Here at Service Transformation we’re excited to be working in partnership with Children's Families and Education on delivering a new and improved Local Offer. What is a Local Offer? Fair question, it was one of the first we had too! The Local Offer is a service which helps families support children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to access all different kinds of information, advice and support. One of the artefacts that make up the service ecosystem is the Local Offer website.
A small team within Service Transformation is supporting a 12 week (ish) Discovery into how we can help improve the website and supporting services around it. Some key areas we’re looking to cover in our discovery include:
- How can we make the information easier to understand for those who are not familiar with the SEND landscape?
- How can we build a directory of support services which enables families to find exactly what they are looking for?
- How can we make more families aware of the Local Offer so they can receive the right support?
- How can we make sure the website is continually updated to keep it being relevant and useful to its users and the circumstances they are in?
We’re going to be working with lots of people along the way, ranging from families, young people, professionals and service providers so we’re collating our week notes here to ensure we’re keeping everyone up to date with progress and working in the open.
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Week Note 19
Documenting findings
As we head into the Christmas break we've been documented findings both from the various research we've been doing with parents and conversations with professionals, so it's ready for the next stages of development in the new year.
Family Solutions
We spoke to comms colleagues who are currently working with Family Solutions. They helped us understand the service and the appropriate level of need to access them.
In search of baseline metrics
We've been documenting how we might measure a successful local offer. As part of this, we've looked at Google analytics data as well as some of the contact data from teams who support families.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel for previous updates on our work so far.
Week Note 18
Despite many of us being hit by winter colds and viruses we have still done some amazing work this week! We completed our 4th parent testing session, gained more valuable feedback from our professionals and are well on our way to determining if a smart answers support tool would confidently guide someone to their next steps.
Testing prototypes with parents
We have been testing with more parents this week who are helping us to validate the concept of a smart answers guide to help you through your journey. We have had some very valuable feedback about language, expectations and behaviours and are well on our way to designing our next iteration!
Presenting what we've done at LOLA
We joined the Local Offer Local Authority meetup to give a quick overview of the work we've been doing. It was interesting to hear from other authorities about the challenges they face, such as making their sites accessible.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Blog and Local Offer Stream Channel (accessible to ECC employees only) for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 17
This is what the team’s been up to this week:
Information architecture
Using the Treejack data (thank you to all that took part!) we identified categories that were working, and a few areas to tweak and improve. Having amended the structure we'll be running another Treejack live in the next show and tell.
User testing
Testing of the new design and smart answers feature has begun. We've been walking parents through the prototype and getting really useful feedback. This will continue in the coming weeks.
Spoke to SEND Ops about when people should speak to them
We've been speaking to various teams to understand when people should and should not be going to them first, to reduce redirects and make information clearer for parents. SEND Ops gave us useful insights on how things work for home school children.
Getting ready for procurement
We've been meeting with colleagues in ECC's procurement, finance and technology services teams to line things up for the procurement of a partner to build and host the new Local Offer site.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 16
This is what the team’s been up to this week:
Spoke to Social Care about when people should speak to them
We spoke to a few teams and found that we needed to understand more about when to send a family toward social care.
The main takeaway from this chat was that social care is a helpful place to send families who are in crisis. The family hub is then able to tell them which services are most suitable for them.
We need to consider how best to do this without adding demand to the social care's front door.
Smart answers prototype
We've been testing smart answers that guide families who are new to SEND to the right support for them. Thank you to those teams who have helped us shape this up. We'll test further with families in the coming sprint.
Information architecture
We've received around 15 responses so far. Once we have enough data we'll be able to analyse and improve our structure.
Writing a specification for procuring the next stage of work
We've drafted a procurement specification for delivering the new Local Offer. This has helped us to firm up exactly what we're looking to do and who we'll need to help. We'll continue working on this and aim to complete it in the next couple of weeks.
Getting involved in a cross-council local offer meeting
We're going to attend the LOLA meeting. This is where local authorities come together to talk about their Local Offer.
