BETA timeline
KEY
Accessibility
Other
Lab research
Online research
Partners collaboration - co-design
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What we did
- Testing sessions with customers in the Third sector and Community organisations in the South of Scotland, some Face to Face and some Skype sessions
- Testing with internal Staff and SoSEP partners (week starting 24/02 and after)
Why
- Testing the content and navigation with customers from the Third sector and Community organisations directly
- Testing the content and navigation with internal Staff and SoSEP partners as proxy users for Businesses
- Assessing the transistions from the SoSE website to Find Business Support for service enquiries and events
- Testing the contact us page and web form to make an enquiry
Summary of findings of the research with communities
- During consultations last year, a dispersed support approach was presented ( = not one big town hub, but lots of smaller hubs very local so people can go for advice near where they are). All participants were keen to see a page on the website with the list and addresses of the small hubs – people want to speak to someone, they prefer face to face and local people
- Some said they don’t go on social media and wanted news on the website. They want to see the website frequently updated, and saying what’s to come
- All were very interested by Borderland Inclusive Growth deal and would like the text refering to this to be a link
- Environment is one of the key goals of SoSE, it’s not mentioned enough in the content, especially on the homepage for the vision
- Find Business Support (FBS) was quickly understood, they liked the layout, and the format of the content for the services
- All impressed with a 2 days response SLA and they understand it’s an initial response
- The form tested ok. 3 out 4 felt the ‘Are you trading?’ question was not appropriate, but at the same time, they could all use the form. (We will re-test with a different form, without the ‘Are you trading’ question)
- They all serve as a relay between the various agencies and the small businesses, they are dedicated and motivated
- There is a strong need for networking opportunities
Documents
- See as a PDF Aggregated user needs after the research with communities on the 19, 20 and 26/02/2020
- User Research Findings Communities (PDF)
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What we did
- Sense making session for the team to get a shared understanding of the 7 user research sessions done the previous week
- Recruit customers for further testing sessions with a focus on customers in the Third sector and Community organisations
- Follow up interviews with some key people from SoSEP and the councils to get a better understanding of the community organisations needs and expectations
- More Card sorting testing for the Information Architechture (IA)
- Gathered analytics of the SoSEP website for the period covering Nov 2019 Jan 2020
- Looked at previous personas done for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and a Scottish Enterprise (SE) corporate website for potential reuse
Why
- The research done the previous week highlighted that the Community aspects were really important in the South of Scotland area and we needed more data
- Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has a similar focus on Community compared to the rest of Scotland, so some of their personas can be reused
Documents
- SoSEP analytics (PDF)
- Personas (PDF)
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What we did
General research with account managers and members of SoSEP (F2F and Skype sessions) to assess:
- Specificities of the South of Scotland area
- The role of various communities in the area and how they interact with businesses
- Customer and stakeholder needs and pain points
- Expectations of how SoSE can address gaps and opportunities
- Website needs
We also did some Card sorting online for the Information Architecture (IA)
Why
- Complement the research done during the discovery phase
- Making sure the specific needs of the customers and staff in this region drive the design of the website
- Making sure the (IA) make sense for the users
- Capture the needs and reflect them in our personas
Summary of findings
- Be clear about what the new agency will do and will not do
- How will SoSE be different – what is our pitch?
- Align with expectations that have been set to date - companies are expecting something different and better
- Capitalise on what does work well
- Look at where influence lies (especially within social enterprise and communities)
- Focusing on right things will be a gamechanger for the region
- Councils big influence but spread too thinly across region
- 1-1 relationships important and take time to build
- More focus on nurturing key skill-sets for region (opportunity for joined up working with schools, colleges, industry and careers advice)
- Make better use of use of assets (e.g., ageing population not seen as problem but a centre of excellence for dementia, etc)
Documents
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Desk research
- South of Scotland Enterprise Agency Consultation Analysis Report, 2018 (PDF)
- HIE - Website Analytics Review (PDF)
2 workshops
Two workshops were conducted in the South of Scotland in:
- Hawick (Scottish Borders)
- Dumfries (Dumfries and Galloway)
Each workshop was attended by 10 individuals (total = 20) representing organisations that have an office in the South of Scotland, and each related to a different type of organization.
The Hawick workshop focused on prospective start-ups and early start-ups, while the Dumfries one focused on established organisations.
The needs of these groups, in terms of the type of support they might look for, and benefit from, are very different – so it was important to address them separately.
D1 assessment
- 26/11/19 D1 Discovery assessment
- 10/12/19 D1 Report received
User needs
Consolidated user needs (PDF)
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We are working on the creation of the website for SoSE, but this is only one part of more workstreams for the creation of this new agency.
Timeline of the work which done to lead to the the creation of this new agency:
- Phase 1: started in early 2016
10 recommendations made regarding how a more coherent and effective system of national and local support could be developed.
- Phase 2: started late 2016
A report was made mid 2017. The programme of work, comprising 9 projects, to take forward the Phase One recommendations. The development of SOSE was just one of these.
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2018 and 2019: Online forum and workshop to consult the public. The online forum comprised one closed and 20 open-text questions, and 268 responses were received. Some 26 engagement workshops were held throughout the South of Scotland
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Sept/Dec 2018 Workshops in the South of Scotland about The Good Economy and working with Ethical Finance Hub
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March / July 2019: 30 stakeholder events (public, local businesses – 530 people in the SoS attending)
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02/07/19 Inclusive Growth and board workshop in Dumfries and publication of the research undertaken by the Good Economy for SoSEP
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10/10/19 SoSEP board discussions for Key messages