9 February 2024
We're continuing to work on the most popular sections of our website following the migration to the new site in 2022. We recently completed the parking and travel section.
As with all the sections we work on, we carried out a full content audit of all the pages, looking at accessibility, readability and how well the pages meet our content standards. This enables us to understand where the main issues are and helps us to prioritise.
Alongside the content audit we carried out some desktop research; looking at feedback, analytics, enquiries and complaints. We also listened to some calls to our Contact Centre and carried out a card sorting exercise with our digital user panel. The card sorting exercise helped us to decide how to structure the section so people could find what they are looking for when navigating the site.
Once we'd gathered together all the research it became clear that one focus of our work needed to be on applications for bus passes.
We carried out some further research looking at the types of things people were asking and we spoke to the staff who deliver the service.
From this it became clear that users:
- were confused about what application process to follow
- didn't understand what evidence to provide
- didn't know where to find information about school bus passes
Most bus pass applications are done through a dedicated portal. We also had a Replacement bus pass and enquiry form for general enquiries and anything that couldn't be done on the main portal.
Our research discovered that 40% of general enquiries were from people asking to apply for a bus pass instead of using the dedicated online portal. This was concerning as the enquiry form should be used for questions that might not be covered by web content and suggested that people were getting confused about how to apply.
The service also told us that people didn't always provide the right evidence if they were applying for a disabled bus pass, or their photos were not in the right format. This created some avoidable demand as staff then needed to respond and may have resulted in a delay for the user to receive their pass.
It also became clear that there was some key information missing, or not where people could find it which resulted in queries to the service.
What we did
We decided that a decision tree would be best to resolve the issues users had with understanding which application to submit and what evidence to provide. A decision tree funnels users down specific content paths based on questions they answer. This means you do not need to show users content not relevant to them which results in the user having less information to read and understand.
We added information about the requirements for photos. Instead of duplicating too much information we linked to the GOV.UK guidance.
A signpost link at the beginning of the page was added to send users to our school transport section if they were looking for information related to a school bus pass. This was done on the back of feedback from users and the service area. The button for the general enquiry form was moved further down the page to encourage users to use the decision tree to find the correct application form.
We updated our enquiry form to make the evidence required for an enhanced bus pass (for those over 80 or registered blind) and separated replacement bus pass requests into another form. This was to make the options available and evidence needed clearer and easier to understand. To reduce the number of enquiries that shouldn't be coming through this channel we created kick out questions to direct users to the correct forms.
We also redesigned all the web content to be accessible and in Plain English, adding headings and bullet points and removing jargon.
Has it made a difference?
The new eligibility checker went live in November 2023, so it's still early days, but looking at the data:
- 6,341 users have used the decision tree
- 1,829 went on to apply for a bus pass
There have been no queries so far this year asking for a bus pass or about eligibility criteria, suggesting that people are using the checker to get to the right form, resulting in less avoidable demand for the service.
We checked with the service who said the website is working a lot better for them and they are receiving less enquiries overall.
To view our decision tree visit our bus pass page and select 'apply for or renew a bus pass'.
We will continue to review feedback and data over the next year to make sure the user experience and journey has improved.
Anyone interested in helping us to improve our online services can join our Digital User Panel.