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Improving the digital experience for business customers
I gained a great deal from my time working on the OneCX Program, though if you pushed me to narrow it down to three learnings, it would be:
- voice and experience matters
- the customer must be at the heart of what you do
- it takes a team.
Business Connect is a NSW Government program. It offers personalised business advice, live events and resources for small businesses in NSW. To improve the digital experience and centralise all information relevant to NSW businesses, the Business Connect website was earmarked to migrate to nsw.gov.au, under the OneCX Program.
What was my involvement in the migration?
As part of the Business Connect engagement team, I was delighted to join the OneCX Program delivery team as a Business Representative and Subject Matter Expert (SME).
The dual role required close collaboration with the dedicated OneCX Program business delivery team, including:
- embedding myself in agile ways of working
- attending fortnightly reviews and regular check-ins
- being available for guidance on Business Connect customers, services and existing content
- participating in discussions with the team as content was developed.
Being the conduit between the OneCX Program team, key Business Connect and NSW Treasury stakeholders, I was responsible for keeping teams informed as the project progressed and coordinating approvals before content was published.
What do you need to bring to the team?
As well as having an in-depth knowledge of the site/program you’re representing, you need to have a deep understanding of your customer. After all, they are at the centre of the OneCX Program.
The team I worked with welcomed insights on Business Connect customers including research, data points and anecdotal insights, to help better understand the customer needs and challenges.
It also helps to be well connected with stakeholders within your agency and can be the difference between a good rollout and a great rollout. This enables information sharing, cross collaboration and allows for quick decisions.
Like any collaborative project, you need to be an active listener and prepared to voice your opinions, whilst being open to change and new approaches.
Collaboration is key
Each member of the team brought a wealth of expertise in their field and it was great to be able to listen and learn from them. I learned more about the agile approach to project management, how research feeds into user experience and content design best practices. As part of the program offering, I also received personalised training on Google analytics, and Content Management System (CMS) training to manage and maintain content going forward.
Like many across government, my workload increased in response to COVID-19. The biggest challenge was carving out time for this project alongside my regular work. The two-week sprint cadence helped to keep things on track (a sprint is a short, time-boxed period to complete a set amount of work used in agile practices). I could quickly see if I was behind on something and reprioritise work to ensure my goals kept progressing.
My top tips to make it a success
- Talking tops an email. Take the time to chat through details about your program and your goals. We had several discovery meetings to introduce our key stakeholders as well as one-to-one presentations and informal Q&A sessions.
- Be comfortable not having rigid milestones. Embracing the agile way of working requires flexibility. Discovery work needs to be completed and learnings incorporated before deadlines can be set.
- Have a clear brief approved. Agreement from stakeholders on key areas of the project e.g., scope, governance and timeframes from the get-go. This is critical to success.
- Have regular check-ins. Ensure key stakeholders are kept informed of progress at each stage of delivery and provide the opportunity to raise questions before you reach the final stages.
Was it a success?
Phase one of the project successfully migrated to nsw.gov.au in September 2021, just two months after the project kick off meeting.
Redirects were successfully set up to ensure customers experienced no disruption and the OneCX Program team helped to develop a thorough communications plan to keep stakeholders and customers informed as the project progressed and launched.
The design is a great improvement. Duplication has been removed, navigation is simplified and pages are accessible. 120 pages of content have been reduced to 10 and the design has been well-received by stakeholders.
The Business Connect migration is split into two phases and we’re looking forward to the next phase of the project commencing in 2022.
Kudos to the team
Thank you to Treasury NSW, Investment NSW and Department of Customer Service OneCX Program team who worked together to rebuild and deliver the new and improved Business Connect pages. Without the expertise, hard work and collaboration, this project would not have been a success. Visit nsw.gov.au/businessconnect to find out more.