The challenge
Many small businesses find it difficult to navigate the process of applying for a public tender. As such, the Municipality of Amsterdam started “Innovation Partners” to make it easier for young companies to participate in public projects.
The UX team had designed a simpler application flow for first time users and wanted to access how easy it was to fill in the application, and get user input on the process to improve the online experience.
- How do users overall experience filling in the process?
- How successful are they?
- Where do they need help or guidance?
- Other tips to make it more user-friendly and smooth?
The outcome
The application tool went live following the research, implementing the many recommendations from the UX study – and resulted in many more small companies applying.
The research showed that the interface and navigation model were both clear and easy to use. However, users missed key content and help during the process. The team did the following:
- Add overview of the required inputs up front to help companies quickly determine if a tender is relevant and worth their time to fill in .
- Expand the Q&A section to include many areas that were still not clear.
- Clarify ‘auto save’ and prevent data loss to give users more control of input.
The nitty gritty
- 1 sessions
- Start-up founders
- Task-based method using the prototype
- 5 questions explored experience
Talk to our experts on this story
Lea Ward
Research Director
Tess van Logtestijn
Research Lead
The challenge
Many small businesses find it difficult to navigate the process of applying for a public tender. As such, the Municipality of Amsterdam started “Innovation Partners” to make it easier for young companies to participate in public projects.
The UX team had designed a simpler application flow for first time users and wanted to access how easy it was to fill in the application, and get user input on the process to improve the online experience.
- How do users overall experience filling in the process?
- How successful are they?
- Where do they need help or guidance?
- Other tips to make it more user-friendly and smooth?
The outcome
The application tool went live following the research, implementing the many recommendations from the UX study – and resulted in many more small companies applying.
The research showed that the interface and navigation model were both clear and easy to use. However, users missed key content and help during the process. The team did the following:
- Add overview of the required inputs up front to help companies quickly determine if a tender is relevant and worth their time to fill in .
- Expand the Q&A section to include many areas that were still not clear.
- Clarify ‘auto save’ and prevent data loss to give users more control of input.
The nitty gritty
- 1 sessions
- Start-up founders
- Task-based method using the prototype
- 5 questions explored experience
