Conferences and events, Ethos, Tips and techniques

This week I visited the Swiss government to talk about how we do user research for GOV.UK. And to explain how we foster a user-centred culture in GDS and across government by getting everyone involved in user research.

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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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