Kickstart Service
The report for DWP's Kickstart Service beta assessment on the 05th of August 2021
Service Standard assessment report
Kickstart Service
| From: | Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) |
| Assessment date: | 05/08/2021 |
| Stage: | Beta |
| Result: | Met |
| Service provider: | DWP |
Service description
The Kickstart Service provides end-to-end support for employers, gateways and young people participating in the Kickstart Scheme. The Service includes an application process for employers and gateways to apply for Kickstart funding, and to provide details of the roles they are offering for young people (as 6-month job placements).
The Service supports Work Coaches in sharing job roles with Young People and in referring them for relevant roles that they can then apply for directly to the employer. If they are accepted, the Service provides payments to the employer (directly or via a gateway) to fund their employment costs.
Service users
- employers
- gateways (organisations who act as an intermediary on behalf of employers)
- Young People (claimants on Universal Credit aged 16 - 24)
- operations agents – assessment and payments teams
- Kickstart District Account Managers
- work coaches
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service met point 1 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team listened to users by conducting a substantial amount of research using relevant and appropriate methods as part of a complex overall service
- the team developed a comprehensive list of user needs categorised as overarching needs or service specific needs according to the user group. The team provided a Mural and explained verbally how these needs had been formulated off the back of different sources of data
- the team demonstrated a commitment to continually testing assumptions and meeting needs by drawing on qualitative and quantitative data
- research with a broad range of users with different access needs had been conducted across the different areas of the service
- the team underscored the importance of, and outlined plans for, further testing with users with access needs
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to reach out cross-departmentally in order to build as complete a picture of service and user experience as possible. Researchers could have reached out across departments to draw on existing knowledge of users/personas e.g. there appeared to be a lot of overlap with user research undertaken in the Apprenticeship Service particularly with regards to SMEs. Nevertheless, the team outlined how they had reached out within DWP and across HMRC and ESFA as part of foundational, and continued, research. Overall, this is not a major discussion point and the limited timeframe of the service is acknowledged
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service met point 2 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team clearly considered the full end-to-end journey for their target users, and how this links up with other services provided by DWP
- the team considered the design of mainstream GOV.UK content and how this impacted the subsequent user journey
- the team were considering how to meet the needs of internal and operational staff as well as those of external users
- the team is working with policy and legal professionals to quickly resolve any constraints
- the team have created an As-Is and Future View service blueprint providing a reference point of the interactions between users throughout the journey, and identifying touch points with IT systems
- the team have done well to navigate the challenges of a new policy that is in flux. Whilst acknowledging challenges, it also gave the team the opportunity to influence the policy to help solve the problem space
- the team were able to articulate how they are integrating a provisioning service into Universal Credit. It was pleasing to hear this will overcome manual intervention concerns raised in previous assurance events
- the team have engaged across government to help combat fraud utilising HMRC’s real-time earnings information
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- see point above re: continuing to reach out cross-departmentally
- be able to clearly articulate how different areas supporting the service will remain responsible for them (e.g. GOV.UK, Payments etc.)
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service met point 3 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team have conducted research, and are working closely with, operations staff, call centre agents and SMEs
- the team have tested the offline parts of the service and are taking steps to migrate these to digital channels where appropriate
- the team have considered how the existing network of KDAMs can be used to provide support for users who may experience barriers to using the digital service
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- confirm that the service’s assisted digital support is performing as anticipated, including any support provided through the KDAMs. Ensure that appropriate KPIs have been put in place to track this
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service met point 4 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team are continuously researching and iterating the designs for each of the components that make up the overall service to improve and simplify the experience for users
- the team have considered how they will achieve consistency in the design across the service
- by including appropriate questions at the start of their service journey, the team has made it clear who is eligible to use their service
- the team has considered how users can get support throughout the entire service journey
- the team are using the insights derived from the design of components for this service to develop an existing library of shared components used across DWP services
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that any entry points and signposting to the service, such as https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/government-services/kickstart-scheme/, and https://kickstart.campaign.gov.uk/ works for all users, especially young people
- consider if there are opportunities to create greater consistency between the design of their internal services and the gov.uk design system
- where design components exist outside of the design system, such as within the internal-facing component services, the team should continue to conduct usability and accessibility testing on these, and consider providing feedback on their performance within the design system backlog
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service met point 5 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team have conducted multiple rounds of research with users who have access needs, on both the internal and external aspects of their service
- the team has run an accessibility audit (prior to cloning the service), an accessibility statement, and are continuing to improve accessibility based on internal testing
- despite not having identified specific user needs for an assisted digital route, the team have developed to support these users throughout the entire service journey
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to identify and fix accessibility issues as they arise. Given the short lifespan of the service, the team shouldn’t feel pressure to conduct another accessibility audit so long as any issues that are identified are addressed and any barriers to use are captured within the accessibility statement
- continue to ensure accessibility is considered equally across both the internal and external facing aspects of the service. The panel recommends considering resources such as the Civil Service Disability Network or a departmental disability champion when sourcing users for more inclusive research
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service met point 6 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- four feature teams are delivering the Kickstart scheme. Each of these teams have the core skills required for a multidisciplinary team to work effectively, including UX Designers that have been onboarded since the last peer review. These teams are supported by shared roles, including Content Designer, Service Designer, Data Scientist plus extended team roles
- there are several User Researchers across the feature teams. It was recognised that there needed to be a Lead User Researcher. This person has now recently joined and is feeding-in and organising user research activities
