Graphical Design Consultant



TERMS OF REFERENCE 

User Experience and Graphical Design Consultant

to support development, management and implementation of Government digital solutions  

for the education sector

I.      Background:

       AGE’s mission is to bring leading technologies into the Government, rethink processes, improve public services and make them work for the benefit of the citizens. The fast pace of development led to several products listed below being developed. Each product is based on complex underlying processes and interconnections between multiple systems and is aimed to solve specific functions. Considering that the products and processes have been developed by different teams, at different pace, at different times and for different purposes, they evolved in and offer different user experiences. We believe that ensuring things work for end users is the only way to realise the efficiencies that come with digital transformation hence are looking to unify the experience of products and services we develop. The objective of this work will be to assess and improve the current user experience and identify the top 10 processes/workflows which shall be improved. Moreover, this exercise will aim to define the best practices and UX Strategy for AGE products which will be developed in future. The guidelines and suggestions defined as part of this work will serve as foundational building blocks for the future workflows, products, and services.

II.   Assignment description and objectives:

       A Consultant will be hired to join the program and he/she will act as the expert and coordinator of the activities related to graphic design.

       The Consultant will work in close collaboration with the Project Manager and other consultants to ensure a proper match of all procedures to fulfill at best the assignment.          

AGE has launched a set of components that are a vital part of the shared Government technological platform as well as a number of e-services for citizens and businesses. These platforms and services play an important part in the digitalization agenda and include:

  • MConnect – data exchange platform;
  • MPass – government electronic identity service;
  • MSign – government digital signature service;
  • MPay – government payment service;
  • MNotify – government notification service;
  • MPower – government authorization service;
  • MLog – government journaling service;
  • Public Service Portal – government portal for public services for citizens and business;
  • MCabinet – citizen portal;
  • Front-office digitalization – framework aimed to streamline development of e-forms for public service delivery.

The assignment will focus on top 10 services provided by the state to the citizens and businesses identified together with the consultant (firm).

III. Scope of Work:

 

     The Consultant will work closely with the AGE team members to successfully carry out this assignment. The Consultant will undertake the following activities:

  • Audit platform-level applications, products and services, including, but not limited to following aspects:
    • Landing pages
      • Are landing pages providing a clear entryway to applications?
      • Is it clear what features and functions are available to the users?
      • Do landing pages motivate users to proceed to the desired information and/or tasks?
    • Navigation
      • Can users use applications in any environment (different browser, device)?
      • Is navigation clear, easy-to-use and intuitive?
      • Does navigation support the main content for users?
      • Is it clear to the users where they are and how they can go back?
    • Functionality and features
      • Can users easily control (undo, cancel, confirm) the information they provide?
      • Are features and functions easy-to-use and easily accessible?
      • Are call to actions and contextual information elements clearly designed and presented?
    • Language and consistency
      • Do applications use simple, easy-to-understand language?
      • Are terms, language, and tone consistent?
      • Is there consistency in the use of visual elements?
    • Error Prevention & Correction
      • Do error messages appear?
      • Have common errors been taken into consideration and, where possible, prevented?
      • Are messages easy to understand, identifiable to the cause, and provide solutions?
    • Visual Clarity
      • Is the layout clear to users?
      • Are there unnecessary design elements and visual treatments?
    • Accessibility
      • Is the resource accessible to people with low vision?
      • Can the resource be used without mouse or keyboard?
      • Are there textual equivalents provided for images?
      • Are the links named meaningfully? etc.
    • Organize research and discovery workshops with stakeholders and focus groups to ensure iterative and low-risk delivery before engaging in design activities. Such workshops should include at least the following activities:
      • Define project goals & business needs.
      • Identify users & groups.
      • Discover and prioritize user needs.
      • Discover scenarios.
      • Define user journeys.
      • Identify gaps & pain points and find solutions.
    • Develop a user experience and design vision, a concept for unifying user experience across public services portal, platform-level services and selected e-services, taking into account industry best practices as well as experience of other Governments and guidelines for implementing the concept in other government platforms and e‑services.
    • Enhance user interface of selected applications to allow for a more streamlined and user-friendly experience of interacting with them across devices and platforms, including mobile devices, tablets, kiosks, laptops/PCs.
    • Optimize user workflows (i.e. account registration procedure, e-service requests, etc.).
    • Simplify online forms and make them more accessible for users with different degrees of computer literacy.
    • Increase user engagement and create a more interactive feel throughout the applications.

IV. Deliverables:

The Consultant will submit weekly reports detailing tasks performed that week and planned to be worked on next week, the exact format and audience of this reports will be agreed at the start of the project.

ID

Description

Duration

 

   

1

User Experience (UX) Assessment of top 10 services provided by the state to the citizens and businesses. The assessment must map the entire user-journey (AS-IS), pitfalls in the journey as well as the complexity of improving the identified pitfalls. The exact format of this deliverable will be agreed with the AGE Project manager prior to the start of the assessment. The list will be provided and approved by the AGE project manager.

4 weeks

 

   

2

UX strategy and guidelines for unifying user experience across AGE products and services detailing proposed approach on ensuring consistency and best practices implementation after the project is finished.

4 weeks

 

   

3

Graphical mock-ups (UI prototype) for services in scope. Mockups shall be developed, reviewed, and approved by the AGE project manager.

4 weeks

 

   

4

Updated user interfaces (graphical mock-ups and pixel perfect HTML/CSS/JS prototypes) for the services in scope identified in deliverable 1. All required source code files resulting from conducting assigned activities (such as HTML, CSS, JS, SASS, fonts, resources and others, as appropriate). Note: All assets shall be developed using Bootstrap front-end framework.

6 weeks

V.    Timing:

This assignment is expected to commence in January, 2022. The contract will be signed for a period of 6 months.

VI. Institutional arrangements:

The Consultant will report to the AGE Project Manager and work closely with the corresponding teams and institutional clients to ensure timely and qualitative deliverables.

VII.         Resources:

   The Consultant’s team will work at the e-Government Centre premises, when required. The Consultant’s team will be provided with communication facilities (including access to the Internet), as well as any other necessary means and support for Consultant in order to carry out this assignment.

 

Important:

  • All assets, developed as part of this work, will remain AGE Intellectual Property.

VIII.      Qualification requirements:

Minimum requirements for the Consultant (Firm):

  • Demonstrated experience in design concepts, user experience, graphical design, designing web-pages layouts;
  • At least 3 (three) years of activity with main focus in graphical design and user experience;
  • Minimum 10 (ten) live or pilot web‑sites;
  • Plan of actions on how this project will be structured;
  • Schedule of deliverables;
  • Proposed ways of working.

Minimum requirements for the Team:

  • Proven background in user experience design and testing.
  • Strong layout and design skills using Photoshop or other graphical tools.
  • Good knowledge of Bootstrap framework v3+, JavaScript and CSS 3.
  • Extensive knowledge of and experience with cross browser web development for IE, Firefox, and Chrome.
  • Excellent communication skills, written and spoken, in Romanian/English.
  1. Application procedure:

Interested candidates shall submit CV and motivation letter, in English, by January 31, 2022 to achirita@ict.md and osuruceanu@ict.md. The subject of the email will include the following information: Name/Surname/ Graphical Design Consultant.

 

Articol adaugat de: Olga Suruceanu
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