About the Work
We partnered with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) to deliver a digital data platform that will improve access to better quality infrastructure project data, improve benchmarking estimates for future projects and save multi-millions of public money.
Challenges
We needed to pick up the service from a prior ‘Not met’ GDS assessment and showcase the absolute experience of our multidisciplinary team to focus on solving the whole problem for the users. This required meticulous coordination and collaborations with departments and ALBs like Network Rail, Highways England, DfT, GDS and Cabinet Office Digital. Adding a mini discovery in order to deliver a comprehensive user-centred Alpha in line with GOV.UK Service Standards, in a condensed timeline of 12 weeks truly challenged our team to deliver above and beyond the problem at hand.
- On this page:
- About the work
- Challenges
- Statement of requirement
- Our approach
- Results
Statement of Requirement
- User Research
- Service design
- Multi-disciplinary team
- IDAM
- Rapid Prototyping
- Content design
Our Approach
We conducted a discovery and thorough alpha, prioritising user needs. We swiftly identified and recruited real users, leveraging insights from user research to define user groups. Taking an agile approach, we designed, prototyped, and iterated the end-to-end proposed service. Our commitment to user-centred design was reinforced by coaching the internal service team, potential users, and wider stakeholders in workshops, show-and-tells, and open collaboration sessions. Seeking continuous improvement, we invited peer reviews from GDS and Cabinet Office DDaT. The team was meticulously prepared for an Alpha assessment with GDS, ensuring the Benchmarking Data Service aligns seamlessly with user needs and principles of the GOV service manual.
This was the first time we have worked with Gulp Digital and I have been impressed with how quickly they hit the ground running and embedded within the organisation as a team. The team have been great to work with, they have demonstrated clear experience in carrying out work in line with the government service standards. They have challenged us throughout the Alpha to ensure we get the best results and deliverables. I would welcome the opportunity to work with them again in the future.
Aleister Hellier, Head of Benchmarking at the Cabinet Office (IPA)
Results
Our interventions resulted in the IPA achieving one of it’s objectives of a service that focused on user needs. We successfully led the Benchmarking Data Service to achieve a ‘Met’ at GDS assessment. This marked a first for the IPA and with the approval to move on to a private beta build of the service, making the vision of saving, the government and taxpayers, even 1% of project costs (~£750m per year) through better benchmarking a step closer to reality. This highlighted our team’s dedication and commitment to transparency, agility, and delivering value for money.
