Discovery and understanding
The project began with a kickoff meeting with key Tandem stakeholders. Digital Garden learnt more about Tandems users and the importance of their need for simple and accessible support. The workshop also uncovered more about Tandem's advocacy role and how it must support a library of submissions and responses.
Following the kickoff workshop, Digital Garden ran a user groups workshop. This was an opportunity to learn in depth about the audiences that frequent the website. Some of the key insights from the workshop were:
- Carers are often tired under time pressure, needing clear and obvious pathways to support resources on the website
- Carers needed an easy way to locate support groups, especially if they lived in regional or rural areas
- Joining Tandem was not engaging and lacked key information that would convert users to join the participation register
- Support workers who have lived experience needed to easily find engagement opportunities
Based on the user groups workshop, a set of personas were developed that would be used throughout the rest of the project. The personas included:
- A full-time carer for her 15 year old son
- A peer worker with lived experience
- An ambassador and advocate of mental health
- A lead researcher at a care organisation
- A communications lead at Tandem
The tasks, needs and frustrations were mapped out for each persona, ensuring the subsequent designs were fit for purpose.
