Through this website we aim to provide you with:
- access to our products and services
- information on who we are and how we help improve healthcare in Scotland
- opportunities to communication with us and participate in our work
- links to other online resources that we think may be of value to you
Website development and user research
Earlier this year, we commissioned usability and accessibility specialists called Optimum Web to gather marketing research information to help us answer the following questions:
- who are the people we want to reach through our website?
- what are their needs and expectations?
- how do we prioritise these needs and start addressing them?
With the answers to these questions, we are now working on a plan to develop a new website that meets the needs of our users.
About the research
Firstly, Optimum web met with representatives from our organisation and asked them:
- who do you want your work to reach?
- what do those people know about you and your work?
- how can a website support your work in future?
Then, based on the answers we gave, Optimum Web met with 9 groups of people who representatives those we wished to reach through our site.
They asked them:
- Have you heard of NHS QIS and do you know what they do?
- What do you think of their website and the information it provides?
- How often do you use this website?
- If you could have a website designed around your needs what would you ask for?
Research findings
There are two main types of people we want to reach through this site:
- Partners: both public and professional who know about QIS and are involved in our work
- Non-partners: Professionals and members of the public who have little or no direct knowledge of us.
Their behavior and needs can be further described in 4 user types:
Professional partner users
This group includes Liaison Coordinators, health board partners, occupational partners and affiliate organisatons. Their roles include Quality & Accreditation Managers, Directors of Clinical Effectiveness, Clinical Effectiveness Facilitator, Clinical Governance Leads, Charge Nurse, Clinical Librarian, Clinical Risk Managers, Head Clinicians, Lecturers and University Deans.
A typical professional partner is interested in all areas of healthcare practice. They use the Internet more than 2.5 hours per week and visit our website either weekly or monthly. They mainly use the website to access our publications, find information on consultations and Health Board performance and they can refer committees and implementation staff to relevant information here. They describe the current website as difficult to navigate and search and found it difficult to find specific pieces of information. They enjoy using other sites such as the NICE website.
From this website they would like access to all relevant products i.e. products for all practice areas and operational levels with the ability to filter to the products they need. They need to be aware of latest updates and to be able to pinpoint implementation support materials, in the right format, to pass on to colleagues. They want to see best practice information to prevent duplication of effort and would like to create documents they can submit to us in order to maximise their available time. They would also like to share experience and ideas with peers.
Public partner users
These are our registered Public Partners and they can be Former Company Directors, Retired Clinical Effectiveness Leads and retired clinicians.
A typical public partner is interested in review visits, events and meetings news. They use the Internet for 2.5 hours or less per week and visit our website monthly. They describe the current website as looking unprofessional, being difficult to navigate and badly organised. They are highly committed to building public awareness of QIS’ work and see QIS from a public perspective.
From this website they would like to be able to understand our full role and remit and would like to see our performance against our set objectives. They want to be able to expand their knowledge of special projects & conditions in advance of participating in one of our reviews and they want to know more about the wider public partner network.
Non partner professional users
These include NHSScotland staff of various levels as well as professionals from other organisations and bodies. They could be GPs, Consultants, Registrars, Clinical Directors, Occupational Health Nurses, Senior Staff Nurses, District Nurses and Allied Health Professionals.
They have good internet literacy but tend to have limited time to use the internet. They are always looking for very specific information and prefer to have information emailed to them than have to look for it online. They describe the current website as difficult to navigate and have problems identifying our role in their work. They are keen to learn more about us and how we can benefit them, and are keen to know more about their peers and share experiences.
From this website they would like to access information on their specific area of practice. They would like to get a ‘feel’ for what is going on in different healthcare topics and would like to use the website to refer patients to public-focused information that they can understand. They need to know what their peers are doing and be able to share experiences with them. They need direction on the useful websites, training and activities out there. They need to know that they are not missing any vital information such as guidelines and standards.
This group covers patient interest groups, actively interested members of the community and the general public. This group has very little knowledge of us and has probably never visited the website. They need to know quickly who we are and what we do. They are interested in healthcare and especially the quality of healthcare in Scotland, and they need to find out what part we play in that. They would like to know more about activities taking place in their local area and who to contact if they want to complain or get involved in local healthcare.
Further reading
Read Optimum web’s research summary
Website objectives based on user needs
Now that we know where to begin, we are planning a website redevelopment with the following priorities:
- to provide new and existing users with clear information about the our purpose, process, and the products and services we deliver
- to strengthen our partner relationships both professional and public, by promoting their involvement in QIS processes and developing online tools to support the work they do and their information they provide
- to expand the access to our products to include SIGN guidelines and patient safety information and improve access by categorising products by health topic, treatment area, local health board (where relevant) and publication date
- to increase our ‘partner’ audience by turning website visitors into registered users who can access events, updates, and information tailored to their needs
The new website will be available early 2008 – so stay tuned.