• Use existing research and data

    There may be research and data about your users and their needs already available to you within your organisation.

    Why use existing research and data?

    Using existing research has these benefits:

    • It can save time and money.
    • It can provide you with evidence of who your users are and their needs in the initial phase of a project.

    This can help gain support in your organisation for:

    • following a user-centred design process
    • allocating budget and resources to a project

    When to use existing research and data

    When creating content, consider all the possible users of your product or service. Existing research and data can help you find out about your users and their needs.

    Existing research and data is a good starting point, but it shouldn’t be relied on as comprehensive. Sometimes sources may be limited or dated. Existing research and data may not address your specific context or problems. It also won’t help the team to develop a deep understanding of, and empathy for, users and their needs.

    Existing research and data shouldn’t replace your own user research. User research is the best way to learn about users and create services that meet their needs.

    Find existing research and data

    Your organisation may already have research and data about users and their needs. There are many sources you can explore. These include:

    Call centre data

    Call centre data can provide information on your users' main frustrations. Call volumes about different issues can help you prioritise usability issues with your product or service.

    Online and phone surveys

    Surveys may have been conducted already. Use them to find user pain points and areas that need improvement.

    Web analytics

    Web analytics involves analysing quantitative data which can help you explore the behaviour of users on your website. The most common source is Google Analytics. Analytics can help you recognise usability problems and user types. Often analytics are set up on a website but the data isn't analysed.

    Search logs

    Search logs have a lot of information about what users want and how they look for it. Information in search logs can provide evidence for usability problems. Logs can highlight when users are struggling with the way information is presented on your site. Looking at search terms can provide guidance on the words people actually use. Identifying these problems in the search logs can provide evidence for usability problems.

    Social media

    Your organisation's social media channels can help you recognise trends in users' perceptions. Your agency may also have social media monitoring set up. Reviewing this gives a broader perspective of user commentary.

    Previous research reports

    Many large organisations will already have conducted user research in the past. This research can help you recognise different user groups and their needs.

    Other organisational reports

    Other reports your organisation creates can also provide information about users. For example, annual reports and strategy documents. These often contain information about user numbers and demographics.

    Engagement teams

    Many organisations have teams that directly engage with users. They are sometimes called client relationship or outreach teams. They can provide valuable insights.

    Find other possible sources

    Desktop research

    There is a wealth of information on the internet that can help you get started. Explore similar products and services that use best practice.

    Consider questions such as:

    • How are other people doing what you are doing?
    • Who else is interested in the topic or user group?
    • What has worked and what hasn't worked?
    • What usability issues have others discovered?

    Providing information on what has worked in similar cases can help you gain support within your organisation.

    Consider looking at these types of resources to get started:

    • usability blogs
    • research papers
    • case studies

    Source information about users

    There may be public information available about your users. Possible sources include:

    Bring your research and data together

    To develop a clear picture of the users, consolidate your research and data. Read or analyse the research you have collected. Decide the following:

    User segments and needs

    Find out who is using your product and service, and if there are clear groups of users with different needs.

    Common interactions

    Find out the user journey and user experience of your service, for example:

    • Why did they need to use the service?
    • What did they plan to do?
    • What did they do?
    • Were they satisfied with the service?

    Gaps in the research

    Decide on research or further exploration that still needs to be done.

  • Planning user research across design and delivery

    As you move through the service design and delivery process, the research you do will change. Learn more about user research in each stage.

    The needs and goals of the users define the service. You will uncover these needs and goals through your research in the Discovery stage and build on them throughout the service design and delivery process. 

    In all stages you will: 

    • do research with a broad range of users, including those with access needs and low digital skills 
    • think about the whole user experience, digital and offline, not just the product you are delivering.

    In Discovery, you will do generative research, making sure you are designing the right thing. Later, you will do evaluative research to make sure you're designing it in the right way.

    User research in Discovery 

    Before you start designing, learn about your users. Watch how users do things now and what problems or barriers they face. This is called contextual qualitative research. It will help you to understand how the service you’re designing can meet user needs. 

    Interview users 

    Interview and observe frontline service staff, if your agency has them.

    This will help you understand: 

    • limitations of the current service 
    • how staff explain and resolve issues
    • undocumented workarounds that people use to get things done. 

    Map the user journey 

    Create a user journey map to understand the user experience completing a task.

    Don’t rely on assumptions the business has made. It’s important to do your own research to understand the user journey. 

    Examine existing data 

    To avoid bias, do your own primary research before looking at the research that exists. Existing research might include analytics, internal workflows and support logs. This can reveal issues and provide measurable evidence to support user behaviour.  

