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Becoming a user researcher
Lydia Carvill, junior user researcher at the ESFA, talks about her journey into user research.
Agile
How we are keeping users at the heart of the apprenticeship service
At the apprenticeship service, we know the importance of focussing on user need. An important part of my role as lead user researcher is to bring together the knowledge of our user’ needs into a format which makes them accessible …
How the Apprenticeship Service is leading the way in digital innovation
Here at the Apprenticeship Service, we are known for our digital innovation. In 2018, we won the Digital Public Service Innovation of the Year award. We are planning new innovations at present, which will be the subject of blogs in …
‘Quick, intuitive, easy’: How we have improved apprenticeship service applications for end-point assessment organisations
We are launching a new digital system to improve the process for end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs) submitting applications to assess apprenticeship standards. The learning requirements for standards are set out in an assessment plan. We know from feedback from users that …
Digital is not different
Does being digital mean being different? When you build a digital service does that make it a different thing to the rest of the service? The National Careers Service has spent a good deal of time trying to establish how …
Risky business – how delivery manager Andrew Howe’s approach to risk affects his life in and out of the apprentice service
This year I will be racing my Ducati 959 Panigale bike in the British Superbikes Ducati Trioptions Cup, so I am used to risk. Whether I am racing or running the replica environment for the apprenticeship service, I have a …
Why is a careers service Digital First?
For this blog we are handing over to our colleague Joe Billington, director of the National Careers Service (NCS) on how, just like the apprenticeship service, the NCS has adopted a digital first approach. The mission statement for the National …
Things you need before setting up your apprenticeship service account
How many times have you started a task only to realise you don’t have the equipment or information you need? It’s a frustrating experience. We don’t want anyone who needs to set up an apprenticeship service account to feel this …
Clones that take the risk out of product rollout
Delivery Manager Andrew Howe on how replica environments support rollout confidence and protect user experience Talk of “top-secret replicas” and people would be forgiven for thinking of sinister sci-fi clones … but exactly the opposite is true within the apprenticeship …
Understanding our users better using the Large Employer Roadshows
My name is Ben and I’m a user researcher working on the apprenticeship service. The apprenticeship service research team were recently given the opportunity to attend this year’s large employer roadshows (LERs). The roadshows are a chance for employers to …