UKSBS DDaT21498 – BEIS – Simple Energy Advice Alpha

Description

Summary of the work Identifying the setup of the new website on gov.uk and creating the prototype for the new user journey that combines the existing SEA content with clear articulation of user journey and seamless journey between Gov.uk and third party sites. Expected Contract Length 10 weeks Latest start date Monday 10 January 2022 Budget Range The budget for this 10 week period should not exceed £277,450.00 excluding VAT Why the Work is Being Done The Simple Energy Advice (SEA) website, designed to provide bespoke advice to the public on improving home energy efficiency, will be closed and on the recommendation of the Government Digital Service, an improved service will be developed on gov.uk. A discovery has been completed which identified the user need for the service to transition to GOV.UK and opportunities for improvement to the existing content. This alpha project will focus on identifying the user journey for the new service on GOV.UK and how the existing SEA content will be transitioned across to fit within the new user journey. Problem to Be Solved The key objectives of the alpha are: a. Identifying the design and functionality of the new website on gov.uk b. Creating the prototype for the new user journey that combines the existing SEA content. c. Exploring the options for a MVP to transition content to GOV.UK Who Are the Users Homeowner, I need a recommendation to improve the energy performance of my home. I also need access to tradespeople and information on Government support schemes to reduce my energy bills. Landlord, I need a recommendation to improve the energy performance of my property to ensure compliance with Energy Efficiency Standards. I need access to tradespeople and information on Government support schemes to reduce my tenants’ energy bills. Tenant, I need to know my rights regarding the energy performance of the property I rent. I need to know actions I can take to improve energy performance to reduce my energy bills. Early Market Engagement Not applicable Work Already Done A discovery has been completed which identified the user need for the service to transition to GOV.UK and opportunities for improvement to the existing content. This alpha project will focus on identifying the user journey for the new service on GOV.UK and how the existing SEA content will be transitioned across to fit within the new user journey. Any previous outputs/backlogs/etc will be shared with all shortlisted suppliers. Existing Team The supplier will predominantly be working with: The Energy Efficiency & Local team in BEIS which consists of 3 x Policy Officers Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Demonstrate your experience of identifying users who require assisted digital services, including vulnerable consumers, and their respective needs and usage patterns. (4%) • Demonstrate experience of ensuring prototype services cater to user needs. (4%) • Demonstrate your teams experience of building easy-to-use consumer-facing web-based applications. (4%) • Proven track record of delivering complex software projects in the UK government sector in line with the GDS and GOV.UK Standards. (4%) • Demonstrate your teams experience of rapidly developing and iterating prototypes based on user testing, findings from discovery and policy context, including assisted digital. (4%) • Demonstrate your teams experience of communicating complex issues using clear and concise language in both written and verbal ways to a variety of audiences and expertise levels. (2%) • Demonstrate, using an example your experience of delivering projects using agile project management methodologies. (2%) • Demonstrate your teams experience of conducting and documenting user research, and using findings to iterate project work and software development. (2%) Nice to Haves • Demonstrate your knowledge of the issues surrounding domestic energy efficiency, particularly in respect of consumer advice and consumer energy usage. (1%) • Detail your familiarity with the principles of behavioural insight and behavioural change. Experience of applying these principles to consumer-facing services, particularly online. (1%) • Experience of working across multiple government departments, including data-sharing protocol. (1%) • Detail, with an example, your team’s experience of researching, designing or building digital services in the energy or net zero space. (1%) Work Location With the team working remotely, it is expected the supplier will do the same. However, if the need arises, the supplier’s team may need to travel to the 1 Victoria Street HQ in London for a meeting/workshop(s). Working Arrangments The supplier staff will be expected to be available during the typical working hours of the policy team (Monday to Friday 9:30am-5pm) in order to maximise knowledge transfer. We require the supplier to hold agile ceremonies as well as weekly update/‘show and tell’ sessions for BEIS stakeholders, which will take place over MS Teams. Other tools such as JIRA, Azure DevOps, Mural, Microsoft Whiteboard and Office 365 can/may be used for collaboration too Security Clearance All individuals must have BPSS as a minimum. Additional T&Cs Not applicable No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Describe the approach and methodology you