Watford Borough Council Website Re-design

Description

Summary of the work The Watford 2020 website re-design project has been initiated to fully redesign the council’s website. Expected Contract Length 6 Months Latest start date Friday 27 November 2020 Budget Range £50k-£60k Why the Work is Being Done The Watford 2020 website re-design project has been initiated to fully redesign the council’s website. This will enable Watford to deliver a website that fully supports engagement between the council and the wider community, and that delivers the Watford 2020 aim to be a digitally enabled council, with services designed to encourage customers to access them through digital channels. With the implementation of the Firmstep CRM, we now have to ensure that all of the services made available online are easily accessible for our customers, allowing them to self-serve when necessary. Problem to Be Solved The current website has been live since January 2014 and during this time web design, particularly public service web design has matured, with an increasing focus on user input used to inform design. The council website would therefore benefit from a design refresh to develop a site that better supports its digital ambitions. Who Are the Users As the users are largely the council residents, businesses and visitors the aim is to ensure that all of the services made available online are easily accessible for our customers so that they can self-serve when necessary. Existing Team Jadu, the Content Management System (CMS) that hosts the website remains a market leading product and will not be replaced through this project and will continue to host the redesigned site. Our ‘stand-alone’ websites, created by the Communications Team on the Wix platform, will also benefit from this re-design, as we will be able to bring these websites ‘in-house’ as ‘Galaxies’ using our new templates that we agree on during the project, allowing Watford Council to take ownership of all websites under one CMS. Digital Service improvement team: 4 team members Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • The chosen supplier should have previous experience of working with and supplying web design services to other councils. • Supplier must have delivered at least 5 large local authority websites over the last 5 years and 2 in the last 2 years to demonstrate you understand delivering current legislation • Previous experience of working with Jadu CMS platform is essential • Ability to create, design and layout distinct sections of the website • Experience of running user needs/testing workshops • Experience of setting up Single Sign-On for third party portals Nice to Haves Experience in using Site Improve or similar QA platform Work Location Watford Borough Council Town hall Working Arrangments Engage in and run workshops with key internal and external stakeholders to develop the final website design and also ensure compliance with accessibility requirements. Design work etc can be done off-site. Come in (Watford Town Hall) for key meeting over the duration of the project. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Previous experience • Design • Branding and Style Guide • Website navigation • Functionality • User feedback • Testing • Third party portals and partnership websites Cultural Fit Criteria • work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • share knowledge and experience with other team members • can work with clients with low technical expertise • Can work with a range of internal and external stakeholders Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is this a closed shop? or only companies that have already won work for local authorities, can bid for work for local authorities? Will developing major websites for major companies and central government be accepted as answers to your must haves? Due to the breadth of services we provide, we would prefer to work with suppliers who have previously worked with Local authorities and understands the particular challenges and opportunities there are in our area of work. 2. Are you open to accept proposal onsite-offshore based delivery model? We would be looking to work with a supplier who could come on-site to run workshops and attend key meetings. A supplier must be able to meet this requirement. 3. Is the budget expected to cover the design and build of the newsite or just the design of the site? The budget expected to cover the design and build. Please also note that we are keeping our existing CMS 4. Is previous Firmstep experience essential or will the buyer consider other CRM experience? Firmstep is our preferred but we would consider other CRM experience