Manage Your Intellectual Property
The report for Intellectual Property Office's Manage Your Intellectual Property alpha assessment on 12th April 2022
Service Standard assessment report
Manage Your Intellectual Property
| From: | Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) |
| Assessment date: | 12/04/2022 |
| Stage: | Alpha |
| Result: | Met |
| Service provider: | Intellectual Property Office (IPO) |
Service description
Manage Your Intellectual Property (IP) service is a digital service that will allow users to access their IP rights and self-serve within an account to update and maintain their trademark, design or patent. Total volume of transactions for patents is C 560,000 per year
Service users
The external users of this service are the citizens, businesses and intermediaries in the UK and overseas, which apply for and manage Intellectual Property (IP) Rights:
- IP Attorneys - dominated by members of specialist Intellectual Property teams in law firms that act on behalf of clients. Persona - Attorney Alex
- Formalities staff – IP administrators operating within law firms. Persona - Formalities Freddie
- In-house (formalities) - IP Owners with varying set ups, depending on size of the business. Large businesses (mainly manufacturing) have IP rights management in-house. Persona - In House Indie
- The above users are commonly affiliated to the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and/or the Chartered Institute of Trade mark attorneys as qualified attorneys or administrators.
- Unrepresented business owners (tend to be smaller) - smaller private businesses also pursue and manage IP rights (especially trademarks and designs) without professional representation. Persona – Business Billie
- Represented business owners (tend to be bigger). Persona – Represented Robin
Internal users:
- Information Centre advisers – front line staff answering customer queries. Persona – Info Center Advisor Alan
- Change executors – process the changes to provide updates to the IP register. Persona – Change Executor Ellie
- Request Record Administrator – Document checking, index and scanning. Persona Request Recorder Richard
- Team leads – QA and workload management. Persona - Team Lead Layla
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:
- user research was a priority for the team - there was clear evidence of this being indepth and a number of methods were used to gather user needs and pain points for the end to end journey
- happy and unhappy paths were tested and it was good to see examples of design iterations based on UR feedback - some of the changes mentioned included iterations around confirming new owner and filter by expiry dates
- the team have used different recruitment avenues to reach a diverse range of users. It was also good to see that they understand the need/importance of speaking to and testing the end to end journey with unrepresented/non expert users
- there is a clear plan for ongoing research in Beta
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- further testing needed in Beta around account creation and linking journeys (this was picked up by UR in Alpha as complex for users)
- test the updating rights journey with users to ensure this is quick and accessible
- ensure service is tested with users of access needs (this can be proxy/non expert users of the service)
- ensure research plans continue to include a diverse range of users
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 are providing Evidence upload for users who need to verify themselves with IPO as part of the digital journey allowing them to reduce the need for additional contact and potential delays to verification
- the staged approach to delivering the service, will allow the team to focus on educating and bring users onboard will deliver value straight away to both the citizen and IPO whilst removing slow and outdated processes
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure the end to end journey is tested with a diverse range of users which would include; underrepresented/non expert users, users with low digital confidence/skills and users with access needs
- explore which elements of the IPO service journey can go into a live environment ahead of schedule to deliver early benefits to users
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 onboarding journey is well considered, and the team are considering different approaches for users to access the service, including invite emails with a unique access code and users who arrive at the service organically
- 2-factor authentication is being used to verify users and ensure the right private individuals, organisations and companies are linked to the right intellectual property
- the team are working with frontline staff and conducting research and usability testing with them
- the service will utilise existing government services GOV.UK Pay and GOV.UK Notify taking advantage of proven technology and leveraging the scale of cross-government digital services
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to replicate across all channels the positive changes made to the service by introducing a digital option
- ensure a robust SEO is in place to make sure users an easily find the service and avoid potential scam/dummy services
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 demonstrated a robust design and research methodology, supporting the use of an account dashboard, which focused on the tasks users need to complete. Design research included drawing on insight from other government departments such as HMRC and DVSA to inform the dashboard design
- producing alternative design ideas at varying levels of fidelity have allowed the team to test several alternatives and dismiss features, which are not task focused, simplifying the dashboard, and removing clutter. It was good to hear how Summary Stats were deprioritised and the Left-hand Navigation removed based on usability testing