  • Find user research participants

    There are several ways to find research participants. We’ll take you through some of the steps you can use to find and recruit real users.  

    To understand and improve your service, you need to know what current and future users need.

    While it can be useful to speak with subject experts and people who understand how your service functions, these discussions shouldn't replace or be prioritised before user research.  

    Include the right people

    Remember to include all user groups in your research. Including people who:  

    • come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds 
    • have different needs or who require assistive technology  
    • have a disability or chronic illness  
    • have different levels of digital skills  
    • need help to use your service 
    • will use your service in future.  

    Finding participants 

    Recruitment can be a lot of work. It’s good idea to consider resourcing and budget for this process. Recruitment agencies are experienced and are generally able to recruit participants at a reasonable rate. This can be good value for money.  

    To find participants:

    • use a research recruitment agency 
    • work with a professional body, specialist charity or community group 
    • work with specialist sections of other agencies, for example Multicultural Services in Services Australia 
    • invite existing users of your service to take part.  

    You can consider small pay incentives and reimbursements to encourage users to participate.

  • Interview users

    Interviews help you learn more about users, how they use a service and what they need from it.

    Interviews are an important research method throughout the entire service design and delivery process. Use interviews when you want to:

    • learn how your service fits into the users’ life and when they need the service 
    • get a deeper understanding of the user pain points and problems 
    • explore the user perspective.

    Who to include in the interview  

    The interview team  

    A note taker should be present for each session, you may also choose to include an optional observer.

    To stay safe, make sure you have one other person in the room with you apart from the participant. 

  • Consent forms for user research

    How to ensure your users are comfortable and feel safe sharing their experiences.

    A consent form helps users understand how the government will use the information they share. It also gives them confidence they will have control over their information.

    Get informed consent before you research 

    Make sure you have informed consent before you begin the research session. Explain to the participant what the research is about and what it will involve.

    You usually ask the user to complete and sign a consent form to confirm their permission and document their preferences for how we can save and share their information, including video and audio recordings.

    Crafting a consent form 

    Every user research session is different. Think about all the information you may need to capture during the research. Adjust the consent form to reflect this.

    For example, the participant may be sharing artefacts that contain their address and details of disability.

    The most important information you need in a consent form is:

    • who is conducting the research, including the researcher, team and agency 
    • why you are conducting the research 
    • what you will be recording, this should be the participant's choice 
    • what you will do with the information and recording 
    • how long the information will be stored for 
    • how the participant can withdraw their consent, include a contact phone number or email address 
    • a place for the participant to sign and date.

  • Paying incentives for user research

    It’s normal to pay people for their time when they help with research, but sometimes it isn’t appropriate.

    Paying incentives to participants is acceptable in some types of research. You should think about the situation and consider ethical guidelines when deciding if payment or reimbursement is appropriate.  If you do decide to pay incentives, factor them into your research proposal and budget.

    Incentives and reimbursements 

    Reimbursements are made to cover participant costs, such as travel expenses or equipment.

    Incentives are rewards that motivate people to take part in research, for example a gift card for completing a survey.  

    Confirm the incentive is appropriate  

    Before offering an incentive, confirm if the payment is appropriate. This will depend on the user research your doing and the participant's situation. For example, a payment may not be appropriate if it:

    • represents a conflict of interest
    • may become a form of indirect coercion for participants who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. 

    To help you make a decision, check if your agency has a policy on paying incentives and read the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research.

    Your responsibility  

    You have a responsibility for participants both during and after your research session.

    Think about these questions to help you decide if it is appropriate to pay an incentive:

    • would the participant get involved without the incentive 
    • will an incentive influence the results 
    • does the participant have a relationship to your organisation 
    • is there a power relationship, for example the participant is a supplier or public servant 
    • does the incentive take account of the participant’s socioeconomic situation 
    • could it be seen as coercion if they are from a disadvantaged or vulnerable background 
    • is the incentive appropriate to the participant’s cultural background.

  • Analysing user research

    How to understand your user research and use insights to build a service that works well for the people who use it

    User research activities produce a lot of raw data. Filtering and organising this data will help you to produce meaningful insights. For example, you may have:

    • written and digital notes 
    • sketches and photos 
    • audio and video recordings.

    Who to involve 

    We recommend inviting everyone on your team to the research analysis.

    When everyone has a chance to be part of the decision, you reduce the risk of researcher bias and limit the individual influence of team members or stakeholders. At a minimum, invite anyone who observed the user research.

    When to analyse 

    You should aim to do analysis as soon as you can after each round of research, while it is still fresh in people’s minds. For every hour of research, aim to spend up to 1 to 2 hours analysing findings.