will apply to Alpha, including how priorities will be determined and emerging findings presented (5%) • Describe how the approach will achieve the objectives and intended outcomes (5%) • Describe how the structure of the team and how their technical skills and experience will be used to deliver the need, including estimated resource dedicated to the project (5%) • Please provide a project plan with proposed timelines which clearly details areas for mobilisation and delivery and action points around these (5%) • Identify the risks and dependencies you associate with the project and how you would provide mitigation actions to manage them (5%) • Please provide details as to how the requirement will provide value for money, including how you will take previous learning to deliver better value for this project (5%) Cultural Fit Criteria • Detail how you will proactively engage with stakeholders to progress the project and communicate in an appropriate manner to the audience (3%) • Detail how you will ensure you work in a way that is that is open, honest and constructive (2%) • Detail how you will work successfully with the team collaboratively considering it is a multidisciplinary agile team (3%) • Detail how your team will work in a user driven approach, using research and evidence to challenge underlying assumptions/present findings in a way decision makers can easily digest (3%) • Detail how your team will respond to change throughout the project. (2%) • Detail your plan for taking ownership of the requirement. (2%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 15% Price 25% Questions from Suppliers 1. 1. Procurement Timeframe The anticipated procurement timeframes are as follows:29th November 2021 - Notification of shortlisting outcome6th December 2021 - Written Proposal Deadlinew/c 13th December 2021 - Presentations5th January 2022 - Notification of award outcome 2. 2. Scoring The requirement will be scored on the 0-3 scoring methodology:-0 - Not met or no evidence1 - Partially met2 - Met3 - Exceeded 3. When was Discovery work undertaken? June-August 2021 4. Were any suppliers or solo contractors involved in Discovery work? If so, can you confirm they have ethical walls agreements in place in respect of this opportunity? There is no ethical wall agreement but we are running an open and fair competition 5. Do you have a preferred technology stack for hosting any prototypes and code repositories? Prototypes will be hosted in the BEIS Development environment on Azure and code repositories will be held on Github. 6. Is this a strict Alpha phase (prototype focussed) or is the scope also to deliver a full production site at the end of 10 weeks (e.g. inclusive of Beta and Live phases)? Strict Alpha 7. All of our UK staff comply with the BPSS RICE principles. Do you require third party verification of this before the project commencement? Should a third party be directly working on the account, and not via the supplier, then the principles would apply to them. 8. Could the department please clarify if they will accept Nearshore or Offshore working on this project, given the stated position the work is remote? Transfer of data outside of the UK could potentially cause concerns as GDPR needs to be considered. This combined with potential legislation issues and financial concerns makes for near/offshore working difficult. 9. Could you tell us who carried out the discovery? The discovery was carried out by Thoughtworks. 10. Did the discovery reveal any details of the needs and usage patterns of users requiring assisted digital services? If so, to what extent would the supplier be required to further this type of user research in the alpha phase since it seems to be implied in one of your listed essentials – ‘experience of identifying users who require assisted digital services...and their needs and usage patterns’? The discovery revealed limited details for users requiring assisted digital services though previously an Accessibility Report has been carried out highlighting where the current service does not meet WCAG 2.1 standards. As part of the Alpha, we expect the supplier to consider these needs whilst creating the prototype and work within Government accessibility requirements. 11. You’ve listed “a familiarity with the principles of behavioural insight and behavioural change.” Are there members of the BEIS team who have skills and experience in these areas if the delivery team do not? The BEIS Alpha team do not have the skills nor experience in behavioural insight and change but can request advice and information from BEIS Social Research Team. 12. Would the supplier be expected to recruit individuals for conducting the user research and the user testing of the prototypes? Yes, but we can support recruitment through our stakeholder networks. Also, from the discovery, there is a pool of individuals who have expressed interest in participating. This covers homeowners, landlords, and tenants. However, further recruitment would be required of GDS accessibility user profiles which the BEIS team will support with through our stakeholder network 13. Would it be acceptable for the supplier to sub-contract the conducting of user research to a 3rd party? Or would it be acceptable for two suppliers to jointly bid for this alpha? Yes, as long as it does not exceed the specified budget.