Understanding the ‘why’: testing in the lab
This week, we're in the user testing lab, in an effort to better understand why our users act the way they do. This involves watching how people actually behave when using our websites
How we work
Show and tell notes - 6 June
This week’s show and tell included sessions on website accessibility and the Futures Academy project, as well as some discussions around work already published by the service design team. We were also trying out a new, slightly roomier venue in …
We're all user researchers now
Over the past few weeks, the content designers on the Service Design team have been rewriting parts of the Essex County Council websites. It’s about trying to understand what people are looking for, and working out how best to communicate that, in the most economical way possible.
It’s live! The first pages of our content redesign
In early March we started the process of reviewing and testing the content of a chunk of the information advice and guidance on the Essex.gov.uk and Living Well websites. Last week we published the first batch of pages that went through that process.
Show and tell notes - 9 May 2018
It feels like an exciting time in the service design team. We’re coming to the end of our first significant piece of work. We’ve had time - and produced sufficient work - to meaningfully reflect on what we’ve learnt so far, and these observations are feeding into our preparation for the next phase of work.
Show and tell notes - 25 April 2018
We know that not everyone can get to our Wednesday morning sessions, so we’re posting a quick summary here. It’s still much better to be there in person if you can, as the conversation and connection around the presentations is where the magic happens!
Kick-off for the essex.gov.uk project
Over the last few months we’ve been working to understand the current state of essex.gov.uk and plan how we might get to a better future for our web presence. We’ve gathered insights from available data and call centre staff and tested how easy it is for users to find things on the site.
Why we do show and tells
Every fortnight, in room C309 in County Hall, the Service Design team have what we call a show-and-tell. The format is pretty simple: two or three people stand up and talk through something they’re working on. People ask questions, and sometimes make suggestions. Everyone is welcome.
Show the thing: the new blog
Essex County Council has a new blogging platform. In this post, I’d like to talk about how we built it.