    Extract observations 

    To extract observations, ask the group to review research notes or recordings. From there, the group should:

    • use a single sticky note to write each observation  
    • provide details of exactly what is said or seen, his should be an unbiased representation of the user, not what they think it means.  

  • Understanding diversity

    When you create content, be mindful that users have diverse needs and abilities.

    Be inclusive

    As government services move onto digital platforms, we need to make sure they work for everyone. There are many diverse user groups in our population. Many have limited access to digital services or are excluded from them.

  • By addressing accessibility and diversity, we can make our content simple and easy to understand.

  • Diverse groups

    Diverse groups include:

    • people with low digital skills or literacy
    • older people or seniors
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
    • people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
    • people with cognitive or physical disability
    • people who are blind or have a vision impairment
    • people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment
    • people living in rural or remote locations
    • people accessing the internet on mobile devices.

    Accessibility

    Accessibility issues impact users across a variety of demographics. Accessibility issues may include:

    • web content that is difficult to understand
    • websites not tailored to screen readers
    • websites that are difficult to navigate using smartphones
    • content too big to download with a low data limit.

  • You can find guidance about accessibility and inclusivity in the Australian Government Style Manual.

  • Include diverse users

    Understanding and being inclusive of diverse user groups should be an ongoing consideration. You need to:

    • develop empathy for diverse users, and their needs and abilities
    • challenge your personal biases and assumptions about diverse user groups
    • make services accessible for diverse users regardless of their abilities and environments
    • recruit and include diverse users when you conduct end-to-end usability testing
    • consider user needs and abilities when conducting research
    • allow the user to switch to non-digital channels if needed.

    Ask about the user need

    Always ask what the user need is and how to meet this need. Be careful not to exclude user groups or make assumptions about what services they might need.

    To encourage and enable users to use digital services successfully, you need to:

    • write in plain English
    • deliver a simple and consistent pathway through government websites
    • give access to translated content and supporting documentation
    • use alternative forms of communication, such as icons, pictures and visual cues.

  • When you include diverse users in research activities, cater for any access needs or other considerations.

  • Engage with specialists

    You don’t need to work alone. Diversity and inclusivity specialists can help you create inclusive content.

    When doing user research, engage with trusted stakeholders. These may include multicultural service officers in your agency.

    They can help you:

    • address inclusivity considerations
    • make sure your research questions are appropriate
    • engage culturally and linguistically diverse user
    • host research in a neutral space, this can be more effective than doing user research in a government offices.

  • You can also engage a subject expert to work with your team, this will help you understand and consider issues that impact diverse users.

  • Encourage empathy for users

    Some ways to encourage empathy for diverse users in your team and organisation are to:

    • include team members in usability testing
    • share your diversity and inclusivity findings with your team and organisation.
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  • Understanding digital roles

    There are various roles in a multidisciplinary team. Learn about what each role does and the purpose it serves.

    When you work with a multidisciplinary team, you get better results more quickly. Digital delivery teams work together with members from a range of disciplines on the same service at the same time.

    Rather than wait for a team to finish their work before making a start, multidisciplinary teams work in unison, combining their skills to speed up processes.

    Digital disciplines

    The roles in a multidisciplinary team come from different disciplines. You may need some of the following disciplines in your team:

    • user research
    • product management
    • delivery management
    • interaction design
    • service design
    • content design
    • performance analysis
    • software engineering
    • testing.

    Digital roles

    Some roles will be in your core multidisciplinary team for the life of the service. You may also need to bring in specific roles for each stage in the service design and delivery process.

  • Multidisciplinary teams

    A multidisciplinary team is a team of digital specialists. It allows you to build services quickly and iteratively.

    Why we use multidisciplinary teams

    Building services in a multidisciplinary team gives users and stakeholders a voice from the start of the process.

    Benefits of multidisciplinary teams are:

    • people that used to come in at the end (and often too late to do their best work) have input from the beginning
    • people with complementary capabilities work together at the same time on the same part of the service
    • the team is always responsible for delivery.

    A multidisciplinary team uses in-depth user research. This helps the team decide what to build and how to deliver it. This means services are:

    • built using user-centred design – developed in iterations and closely with users
    • guided by data and testing – they reflect the actual user journey
    • focused on the end-to-end experience – they are simpler, clearer and faster.

    Multidisciplinary teams are typically multi-skilled and can work across disciplines.

    Meeting the Digital Service Standard

    You must work as a multidisciplinary team to meet Criteria 2: Have a multidisciplinary team of the Digital Service Standard.

    The Digital Service Standard guides teams to build services that are user friendly, inclusive, adaptable, and measurable.