- working groups have been set-up to feed in specialist knowledge, for example Security, Policy and Legal
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- it is understood that four feature teams have been needed to deliver the collective parts of the end to end journey. A plan needs to be put in place to rationalise resources down to a team that purely manages the service on an ongoing basis
- it was mentioned that it has about a 50% split between permanent and contractor staff. Although it was highlighted that DWP does have a high dependency on contractors, it is suggested that the scaled-down team who will manage the service on an ongoing basis is made-up of predominantly permanent staff
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service met point 7 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the teams are using Kanban as their prefer Agile ways of working, incorporating service-wide ceremonies to communicate progress on the service (e.g. show and tells), which have helped to prioritise work going forward
- the Kickstart service is complex with many constituent parts to make-up an end-to-end service journey, resulting in four feature delivery teams to carrying out the work, which introduces risks especially around communication and consistency. The team are using Agile governance principles (e.g. scrum of scrums) to mitigate risk
- one of the major challenges faced has been communications from wider stakeholders and the programme board. This additional scrutiny has had to be filtered by the Lead Product Manager, so the delivery teams can focus on the work they need to do on additional scope items that had to be managed
- an escalation process is in place that has helped in managing risk taking a bottom-up approach. For general problems, delivery teams would raise risks with the Kickstart Leads and Operation teams. The Lead Product Manager also on the programme board for business decision-making
- weekly programme boards are in place that involve specialist Treasury policy advisers to sustain progress updates for the Chancellor and oversight of the scheme
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service met point 8 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- used analytics data to make improvements to the service (for example changing the employability screens) and there are plans to launch an A/B test
- the team drew on different research methods to inform iteration e.g. feedback surveys, usability testing and interviews
- the team have had the capability to iterate and improve frequently based on Agile principles. This flexibility has been especially important when working in a working environment that necessitated changes in direction where the policy was still in flux, impacting user needs and technology
- the team were able to demonstrate how they work collectively in order to solve problems quickly. They specifically mentioned the ideation process on how the existing payments could be iterated to provide specific remittance advice in the payments service to meet users needs of the Kickstart scheme
- in 48 weeks the teams have been able to make 106 releases, in addition to multiple iterations of manual products and dev ops releases
- the team have already identified areas that could continue to improve the service for users, including: Self-service vacancy upload beta test; Self-search of vacancies for Young People; further payment automation; Allow employers and gateways to add more jobs and employers to their grant agreement; Integrate the Apply service with the Companies House API
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to measure the performance of the service and assess the value of iterating any potential pain points identified, until the service is decommissioned at the end of July 2022
- understand priorities that need to be done in order to continuously improve the service throughout the lifespan of the Kickstart scheme in order to support young people and the economy
- have a plan to make sure the right people are in place to sustain continuous improvement as the number of feature teams wind down
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service met point 9 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the data is encrypted in transit and rest using TLS1.3, Vault EaaS, and RDS encryption
- team has done the DPIA, Security Risk Assessment and Pen tests
- team is using various data protection techniques such as use of per use identifiers; data minimisation; only storing data that is needed at that point
- team has published the Privacy and Cookie policy and engaged with DPIO for compliance with GDPR
- team has used SMS 2FA to Keycloak
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service met point 10 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has worked together to define key metrics using a performance framework based on user needs. This performance framework allowed room for iteration on these measures and was not constrained by what data was readily available
- there was a clear understanding of the caveats and constraints around the data and there were plans to improve the data collection and accuracy of the metrics. For example, they were planning to improve how they measured completion rates
- their key measures were shared internally on MI dashboards to support other teams/products and these dashboards have been tested for accessibility
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- publish performance data in order to become transparent about the success of the service as defined in point 10 of the standard
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service met point 11 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- team has used Node.js and Java along with the use of Microservices based on Spring or Drop Wizard based
- for databases the team has used RDS Postgres and Mongo Atlas for various services
- the team is using AWS, good set of testing tools for infrastructure and development
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service met point 12 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- team has used CASA Framework for UI components which has already been Open Sourced and well publicised
- team has already released Vault and operating systems AMI builders
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- team should explore to publish various repositories even if they are were derived from existing base repos that had not previously been open sourced
- team should explore how to open source the new services such as the MI encryption service and Remittance Advice re-builder
- team has used various open source front end and database tools and technologies
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service met point 13 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- team is using Domain Driven Design principles, GDS patterns and Component library
- team is using GOV.Notify and also added File Upload to an internal Notify service making it more useful to others – the service is likely to be open sourced
- team has defined how NATS.io will be used across Universal Credit, acted as first implementer, and created hosting and monitoring patterns
- team has worked on the transformation of SOP remittance advice – this will be useful elsewhere in DWP and possibly more widely across Government to make Remittance Advice user focused
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service met point 14 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- team has defined level of SLAs for the service and also defined the workflows with other services for escalation to resolve the service fail overs
- the overall business process takes “weeks” and therefore short outages would not be noticed by the employers / claimant
- the most time critical part of the process is paying the starting payment once a claimant has started their placement. They have 10 days in which to pay and therefore once weekends and payment times are allowed there are 5 days to make payments
- team is using CI/CD tools for change rollout and release management with Jenkins. Access control is managed throughout the pipeline so that no one person can commit and release
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- working with business teams, the service/ technical team should explore to see how the time for critical path can be reduced