Laura Billings
I work at the Government Digital Service building communities of practice across government so that people working in the public sector can create effective human-centred digital services and products
Location UK
Activity
-
Laura Billings replied to Chris Cain
Hey Chris - at GDS it's the software engineers who implement a switch if an A/B test is needed, it's a bit out of the content design realm of expertise! As far as I understand it, it works well on pages that have a high volume of traffic and they can code so that whatever ratio of people they want will see the different versions (normally 50/50 if testing two...
-
This is a really common problem. It is slowly starting to shift I think as content design gets more recognised as a profession. But I feel your frustration!
-
I think if the subject expert can recognise the content designer as the expert writer that goes a long way to helping have a consistent writing style. The content designer knows how to write for the user, the subject expert knows all about the subject the user needs to know. Complimentary but different skills!
-
never give away control of the keyboard ;)
-
I love the idea of a site that only exists for 1 month! Almost everything on the internet lasts for a very long time and it's getting very cluttered out there :D Knowing it will only be there for 1 month is a fascinating change in design parameters.
-
GOV.UK only records these figures for people who are happy to have cookies on their computers. It's an opt in process.
-
Laura Billings replied to Emma Sykes
Hey Emma - I always get these two confused, so if anyone else wants to jump in with an idea please do! But I think that what these metrics will tell you also depends on the type of content on the page and what you are testing. For example, page views is the count of every time that page has been viewed. It might indicate an issue if people have to return to...
-
Laura Billings replied to Daniel Tong
Agree with what you've highlighted - content ownership is critical to the cycle working. Otherwise no-one is responsible for any of the steps past getting it published. Are you able to prioritise pages that need updates more often than annually?
-
Laura Billings replied to Emma Sykes
I remember someone at GDS built a clever Slack bot that automatically reminded people when certain pages in a manual needed checking to see if they needed updates. It was called Daniel the Manual Spaniel :D
-
Laura Billings replied to Helen Gräwert
This sounds very familiar :) Almost no one manages to get to 6 - remove and archive! But the build up of out of date, confusing or irrelevant content makes it much harder for users to find what they need and maintain trust in the product or organisation.
-
That sounds like a great way to get consistent research in a manageable way. Would you be happy to share your 5 questions?
-
Yeah, interesting distinction. What do you think the difference is?
-
This sounds like it would be a good way to build a content hierarchy that works for users, and potentially remove any content that isn't working so well
-
Can you say more about guerrilla testing? What does it involve?
-
Interesting point. I would not necessarily assume all older people are not tech savvy! But it is important to take into account people's confidence with technology when you are creating digital content.
-
Laura Billings replied to Daniel Tong
I've heard someone describe this as helping people fail as fast as possible. If you had started the form and were 20 minutes in to filling it in, then realised you needed a document you didn't have to hand, you would be annoyed! But if you know that from the start, you can avoid the disappointment and wasted time. It also applies to putting eligibility...
-
Laura Billings replied to Rajitha R
Great example of a situational accessibility need
-
This is a really great idea. I think if you can experience trying to access the content differently yourself, not only do you get a clearer idea of any potential issues, but you will build a lot more empathy with your users.
-
Yes that's true. And not all of the things listed in the 4 areas above will be possible for a content designer to tackle alone. For the content to be robust, you might need to collaborate with your software engineers or tech team.
-
This one is interesting, because there is research that shows that the higher your educational background, the more you prefer clear language. Maybe the research could help convince people of the need to change to more understandable content? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-research-plain-language-preferences-published-cawthorne-
-
@KathreinGuenther Yes good point. I think though if you use 'explain' rather than 'know' then you are in danger of losing the user focus. If you say 'know' then you have to test whether the user is doing the intended behaviour from your content. Either with data or user research. If you have 'explain' as an acceptance criteria you could, in theory, put content...
-
@EmmaSykes yes, I think you can end up with too many and too detailed acceptance criteria. You need to make a judgement call about what is useful. You need to know whether you've managed to help the user achieve the aim. Any more than that is probably too much!
-
@ChrisCain yes - I think sometimes also called a service blueprint. Probably different tools for different purposes. Maybe a user journey map is more useful for research, analysis, design. And a flow chart or service blueprint is more useful for documenting, capturing or confirming in a simpler form.
