May 2018: Testing, planning and testing again

We’ve scoped out the initial packages of content the site will need, and verified they’ll be helpful to users. It’s given us a content wish list that we’re now filling for launch, with the help of specialist content editors and conversations with subject matter experts to check we’re on the right track.

Developer Pedro has been building out the core functionality of the site and app, so our paper prototypes have started to come to life on the screen. We’ve now got the basic mechanics that users will need to register and work with us.

Naomi’s designs have been refined to fit the outlines for the front page, with guidance for how different sections and functions will look. Good design makes a huge difference to usability, and we’re hoping to set a positive tone to match the positive changes our users want to make in their careers.

We’ve put a lot of effort into writing and testing a whole range of different ways to describe the service - really focusing on our strapline and the first sentences people will see when they hit the site. We know we’ve got a great product taking shape, but we also know it’s hard to explain exactly what it is when you’ve only got a few seconds of someone’s attention.

Testing and refining our ideas has shown us how the right combination of intro copy and images can help as many people as possible understand how WorkSmart is going to be relevant to their needs.

And whilst most of our energy is going into the immediate term goal of getting the site ready for showing to the world, we’ve also started planning for future stages.

We had a whole day’s workshop to look at the longer game - the kinds of digital tools and community our users might want to push for change in their jobs. It’s great that we’ve got advisory partners in this from some of the UK’s biggest trade unions, and further down the line we hope we can give our users a way to access their decades of knowledge in how to improve all sorts of things at work.