We'll share a bit about the work that we've been doing. We'll bring back any great ideas from other councils too!
We've also started to talk to other councils that are using LocalGov Drupal. A couple of councils want to develop the directories feature for their Local Offer. We'll keep talking to them so that we can share the work we need to do.
Thanks for reading, please contact ST@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Blog and Local Offer Stream Channel (accessible to ECC employees only) for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 15 - See week 16
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Week Note 14
This is what the team’s been up to this week:
Information architecture
We've created a new structure for the Local Offer's information, based on the card sort research we did. We'll be testing and re-testing this over the next couple of weeks to refine it.
Prototyping
We created a prototype of what the new Local Offer taxonomy could look like. So far we’ve tested this within the team but over the coming weeks we’ll be testing with users to gather more feedback.
Personas:
We developed four key ‘personas’ of users of the Local Offer:
- New parent of a child with SEND
- Experienced parent of a child with low-moderate SEND needs
- Providers who support families with SEND
- Professionals who support families with SEND
We made these using insights from the user interviews we’ve done so far. They provide a case study which we can use to test our existing designs by. We know they’re not representative of every Local Offer user and will update them as we find out more.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Blog and Local Offer Stream Channel (accessible to ECC employees only) for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 13
Yesterday we shared our recommendations for the next phase of this work with the SEND Joint Commissioning Board. They were really supportive of our approach and will be working to agree funding for the next phase.
In the meantime we’re going to keep the momentum going and have decided to extend our work on the Alpha phase until the end of November. Over that time we’re going to continue to design and test prototypes of the new Local Offer. This will include testing our new structure to see if it's easier to navigate.
We’re excited to be continuing with this work and will be sure to keep you updated.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 12
Last Thursday was our final Show & Tell for this phase of the project. The team presented back our findings from the previous few weeks user testing and shared our ideas for how a new Local Offer could be delivered.
We had absolutely loads of great feedback from our attendees, including some fantastic responses to our card sorting exercise.
If you’d like to view the recording and the card sort you can do so via our Stream Channel or, if you’re external to Essex County Council, access the recording here.
The team now has one final sprint (two weeks) to document our remaining findings and prepare for the next phase. We’ll share more on this next week.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 11
During week 11, our penultimate sprint, we closed the testing of a new information architecture using the Treejack tool and analysed the results which we'll share in this week's final show and tell on Thursday 14 October. It would be great to see you all there and if you’d like an invite please let us know.
Board paper
We completed the draft recommendations paper to get feedback from our Head of SEND Strategy and Commissioning ahead of submitting it to the joint commissioning board on 25 October.
User testing
We finalised testing of a prototype of the new local offer website. This prototype explores a version of the website which sits on Essex.gov. We tested with 4 parents from the Family Forum. They found their way around the new prototype easily but were interested to find out if adding more images and colour would make the information even easier to navigate.
We also made a mock-up of some leaflets to explore how ECC branding could be applied to new Local Offer publications.
Platforms and technology
Lastly, we talked to suppliers to check whether the costs we had projected to move to a LocalGov Drupal platform were correct. We also found out more about LocalGov Drupal and some of their plans for future functionality around forms and location-based search.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 10
During week 10 of the Local Offer project we began testing some of the assumption we'd made in previous weeks and continued our research into technology solutions.
User research
To test our proposed new taxonomy we set up a card sort exercise to help us understand how users group together information and what terms would label these groups.
We refined a prototype of the website to test where information and guidance should sit in a revised information architecture (IA) and how the directory of services could work in this context.
We also finalised our tree testing research to find out more about how users find information on the current website. This research will feed into our new IA and test whether the new prototypes make it simpler for users to find what they're looking for.
Products and technology
We continued exploring Local Gov Drupal as a solution for a directory and spoke to Croydon Council about the pros and cons of using this product.
Finally, we started planning for the second and most exciting phase of our work which will deliver the new website and platform. We’re looking forward to sharing more on this in the next few weeks.
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel. for previous updates on our work so far.