-
@NikiSwain Yes, I would agree with you. I think the start point is a bit broad. Because we can't assume all newcomers to Canada need to open an account. Maybe they already have one, maybe they bank elsewhere. So your service would likely be for 'newcomers to Canada who want to open a Canadian bank account'.
-
@JagGahir The macro / micro makes sense now, thank you! I'm not sure exactly what goes in an experience map. Is it like a service blueprint? If so I think the main difference between a user journey map and maps which cover the steps in a service, is that the user journey map tends to include other types of information beyond the steps. Like the emotional state...
-
It also might not be a suitable service for existing students, rather than prospective ones. Or anyone who is not eligible to study for whatever reason.
-
Sounds familiar :D
-
It's tricky isn't it! Defining who your user is not. I don't have any tips, other than that I think it is definitely worth trying to do because it can help focus the service and content. For charity donations it's hard because you'd like to imagine everyone is a potential donor. Maybe donors who are not tech savvy? Or who don't have access to online banking?
-
Hey Sam, taking a guess at the answer for Q3 but if there are any people who aren't eligible to study at your organisation for whatever reason they might be listed here. Or maybe if it is a specific service for prospective students, then it might not be relevant to existing students. Does that help?
-
I like your example of the journey map being used to show how the responsibility for a good user journey sat with many teams. In government the same can happen across teams, departments and often different organisations. It can be a real pain point in a journey and effective internal collaboration so the journey is seamless for the user is an important point...
-
Hey Jag - that's an interesting distinction between micro and macro interactions. What do you mean? Can you give some examples?
-
Great point to not just think about the 'happy path' but to use the map to see where things could go wrong for the user and how to fix them.
-
Hey Kathrein, good point. I think in the example of registering to vote, the acceptance criteria would be tested with data from the website and user research. So the acceptance criteria 'the user knows how to download the form' could be tested by comparing the number of page visits with the number of downloads. If there were many more visits and much fewer...
-
I like your first step! Really interesting to include the fact that the user needs to have some knowledge of tea making first.
-
I think this is a really interesting point. Users may need to return to the service or product, they may go on to a related service, they may leave and use something else (although this isn't an option with government services!). There may also be related content from before the journey starts such as marketing materials or a paper letter that helped the user...
-
Hey Chris - you can do either. If there is an existing service in place you can map the 'as is' situation. What there is currently. You can also map the desired situation that you would like to get to. And then compare the two and figure out how to close the gap between them. If you do not have a service, you can jump straight to mapping the desired situation...
-
Number 4 in the UK Government design principles is 'do the hard work to make it simple'. Which matches your point about not making users have to think too hard before being able to use your service or product. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles
-
Great example of another benefit of mapping: effective collaboration between teams.
-
Clever approach to do some user research first before making any changes to the content.
-
Love this example because you've also been able to connect improvements in content design to a measurable improvement in the service.
-
Agreed. Content designers in government often pair write with a subject matter expert who can fact check.
-
This is a really important point about the emotional state of your user, and how you might need to be sensitive to that depending on the type of content you are working on.
-
Laura Billings replied to James Cheetham
Nice example, and great that you have such clear user groups and needs!
-
Sounds like you have a good understanding of the main user groups and their needs.
-
Laura Billings replied to Alex Poppe
Interesting point Alex about your publisher wanting to have content up "to be informative" but without having an idea about who they want to inform! It's a common challenge in content design I think. People imagine that putting something on the internet means it will be used and useful. But that's not necessarily the case. Being clear about who your users are...
-
Laura Billings replied to Alex Poppe
Data is a great addition. Using data and user research to inform content production and improvement is really important.
-
Laura Billings replied to Rebecca O'Hare
There are definitely fuzzy boundaries between content design, service design, tech writing and interaction design
-
This is an interesting example. I am wondering if the user need should include a bit more detail to help show the scope of the problem. As an elderly person who can't leave the house, I need a way to register at my local GP practice that takes my mobility issues into account, so that I can make appointments. The designers would then know that they need to...
-
Good point Joanne - managing the work and communicating about what's possible becomes even more important in a small team trying to juggle many projects.
-
I like really like this description of the way that content designers and subject matter experts can collaborate
-
I like that your acceptance criteria includes the desired outcome - taking a sip of tea!
