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User research in libraries: finding the voices between the bookshelves

Two white women in a library standing behind a desk, with signs inviting people to take part in research activities.

User research in libraries: finding the voices between the bookshelves

“The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” - Einstein Libraries are a goldmine for researchers – but you knew that already, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m old enough to remember …

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New Year, New Hosting for our LocalGov Drupal Platform

Posted by: Catherine Barton, Posted on: 12 February 2025 - Categories: product
A project plan showing key activities in a website migration

What we learned when we changed our web platform's hosting and support arrangements. Why we needed to do this We’ve done a lot of work on our websites since we first started to adopt Local Gov Drupal (LGD) in 2022. …

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Help us make a consent form that works with demand avoidance

Posted by: Claire Craig, Posted on: 6 January 2025 - Categories: User research

Have you made any new year’s resolutions? I did. I made one. Go to the gym more? Nope, not that. Drink more water? Nope, should do, but not that either. Make consent forms better? That’s the one. I enlisted the …

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A Day at the Local Gov Drupal Unconference: Connecting, Learning, and Building Community

Posted by: Jen Scopes, Posted on: 24 June 2024 - Categories: events, product
Local Gov Drupal Logo, with text 'The platform created by councils, for councils', black writing yellow background

Find out how our product managers, Will, Jen, and Sucharitha, fared during their day of discovery, companionship, and unexpected turns at the Local Gov Drupal Unconference.

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Validating user needs as part of our research process.

Posted by: Adam Spencer, Posted on: 29 April 2024 - Categories: Best practice, How we work, user insights, User Needs, User research
image with the words Validating user needs

Adam Spencer details how the User Researchers within Essex County Council work with staff and residents to gather data that helps the council make important changes and improvements to its services by exploring and validating user needs.

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Should you have a button on your website that says ‘translate’?

Posted by: James Green, Posted on: 8 April 2024 - Categories: Best practice, content, content design, tools
Button on a web page with the word 'translate'

The short answer is no. People who need them use their own translation tools. But, you can write the content in a way that those tools will translate well.  Where we know we need one or two specific languages for …

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Technology – not just for the techies…

Posted by: Shelley Edwards, Cath Tuckwood, David Pownceby and Emma Toublic, Posted on: 26 February 2024 - Categories: Best practice, workshops
Image of a washing machine and drier with piles of washing in front of them.

Our lives are influenced by technology, sometimes without our awareness. We want to share what we are doing to transform the way we work and help our colleagues.

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Starting at Essex County Council: My first six months as a Junior User Researcher

Posted by: Emma Chisholm, Posted on: 22 January 2024 - Categories: events, How we work, User research, work with us
Image of a desktop screen with post-it notes and the book 'The Workshop Survival Guide' on the desk

Emma Chisholm shares with us her experience of joining ECC as a Junior Researcher.

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Sharing our learning from SDinGov 2023

Posted by: Danielle Spinage, Claire Craig and May Andrews, Posted on: 4 January 2024 - Categories: About the team, events, How we work, service design
Service Transformation Team in huddles reviewing content on tables

Claire, Dani and May tell us how they and others have been sharing what they learned at this year’s SDinGov conference.

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Robotic Process Automation partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers

Posted by: Shaurya Rajwar, Posted on: 2 November 2023 - Categories: agile, Best practice, How we work, Our projects, product
Photo of the RPA Project Team

Shaurya Rajwar explores our relationship with PricewaterhouseCoopers and how we want Robotic Process Automation to drive efficiency in processes and applications across our digital assets

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Exploring the Potential and Pitfalls of AI-Generated Images

Posted by: Bianca Cole and Claire Craig, Posted on: 11 August 2023 - Categories: accessibility, Best practice, events, How we work, tools
AI Generated Image of a distorted cartoon pig in a red car, with a melted wheels, a small windmill and grass growing out the exhaust.

Bianca and Claire want to share with you the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI images in a work setting that was discovered during the recent AI Hackathon

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