- GOV.UK Design System components and patterns are being used and iterated upon. The team’s use of the Interruption card as an alternative to the Notification banner on the dashboard, which was typically overlooked by users in testing, was of particular interest
- several approaches and grouping of dashboard tiles where tested resulting in naming conventions which map to the users mental model of the service not the business model
- the team were open and transparent that they don’t feel like they’ve resolved the content across the entirety of the service. The panel were reassured the team are heading in the right direction and will continue to iterate based on user insights
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- document and contribute insights and designs of the dashboard, particularly the use of the Interruption card pattern so other teams across government can benefit from your learning
- consider providing clearer validation for users entering IP rights numbers individually. Currently the IP rights number field is restricted to 10 characters. The number is clipped with no feedback provided to the user. Existing patterns in the GOV.UK Design System such as Error message and the Error summary will provide valuable feedback to users on what they need to correct in order to proceed
- test the typeahead component with users of assisted tech, and consider alternatives. The Who is the new owner of this intellectual property? Question currently uses a typeahead component, which is known to cause confusion for users. Styling the component as a normal text box does not indicate that the input provides suggestions, and it can also cause problems for screen readers
- consider removing optional fields by routing users who do not need to provide answers with a pre-qualifying question
- avoid presenting optional responses to a question as a Summary list. The Select the address associated to this intellectual property mixes Radios and Summary list resulting in a column header of Select, which only serves to validate the use of the pattern. Consider adopting the approach used on the subsequent What is the reason for the transfer? page, which is a simpler solution
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 are testing the service with proxy users with access needs and low digital confidence
- analysis of the digital confidence of users was conducted by the team. Finding show users typically have high digital confidence, the team recognise they must provide an equivalent service for users with low digital confidence and skills and have a plan in place to support these users, initially falling back to the existing phone and paper service which will be monitored for its effectiveness. Should this fail to meet user needs the team plan to utilise the IPOs national network of IP Libraries, which could provide face to face support for people who need it
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- need to test the dashboard tile pattern on a range of devices and resolutions and investigate alternatives, which provide the same affordance for everyone. Research indicates that users tend to use a desktop computer to access the IPO services, however users with visual impairments may zoom-in and will be unable to easily scan all the tiles to find what they need. This is also true for users of mobile devices
- further investigate how they will support users who are unable to use mail, email and phone. The current service design provides communications via mail, email and phone, however there is no provision for users to request alternative formats such as braille and large format
- understand whether they will need a Welsh language translation for the service and have a plan in place if a translation is required
- consider alternatives to the JavaScript Add another pattern. JavaScript is known to cause problems for screen readers and users who need to zoom-in to pages. DWP have recently published the Add another thing pattern, which may be of use to the team
- continue to seek genuine users of the service with access needs and low digital confidence to test the service with. This will provide the team with more robust insight that is context specific
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:
- the project team for alpha was extensive with all key roles filled and staff motivated to deliver a transformational service
- the service has a well defined governance structure in place utilising both TDAs and corporate level boards
- the User Research team for alpha was extensive and gathered a large amount of information on users to help inform the development of prototypes throughout alpha
- the SRO and Programme Manager lead are both experienced individuals within the service problem space and form a key pivot between the delivery team and the programme board. The CEO and head of the IPO is also fully brought into the core benefits provided by the service
- the team have already successfully onboarded a performance analyst ready for the beta phase
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that user research remains a core focus of the delivery team throughout beta despite the team becoming smaller. This means having appropriate transfer of knowledge through both tooling and in-person interaction where possible
- utilise shared DDaT resource within the wider BEIS family to ensure all planned roles remain filled throughout the planned beta phase
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 team has clear and defined ways of working effectively in an agile manner whilst largely working remotely during the pandemic
- the team has good support from an experience Service Owner who has defined boundaries for the service but allowed extensive research in the problem space throughout alpha to shape the service in a user centered manner
