bromley mylife website: pre-training handout

Pre-training reading, thinking & actions– a training programme for our Bromley MyLife website

Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk

Created by –

Michael Watts, Product Owner [email protected] January 2016

1.The life of our website

____Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk

Our Bromley MyLife website exists:____

To help people make informed choices about their lives____Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk


The life of our website- in a single timeline

The user* experience needs to be at the heart of everything we do.

-- No exceptions --

* and by the user we meanmembers of the public and professionals


Our driving principle

2.Some examples of not

thinking about & understanding the user need & user

experience…____Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk


1. A popular example of user experience- why, just why?

2. My user experience - in Maidstone!


3. A user experience - in the office!


4. A user experience - by the Council!


Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Step 4

3.Our five core standards


Standard 1:The user experience is paramount & is at the heart of the website

Standard 2:Information is provided in ‘public friendly’ wording with no jargon – or very minimal, well explained, jargon when the user needs it

Standard 3:The pages are designed & built from a landscaped smartphone viewpoint

Standard 4:Information is provided using learning from behavioural insights to ‘nudge’ the user towards self-directed & self-managed support as a method of demand management

Standard 5:The pages are regularly reviewed & revised based on user experience

Our five core standards


Users like the images & brightness of the website– so, we need to keep & build on that

Users expect a consistent experience – so, we need to have a similar style & format across all the pages

Users want honest & open advice – so, we need to be transparent about services, eligibility criteria, costs, etc.

----The key takeaway – We need to make sure that all our pages are similar – not identical – across all the sections

Our style is our strength- let’s build on our authentic voice


Part of the purpose of the website is to manage demand on the Council’s services - so, if users need to go through other services that are available in their local community first, then we need to say that

• Being honest manages expectations, reduces the number of ‘negative first contacts’, & gives people a better user experience

• Signposting to the correct services in a clear way can make sure that all local services are fully used

----The key takeaway – When we write content & build pages, we need to point people to the correct places in the order that they will need to use them – users want honesty

Helping manage demand - helping people find the right support


Users want to find information easily & quickly – & then be able to understand it!- so, we need to make sure the information is written in simple, easy to understand terminology (we do have a tool that can test it!)

Users read less than 20% of the text content on an average web page - so, we need to be focused on what we write & make sure the key points are clear

• Use boxes, bullet points, rework paragraphs & highlight important bits

----The key takeaway – When we write content, stop & re-read it. Would a member of your family (or a mate in the pub/coffee shop/restaurant/spa*) understand it? No? Then change it!

Do you understand it?- keep information simple

____Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk * delete as appropriate!

Users often look past images – & can often get frustrated by them – but we also know that users like the images & brightness of our website- so, we need to make sure that the images that we use are relevant, add to the page & are not obviously “fake people stock photos”

Users get annoyed by poor quality images that are not properly produced - so, we need to make sure that our images are not stretched, fuzzy or look ‘cheap’

----The key takeaway – When we build pages, only use images that add to the user experience & which are high quality

A picture is worth a 1,000 words- except when it isn’t!


Users are increasingly visiting the website on a mobile or tablet device* - so, we need to make sure that they have a good experience of each & every page that they visit

Users visit pages about an actual service on a mobile more than pages about processes, eligibility criteria & ‘waffle’- so, we need to understand that users want to find & use information in different ways

----The key takeaway – We need to make sure we build all pages from a landscaped smartphone viewpoint – focusing on pages about an actual service

Mobile (& tablets) are the future- let’s give them a good experience now


* 1 in 100 visits in May 2011 compared to

1 in 2 visits in May 2015

4.Now, time for you to do

some thinking & complete a few actions


What’s the brief?We have been commissioned by Bromley CCG to build a new set of pages to help promote the self-management (patients) courses that they have commissioned

What’s the timescale?Bromley CCG have an event to launch the courses – and to train new patients – in 3 weeks time

What’s happened so far?This is the first we have heard about the event or the need to have this on the website.

The lead officer has sent a word document with what they want the pages to say & a supporting image. These are attached.

The exercise


Before the training session on Monday 11 January, you will need to:

1. Look at and pick apart the brief - think about the content and answer the following questions –

a) Why are these pages being developed?

b) Does that fit with the purpose of the website? Where would it fit?

c) What need will this meet? Who will it benefit? Who is it aimed at?

2. To help answer 1c, please complete at least 2 personas of different people who would use the pages

Visit UX Mastery to learn more and then complete the template


What you need to do…

http://uxmastery.com/create-ux-personas/

https://iammichaelwatts.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/personas-template_v1.pdf

3. Do some research of other websites that provide information about self-management for patients and ask yourself some questions:

Why do you like this example? How are they communicating the information? Who is their information aimed at? How have they made it accessible for all? What can we learn from it for our website?

4. Now start to think about how you would show the information that you have based on:

a) the needs of the user

b) why the pages & content are being developed

c) examples of the sites that you like ____Visit http://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk

What you need to do…

And then, bring all of that with you!


bromley mylife website: pre-training handout

Design