Money Advice Service

Usability testing for Annuities and Income Drawdown Tools

4
Incomplete applications
4 SME, 0 large
4
Completed applications
4 SME, 0 large
Published Monday 16 July 2018
Deadline for asking questions Monday 23 July 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications Monday 30 July 2018 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Summary of the work The Money Advice Service is looking for an agency to recruit users and undertake 1x round of usability testing for the Guaranteed income product tool with a final report and up to 3 rounds of the Income Drawdown tool, with 2 interim and 1 final report.
Location London
Research dates 13 August 2018 to week of 22 October 2018
Organisation the work is for Money Advice Service
Budget range

About the work

Early market engagement Indicative quotes were requested from three providers to scope the budget of the project

About the research

Description of your participants Users from across the UK, with a good mix of gender, that fit some or all of the following criteria:
- considering accessing one or more of their defined contribution pensions in order to provide a retirement income
- aged between 55 and 65 but not yet retired
- do not have a financial adviser
- people that might be defined as disengaged - those for whom the decision is a default or much of the decision is left to others
In addition, users must meet AT LEAST ONE of the following health criteria:
- they smoke, or have been a smoker in the past
- they take medication for high cholesterol or high blood pressure
- they have been diagnosed with diabetes
- they have any kind of heart condition
Assisted digital and accessibility requirements
Research plan
Research location London based fully-equipped UX Lab provided by supplier
Access restrictions at location
Number of research rounds 1 round (Annuities) and up to 3 rounds (Income Drawdown)
Number of participants per round 5
How often research will happen Approximately every 3 weeks
Evening or weekend research

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

Essential skills and experience
  • Provide a fully equipped UX lab in London that can accommodate a viewing area for a minimum of 5 guests
  • Create a suitable test script
  • Recruit suitable users
  • Undertake usability testing
  • Analyse the findings
  • Provide key recommendations in the form of an interim/final report at least one week after completion of the user research
Nice-to-have skills and experience Have experience recruiting participants with medical conditions

How suppliers will be evaluated

How many suppliers to evaluate 5
Proposal criteria
  • Provision of suitable lab that matches the stated requirements and location
  • Approach to recruiting and receiving specialist and harder to find participants
  • Management of participants to ensure quality and attendance
  • Anticipated risks and dependencies and approaches to managing them, including contingency planning for cancellations or no-shows
  • Estimated timeframes for the work
  • Data protection process, including measures to protect the data subject, their rights and deleting participants data
  • Breakdown of recruitment costs and incentives
Assessment methods Written proposal
Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

50%

Availability

20%

Price

30%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. What is the budget for this project? The expected budget range is between £15,000 and £25,000
2. In “description of your participants“ it says users from across the UK are required. However, the research location required is “London based fully-equipped UX lab provided by supplier“. These seem contradictory if face-to-face usability testing is required: It will be difficult and expensive to get face-to-face participants from other parts of the UK to attend studios in London. Are you envisaging some remote testing being undertaken in studios? The lab(s) must be located in London to facilitate Money Advice Service stakeholders the opportunity to view the user testing. Participants can be from any part of the UK but will have to travel to London to take part. Day Travel costs should be covered and considered as part of the recruitment costs.
3. Are there existing incumbent suppliers for usability testing? Have any of the three suppliers who provided quotes been provided with any more information about this project? While agencies have been used in the past, Money Advice Service does not have a incumbent supplier for user testing. Indicative costs have been acquired from two agencies using the same information provided in this notice under the understanding that this was pre-market engagement. Any agency wishing to win the work will have to engage in this current process.
4. From what I can gather from your brief, geographical bias isn't an issue for this study so you could hold these sessions anywhere in the UK. Most labs will provide remote viewing facilities for your stakeholders and it may even be more cost effective to hold them outside of London. Have you considered this? The Lab is required to be situated in London to allow easy access for MAS employees who are already restricted by time.
5. How many days per week from the beginning of the contract until the end of the contract do you need the exercise to take place and what are the slots for the exercise (eg:Half day,Full Day) ? The tests are face-to-face moderated tests. Each test is a discreet, requiring 1 full day at the selected labs. The space between tests is approximately 2-3 weeks.
6. We are happy to provide well versed test scripts and plans as well depending on the level of UT to be done , however will you provide us with access to the Test / Live Application to write down those Test Scripts? Prototypes will be provided for each of the test with a shared URL. It is our hope the awarded supplier will form test scripts in collaboration with a member of the Money Advice Service digital team (UX or product).
7. Is the relation going to be just a Resource Supplier / Delivery Partner ? We expect the awarded supplier to provide a fully equipped UX lab on a convenient date, a user researcher to liaise, prepare, moderate and evaluate the tests. More details can be found in the spec. No other services outside the test are required.
8. Can the supplier use 3rd Parties for some of the services (Eg: Using 3rd parties labs in London) Yes, provided it is clearly stated who and what services will be provided by the third parties.