User Testing - User testing services for the Scottish Government's CMS
The devolved Government for Scotland is responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Scotland, including health, education, justice, rural affairs, and transport. The Scottish Government was known as the Scottish Executive when it was established in 1999 following the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. The current administration was formed after elections in May 2007.
To focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.
What was Scottish Government looking for?
The Scottish Government website comprises over half a million pages managed by a team of over 200 content editors. This new web content management system, which was developed in-house, required a period of testing to ensure ease of use for different users, consistency of design and a full functionality.
What Innovation Digital did?
After a competitive tender process, Innovation Digital was contracted to develop a standardised framework for testing such a complex, functionally rich content management system. This was achieved by:
- Creation of use cases for different user type (editor, senior editor etc)
- Creation of test scripts based on key tasks
- Creation and management of an issue log of improvements and fixes to the system
- Conducting multiple rounds of user testing to ensure that all logged issues have been fixed and provide an improved experience for users of the system
- Analysing the system for design inconsistencies
The Results
Innovation Digital delivered the project on time, on budget and provided the following deliverables to the client:
- A number of concrete recommendations that allowed the client to identify key ‘points of pain’ within the system
- A detailed set of user and test cases would allow testing to refer to a standardised framework
- A design guide with rules for icon placement, colour, menu style. This ensured the system worked consistently between different functions.
Why this might be important for you?
If you’re looking to or are in the process of developing a large software application then user testing is imperative to the success of the application. Without a proper testing framework it becomes very hard to keep track of why certain problems persist and by constantly monitoring testing documentation, organisations can make it easier for future changes and iterations to be made. Similarly, by involving users every step of the way you deliver a system that meets everyone’s expectations.
Related work
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Usability testing & consultancy
Scottish Qualification Authority
Usability testing & consultancy
NHS Health Scotland
Usability Testing & Consultancy