GOV.UK design system alpha reassessment
The report from the alpha reassessment for GDS's GOV.UK design system service on 31 August 2017.
| From: | Central Digital and Data Office |
| Assessment date: | 31/08/17 |
| Stage: | Alpha (re-assessment) |
| Result: | Met |
| Service provider: | GDS |
Previous assessment reports
The service met the Standard because:
- As a team, they have been rigorous in their efforts to understand needs which are service focused. This includes conducting user research to help map the constituent parts of the service, the different contexts of use, users and the relationships between them.
- The team are taking steps to ensure that they have the right roles for beta, not just for the platform, but also the service.
- The team engaged with users from access needs communities and implemented design changes based on what they learned.
Description
GOV.UK Design System is a place for service teams to find styles, components, and patterns to use in designing government services.
Service users
The users of this service are primarily designers and developers who build digital services in government.
Detail
User needs
Since the previous assessment the team has continued with user research activities to further elicit user needs, in particular in terms of the design system as a service. The panel is extremely pleased with the research work being carried out to build an inclusive service, and the work that’s planned going forward.
In particular, the team has maintained contact with people in the access needs Cross-Gov community and has commenced user research activities to understand access needs, as well as usability testing of the prototype. The team should continue to engage with such users to further crystallise their user needs. It is also great to hear that the team is already preparing for usability testing of the service once built, as well as an external accessibility audit, before entering beta.
The panel expects the team to continue with user research activities in the next phase. In particular expanding on the (a) service based user needs, (b) end to end usability testing, as well as (c) more work around how to support the contribution of research evidence for components and patterns.
Team
The team have demonstrated an exemplary level of collaboration and the panel were greatly impressed by how they have worked together to address the recommendations from the original assessment.
This work has now influenced how the team will be shaped going forward, ensuring the service is supported by a full-time team, complete with the appropriate development support. They are also seeking to recruit an engagement lead role to add to the multi-disciplinary mix.
Technology
The panel were pleased to see that the team have, since their initial assessment, resolved licensing issues on the codebase, and have come up with a number of options to allow patterns to be searched when users visit the service if JavaScript is unavailable. They also intend to evaluate this more fully during beta based on user research.
The team are striking a good balance between building and re-using technology, and we would like to see this approach continue through the service’s life. Rather than building everything from scratch, they are focusing on building the core of their product (a library of design patterns), and using other, more appropriate tools (notably, GitHub) to enable the workflow they want to encourage around the content of the service. Using GitHub to document the history of patterns, and to accept changes (along with having built a multi-channel support matrix) allows them to provide the best interaction model for their community while also focusing on building the core of their service.
The team also have a number of well-considered ideas for integrating with the GOV.UK Front-End Toolkit that they intend to investigate further during beta.
Design
The panel was impressed that, in addition to iteration of IA, page design and user-led features, the team have successfully widened out the design approach from a platform focus to designing a service.
This broader intention has resulted in the iteration of the service ambition:
GOV.UK Design System
One place for service teams to find the styles, components and patterns they need to design government services
- contributed to by teams across government
- assured with the Design System standard
- supported by a full time team
The three bullet points outline the wider scope that was explored in this later alpha phase.
Key recommendations from the first alpha assessment included exploring the end to end journey, IA improvements, support development of the library/system over time - including updating users of ongoing developments, further assurance of supporting assistive technologies.
In addition to “quick win” improvements, such as adding an alpha banner, these recommendations were addressed in the following areas:
- Platform design improvements - page templates and information architecture (IA)
The team’s testing and design iteration has resulted in significant improvement in clarity and usability. The team further recognise that the current state of IA will likely require iteration when there are a greater number of patterns. In the course of the IA work, the team have developed useful definitions, e.g. patterns v. components, which helped shape the approach to ongoing development of the library. The team are also looking to explore further informational uses of the landing page template.
- Development of search
Although the team’s testing showed that users were successful with or without a search, it is probable that once there are a larger number of patterns, search will be more appreciated. The team iterated a number of approaches and are currently working with an autocomplete plus Google site search approach, which has tested well.
- Accessibility needs
The team spoke to a number of users across government with accessibility needs, and tested the prototype with key vision and dyslexia assistive tools. This work fed into the IA and page template design iteration, as well as a plan for Beta (e.g. ARIA labels, full tagging, continuing testing with assistive technology users and automated testing).
- Front-end integration
As covered in the technology section, the team have considered this integration in their development of the service. Currently there is signposting to the toolkit, although in future there could be a bit more content about the toolkit, for users who are not already familiar with it. It will be helpful for the team to continue to work with departments that are also developing prototyping kit / front-end integration.
- Routes into the service
The team recognise the need for multiple approaches to alert users to the existence of the service and to signpost users into the service. One point that was raised was considering whether new users would appreciate a bit more information about the state of superseded tools. The service design approach to routes into the service includes inductions, training, show and tells.
- Support for users
The team have taken an interesting task and user need analysis, providing an approach to understanding the type of support needed and a way of answering that need. This shows good evidence of moving from a platform provision to a service design approach. The team are also considering potential to update users and contributors when changes are posted.
- Developing a service that supports contribution and continuous improvement
The team have carried out good research into the current practice across government for contribution and iteration of patterns, and looked at the needs of specific departments and users. This has resulted in additions and iteration of the prototype to provide more ways in for users to contribute. They have also prototyped a structure and practice assurance of new contributions. Key to this is their analysis of the different basis for new components versus patterns. They have also piloted a cross-government working group. This, again is evidence of solid work in widening out the design focus from a platform to a service.
Recommendations
To pass the beta, the service team must:
- Continue to develop GOV.UK Design System as a service rather than a platform.
- Continue to build a clear, cohesive integration with the GOV.UK Front-End Toolkit, including thinking through the implications of changes to GOV.UK Front-End Toolkit modules on versioning of the patterns library.
- Continue to plan/design for scaling the number of patterns and components, including determining and meeting the needs of departments with unique pattern/component needs.
- Continue with their user research activities, including end to end testing and appropriate user research on access needs.
The service team should also:
- Share their work and learning on service-focused needs, in particular around support, with similar services in GDS.
- Continue to work with the departments that are developing their own pattern libraries, design languages and department-specific services to support that work, and integrate it with the GOV.UK Design System.
- Explore expanded uses for the landing pages (e.g. Components), e.g. can they be used to highlight new or experimental patterns. Consider adding some content, possibly on the homepage, to let users know what tools have been superseded, as well as further information about the GOV.UK front-end toolkit integration, for new users.
- Continue to use existing tools and technologies to deliver their service, allowing them to focus on the integration of all of these to create a coherent overall service.
Next Steps
You should follow the recommendations made in this report before arranging your next assessment.
Get advice and guidance
The team can get advice and guidance on the next stage of development by:
- searching the Government Service Design Manual
- asking the cross-government slack community
- contacting the Service Assessment team