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Week Note 9 - Hitatus
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Week Note 8
During week 8 of the Local Offer project, we moved from Discovery to Alpha activities. Transitioning from Discovery to Alpha means that we continue to do user research but we also begin to prototype some of our riskiest assumptions.
Prototyping where the Local Offer should go sit
We created a prototype to test where information and guidance should sit and how the directory of services should work.
Products and technology
We've been looking at options for technology that could support a new Local Offer. This includes LocalGovDrupal, a website platform built by several local councils that includes a directory function which can be used for making information about services available.
We've also started to put together a list of features that a technology product needs. The features are based on what we've learned from our research with professionals and families.
User research
We've finished our final discovery interviews with providers, families and young people and are preparing future engagement where we can test our ideas and prototypes.
We also launched tree testing to find out more about how users find information on the current website. We did this so we can:
- identify problems with the current structure and labelling
- benchmark improvements against a future information architecture
Thanks for reading, please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions. And remember you can always view our Local Offer Stream Channel.
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Week Note 7
Here’s an update of what we've been up to in week 7 of the Local Offer project:
Bringing it all together
Last week, we brought together all the hypothesis statements, key insights, user research and Google Analytics insights into one place in preparation for the next sprint. This allows us to check our assumptions with our project sponsor and shape what we’ll deliver in our next sprint.
User Research
We also ran 2 more user research sessions: a session with a counselling service listed on the Local Offer and one with parents using Local Offer services.
Show & Tell
Join us when we share this work at our next show and tell on Thursday 18 September 2-3pm. Also, keep an eye out for our post about sprint 3 on the Service Transformation blog - we’ll link to it next week.
As ever thanks for reading & please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions.
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Week Note 6
Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to in week 6 of the Local Offer Discovery/Alpha:
User research
This week we had interviews with a variety of SEND professionals. We learned about the types of service available and how the local offer supports or could support professionals better.
We also started interviews with providers to learn more about the value that the Local Offer has for them and how we could make it better.
A big thank you to all those that have set aside time this past week to talk to us!
Looking at other directories
We’ve done some research looking at other Local Offers, to see what they’re doing well, and get some ideas for things that we could prototype and test.
We spoke to Tech Services about a directory for digital inclusion. We also learned more about how data can be imported and exported from Capita One.
Content review
Analysed the top 80% of traffic to the Essex Local Offer website and the internal site search terms to understand what users are looking for and what they're having difficulty finding. This research will allow us to prototype a new taxonomy and structure to help users better navigate the guidance and content.
Coming next
This week we’ll be pulling together our findings from research so far into a presentation that we’ll share later.
Please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you have any questions.
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Week Note 5
Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to in week 5 of the Local Offer Discovery/Alpha:
User Interviews
We conducted 3 more user research sessions with SEND professionals. One session was with a member of the Preparing for Adulthood service, another with a Care Home Manager and the final one with a member of the Family Hubs & 0-19 service.
We’ve also reached out to 190 service providers in the Local Offer directory to arrange user research sessions.
Linking in
We linked in with the work Tech Services are doing to support new solutions for the Register for Disabled Children (CWD) and Short Breaks Bookings & user database. There’s clear links between these and the Local Offer so we’re working together to make sure these are properly aligned.
Analytics
We’ve analysed the Google Analytics web usage data for Local Offer for insight into how long users are spending interacting with a particular page or journey on the site.
Coming next
This week we’ll be pulling together all our latest research to make sure we understand these as a team and can decide on what to focus on in the next sprint.
In the meantime please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you’ve got any q.s or feedback on the work so far.
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Week Note 4
Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to in week 4 of the Local Offer Discovery/Alpha:
Show & Tell
We held our first Show & Tell! It was really fantastic to share everything we’ve learnt so far and receive so much valuable feedback and ideas.
You can find the recording of the Show & Tell here (just to note if you are external to ECC you may need to request access to view).
Research
We conducted 4 interviews with SEND professionals and have several more booked over the coming weeks.
