Understanding your users Designing content to meet user needs

Overview

User needs are plain language examples of what a person wants to achieve when they visit your content on the ONS website. They should be based on evidence and not assumption.

User needs are expressed as user stories, which usually include three short statements covering:

• who the user is
• what they need to do
• why they need to do it

For example:

Everything we publish should meet a user need. This approach is known as “user-centred”. Taking a user-centred approach to writing your content will help users to complete their tasks effectively when they visit your page.

Users are more likely to read further, visit other pages on the ONS website, and share content with others (for example, on social media), if it clearly and concisely meets their needs.

Super needs

Each piece of content on the ONS website meets different user needs, depending on the type of user it is for and the topics it covers. 

However, there are also top-level user needs that we apply to all our content, which help us to keep it consistent. These are known as “super needs”. Content that does not have a clear user need, and that does not meet at least one of our super needs, will not be published on the website.

We developed the super needs by identifying the most common user needs across our content. We then grouped these needs into the five typical stages of an ONS user journey.

Aware

• I need to know about the ONS and how it works, so that I build trust and confidence in ONS data and statistics.
• I need to know how to take part in an ONS survey and why I should, so I feel confident in the ONS when providing my data. 

Find

• I need to complete my tasks quickly.
• I need to know when new or updated figures are released so that I can access the latest statistics as soon as they are published.
• I need to be able to find and access the information I need in Welsh. 

Understand

• I need to understand headline trends for my topic of interest.
• I need to understand the figures the ONS is presenting.
• I need to understand why the numbers have changed or stayed the same.
• I need to know how the data and insights are collected and produced, and any changes to the quality, so I know how to use them.

Explore

• I need to see patterns and trends in the data, so I can easily compare across different variables, time periods and geographies.
• I need to find information that is relevant to me and my local area.
• I need to query the data so that I can create my own dataset based on my needs. 

Act

• I need to download the data or information in the format I need so that I can use it in my work.
• I need to share ONS information and tools – for example, with my contacts, on my organisation’s website or on social media.
• I need to make well-informed decisions using ONS data and insights.
• I need to contact the ONS to get an answer to my question.

The user needs to content process

When we publish new content or update existing content, we follow a step-by-step user needs to content process to ensure that we are taking a user-centred approach. In the Content Design team and wider Content Service, we use the following steps when working with statistical teams to publish content on the ONS website.

1. Define and verify user needs and acceptance criteria, grouping similar needs together and ensuring they are in priority order.
2. Sketch an outline of your content using the prioritised needs.
3. Write your content from the sketch, using the acceptance criteria to ensure all user needs are met.
4. Review your content with peers and stakeholders, using their feedback to iterate and improve.

Anyone who publishes content on the ONS website can follow this process to ensure it meets user needs.

Defining user needs and acceptance criteria

Writing user stories

It is important to identify the user needs for your content before you start writing or updating it, to ensure that it is user centred. Begin by identifying who your users are, what they are looking for, and why. We can then turn this information into user stories, following the three-part format:

If you are unsure about who your users are, you can read about the different types of people who access the ONS website in our User personas guidance (opens in a new tab) .

All user needs should be based on evidence. We can identify user needs from:

• user research (for example, interviews, focus groups and questionnaires)
• performance analytics (including how users arrive at your page, how long they stay, how they behave, and where they go next)
• evidence from stakeholders (or others who have had contact with your main user groups)
• desk research (for example, research into how comparable organisations present similar content)
• existing content

Remember to read the ONS super needs (opens in a new tab)  and identify whether any are relevant to your content. You can also make the super needs more specific.

For example, if you are writing a page about the freedom of information (FOI) requests process, the following super need could be relevant:

However, to ensure your content serves your specific users, you should make the need more specific to your topic area:

Writing acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria are specific conditions you must meet in your content for a user need to be addressed.

For example, for the user story:

The acceptance criteria might be:

You should return to your acceptance criteria as you write your content. If your content enables the user to complete the tasks in the acceptance criteria, then it is meeting user needs effectively.

Refining user stories and acceptance criteria

Once we have agreed user needs and acceptance criteria, we will refine them with user researchers and stakeholders to:

• remove any duplication
• remove any that are already served by other content
• remove any that are not supported by sufficient evidence
• check whether any can be expressed more clearly
• check whether any user needs could become acceptance criteria or vice versa
• check if there are any that need further research or investigation

Grouping and prioritising needs

Once we have refined and validated the user needs and acceptance criteria, we will complete the following steps.

1. Arrange any similar needs into groups.
2. Label each group with a descriptive heading.
3. Place the labelled groups in priority order. 

This will help to determine a user-centred structure for your content.

Sketching your content

User needs are the building blocks of our content. Once you have a set of prioritised user needs, grouped by topic, you can begin drafting a top-level outline, known as a sketch.

Producing a sketch before you start writing makes it easier to see how the content fits together. It also makes it easier to move elements around, without having to scroll through a lengthy document.

A sketch should:

• include all top-level headings
• list any essential topics that need to be covered under each heading
• be labelled to show where standard components (for example, headline facts and figures tiles (opens in a new tab) ), charts or interactive elements) could be included to meet user needs

Keep this process focused on what users need to know. For example, you can:

• use the labels you have given to each group of user needs to help you write more descriptive headings for your content
• use the priority order of your user needs to determine the order of your content, so you frontload the information that most users need to know

Writing user-centred content

Writing from user needs helps you to improve the logic, flow and structure of your content, while avoiding duplicated or unnecessary information.

When you begin writing, refer to your sketch to maintain focus on the information that is most important to users. You can also add user needs and acceptance criteria to your draft document and tick them off as you go.

Writing from an agreed set of user needs also makes it easier to pair write with stakeholders, as everybody is working towards the same goals.

When writing your content, you should:

• use the active voice
• use plain language
• break up text with descriptive headings, bullet points and accordions
• ask yourself whether you can reduce the number of words without losing any meaning
• ask yourself whether any of the content you are writing already exists elsewhere

Reviewing your content

Once you have written your content, you should review it with:

• your peers (for example, analysts in your team and/or content designers)
• any relevant stakeholders

Peer review

Peer review should be focused on improving the structure and flow of the content. It should also ensure that all user needs and acceptance criteria are met. 

Reviewers should look at:

• whether the content aligns with house style and its allocated content type
• grammatical errors
• ways of reducing or reworking content to make it more concise and user centred
• opportunities for putting complex sentences into plain language
• consistency

Stakeholder review

Stakeholder review should be focused on fact-checking the content. It should not involve making large changes to the structure of the content, as it has already been written according to the prioritised user needs agreed at the validation and sketching stages.

It is important to set out clear boundaries for feedback to ensure that stakeholders focus on the most important aspects of the content.

As a starting point, ask stakeholders to point out anything that is:

• incorrect
• misleading
• missing

Continuous improvement

Writing user-centred content is a continuous process. When circumstances change in your topic area, users and their needs change, too. It is good practice to review your content regularly, consulting the most up-to-date user research and analytics, where available, to ensure it continues to meet user needs.