    Multidisciplinary teams make it easier to build services

    Traditionally government forms teams around agency structures. This usually works in a linear way. Many teams are responsible for different parts of the service. Specialists often don't get the chance to work together on creative solutions.

    Multidisciplinary teams change this by forming around a problem or service. The team starts with all the right skills to deliver value in increments to meet the user need.

    A multidisciplinary team has the capability and skills to deliver the service and the authority to make decisions. The team works independently and minimises dependencies that delay delivery. It is usually small (fewer than 10 members). They are empowered to make decisions, and are often located together.

    Finding the right capabilities 

    You will need to have specific roles and capabilities in your multidisciplinary team before you start Discovery.  

    Core roles 

    There are 10 core roles to consider when building a multidisciplinary team. The core roles in a multidisciplinary team are consistent from discovery through to Live. 

    The same core roles should be in the team for all 4 stages of the service design and delivery process. Find out more about the function and purpose of these core roles in a multidisciplinary team. 

    Core roles allow you to: 

    • design and deliver a service that is simple, clear and fast 
    • make sure your team has the right capabilities, skills, knowledge and attributes throughout the life of the service. 

    Extended roles 

    An extended role refers to when you may need specialist expertise to join the team for a time. For example, you may need the role of content strategist at the start of designing a service, but not for the whole service. 

    How to structure your team 

    Start with a user-centred approach. Think about what you need to design and deliver to meet user needs. Different types of products and services will determine which of the core roles you need. 

    Put users first 

    Seek to understand user needs. Build your multidisciplinary team around a problem or service. 

    Understand the roles 

    Understand what the different core roles are and what they do. You can then decide which roles you need in your multidisciplinary team to develop the product or service your agency needs. 

    Decide when you need the roles

    Decide when you need the roles. This will depend on the type of service you’re designing and delivering. Once you decide which core roles you need, they will stay in place for the life of the service. For example, if you are designing and building a service, you will likely need all 10 core roles. If you are designing policy or legislation, you may not need a developer or a technology lead. 

    Roles you'll always need 

    You will always need the core roles of product manager and user researcher, as these are foundational to any service. Try to make sure that your core team is also empowered to make decisions. This will help them move through the service design and delivery process as smoothly as possible. 

    With a clear understanding of digital roles, you can better decide what you need, when you need them.

  • Building core roles in a team

    Learn more about the importance of building core roles in a multidisciplinary team. This guidance explains why you need core roles, what a core role is, their value, purpose and how to find them.

    Why you need core roles in a team

    Core roles allow you to:

    • design and deliver a service that is simple, clear and fast
    • ensure your team has the right capabilities (skills, knowledge, attributes) throughout the life of the service.

    Setting up a multidisciplinary team helps you comply with Criteria 2 of the Digital Service Standard. The team designs, builds, operates and improves the service.

    Core roles in a multidisciplinary team

    The core roles in a multidisciplinary team are consistent from discovery through to Live. Team members can be Australian Public Service staff or a combination of staff, contractors and secondees.

    What the core roles are

    There are 10 core roles to consider when building a multidisciplinary team. A team member may perform more than one of these roles. For example, a content designer may also do user research.

    You may need some or all of the following core roles, depending on the type of service you are designing:

    • product manager
    • content designer
    • user researcher
    • service designer
    • delivery manager
    • interaction designer
    • developer
    • technology lead
    • performance analyst       
    • tester

    The same core roles should be in the team for all 4 stages of the service design and delivery process. Find out more about the function and purpose of these core roles in a multidisciplinary team.

    Extended roles

    An extended role refers to when you may need specialist expertise to join the team for a time. For example, you may need the role of content strategist at the start of designing a service, but not for the whole service.

    How to structure your team and decide on core roles

    Start with a user-centred approach. Think about what you need to design and deliver to meet user needs. Different types of products and services will determine which of the core roles you need.

    Put users first

    Seek to understand user needs. Build your multidisciplinary team around a problem or service.

    Understand the roles

    Understand what the different core roles are and what they do. You can then decide which roles you need in your multidisciplinary team to develop the product or service your agency needs.

    Decide when you need them

    Decide when you need the roles. This will depend on the type of service you’re designing and delivering. Once you decide which core roles you need, they will stay in place for the life of the service.

    For example, if you are designing and building a service, you will likely need all 10 core roles. If you are designing policy or legislation, you may not need a developer or a technology lead.

    You will always need the core roles of product manager and user researcher, as these are foundational to any service.

    Try to make sure that your core team is also empowered to make decisions. This will help them move through the service design and delivery process as smoothly as possible.

    With a clear understanding of digital roles, you can better decide what you need, when you need them.

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