- the team is clearly passionate about the service and keen to deliver to a very high standard. All presenters during the assessment demonstrated a knowledge and enthusiasm for their individual areas and the panel hopes this continues throughout the beta phase
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- the team should largely continue what it is doing in terms of working in an agile manner, and share best practice with other areas of IPO and the wider BEIS family where appropriate
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:
- the team demonstrated how they had iterated various stages of the service based on feedback from users
- the team has successfully engaged with other IP organisations such as the EU and WIPO to understand the wider policy space in which the service will operate
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that most of the current team remains in-place during beta to help iterate the service using all the learnings gathered throughout the discovery and alpha phases
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 team had initiated a Data Impact Assessment and fully considered the data requirements for the platform only storing the minimum required to perform actions
- the team has ensured the platform is designed so data is encrypted in transit and at rest
- the team had designed auditable and traceable data flows within the processing of user data, end user monitoring will be incorporated using application insight client-side libraries
- the team planned to implement virus scanning on all document uploads
- penetration testing had been booked for later in the year prior to beta launch
- the team have planned to implement web application firewall
- the team had plans to implement an authentication solution using OpenID Connect protocol and all entry points were secured by the solution, with optional multi factor authentication where possible
- the team had derived code based verification to known factors for transfer of ownership
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue to investigate the adoption of custom key encryption rather than use microsoft provided/managed keys
- continue to investigate the adoption of GOV.UK sign on
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 service team had identified a clear set of well defined KPIs throughout discovery and alpha that will need to be tested and iterated upon with users throughout beta
- the service team are committed to working in the open, and have engaged well with partner orgs across government such as the Office of the Public Guardian and Companies House
- the team has a clearly defined plan to transition into live by September 2023, including the decommissioning of current legacy systems
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- commit to sharing code on the GOV.UK Design System and GitHub to collaborate further with partner orgs who maybe developing similar services
- identify which areas of the service could go-live into public beta ahead of the full go-live schedule of September 2023 to deliver benefits to users quicker
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:
- the team has designed public cloud based service oriented architecture based on principles of high availability using modern design best practice
- the team has designed to make use of shared components and software as a service where applicable
- common government services, GOV.UK Notify and GOV.UK Pay have been incorporated into the design
- the solution is designed for scaling and elasticity, implemented as blue/Green environments across multiple regions
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- look at exploring address solutions, available under PGSA licensing from ordnance survey as a cost effective option for UK address lookup
- look at leveraging scalability and elasticity to optimise the cost of the platform, ensuring they test elasticity both up and down, ensuring it will meet requirements for load variance
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:
- the team intend to publish code under GPL licence on GitHub
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- prior to beta assessment ensure that github repositories are listed under the department or agency organisation
- commit to sharing frontend patterns and code on GOV.UK Design System
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:
- the team has made use of GOV.UK Design System, Notify and Pay components and is investigating the use of GOV.UK sign on
- the team is using OpenAPI Specification for it’s external api
- the platform is designed to support ingestion from common standards e.g. World Intellectual Property Organisation ST.90
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue with the adoption of government services as and when applicable
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:
- the team have designed an active - passive blue green architecture that that reduces downtime and risk by running two identical production environments
- the have built fault tolerance and scaling into all layers
- the team have designed application and infrastructure monitoring in from the start
- there is a no-downtime release process planned
- health checks and status endpoints are designed to be present in all application programming interfaces
- threat protections are to deployed at appropriate boundaries
- plans to carry out automated testing
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue with the further adoption of Azure application insights and monitoring
- ensure all disaster recovery and incident plans are fully implemented and tested
- review support modelling and strategies and ensure fully fit for purpose
Published 15 June 2022