Talking to other Local Authorities
We also spoke to teams at Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire Councils about their experiences improving their Local Offer.
Coming next
We’re now going to be drawing together everything we’ve learnt so far to determine our focus for the next few weeks.
In the meantime please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you’ve got any q.s or feedback on the work so far.
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Week Note 3
Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to in week 3 of the Local Offer Discovery/Alpha:
This week, we got together as a team to write hypothesis statements based on what we've learned so far. These help us to understand any gaps in our knowledge and prioritise what we could start testing with families, the Local Offer interest group and wider stakeholders.
Research
We mapped the experience of families using the Local Offer based on our interview. This helps us understand the common pain points experienced by users.
Content and UX audits
We finished high-level content and UX audits for the website so we can gain a better understanding of what the current website offers.
Coming next
Next week, we’re writing user needs to make sure the design, architecture and content of the website is aligned to specific user needs (needs that members of the public, businesses or customers have).
We’re also looking at how to test a specific hypothesis around organising information based on a user's personal circumstances.
We also hope to see you all at the first Local Offer Show & Tell, this Thursday 3-4pm. This will be a chance for us to present what we’ve learnt so far and get feedback on next steps. If you haven’t received the invite for the Show & Tell please contact st@essex.gov.uk
Thanks for reading and we look forward to checking back in next week. In the meantime please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you’ve got any q.s or feedback on the work so far.
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Week Note 2
Here’s a quick update of what we’ve been up to in week 2 of the Local Offer Discovery/Alpha.
This week, we held 2 sessions with our Local Offer interest group. The group is made up of practitioners from social care, health and education, in addition to the young people, families and carers that use SEND services locally.
We had some interesting discussions around how trusted the local offer is and the kinds of practical information parents and carers are looking for.
Research
We held our 3rd interview with parents using the SEND local offer and started to identify some recurring themes.
Content and UX audits
We began reviewing sections of content on the local offer website to get a sense of how much content there is and in what format.
A separate review was carried out to assess whether the website is usable from a functional perspective.
Coming next
Next week, we’re meeting with the team at Buckinghamshire Council to discuss the work they’ve done to improve their local offer and how they did it.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to checking back in next week. In the meantime please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you’ve got any q.s or feedback on the work so far.
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Week Note 1
Here at Essex County Council, we recently completed a discovery where we looked at the services and support we offer children with special educational needs and disability (SEND).
We found that our SEND offer was not widely understood and that the local offer website was difficult to find and navigate. It also didn’t meet the new accessibility standards for government services.
On 26 July 2021, we presented our discovery plan to the Joint Commissioning Board for children and young people with an update on our timeline and approach for the next 12 weeks.
We kicked off this work last week. Our goal for these first two weeks is to:
- identify different users of the service
- plan and schedule recruitment
- conduct interviews with parents and carers
Interest group session
We prepared for our first interest group session. This session is about researching how people are finding information about their local offer, what they do to help understand that information and how they find out about anything that’s not already included in the guidance or directory.
User research interviews
We held our first 2 interviews with parents. Next, we’ll look at interviewing users working in SEND. We’ll continue to conduct these as we find more participants who want to speak to us.
Research
We've been doing some desktop research to understand more about the sources of information parents are consuming in addition to the sources we gathered at the first interest group session.
We also spoke to Send Navigators to understand more about what they do and the work they've already done on mapping the SEND landscape.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to checking back in next week. In the meantime please contact st@essex.gov.uk if you’ve got any q.s or feedback on the work so far.
3 comments
Comment by Mr M P Cole Esq posted on
Great stuff! Keep it up!
Comment by Neil Lawrence posted on
Hey team. I just had a bounce-back from your service.transformation@essex.gov.uk email address. Am keen on joining your show and tell on the 18th - is that possible?
Comment by Bianca Cole posted on
Hello Neil
we would love to have you along, feel free to message me directly bianca.cole@essex.gov.uk and we can give you access to the show and tell.
Thanks Bianca