UX experts from Nomensa have played a huge part in the digitisation of the Government’s Innovation Funding Service (IFS) which is set to transform the UK economy.
The Bristol-based agency headed up the design aspect of Innovate UK‘s large-scale, end-to-end online innovation grants application and processing service. This allows its users to ditch those off-putting long-haul paper forms and benefit from increased functionality, improved collaboration and increased visibility of applications. The redesigned and more user friendly forms should also help provide an improvement in the calibre of applications.
“By digitising our service… we have made it easier for businesses of all sizes to develop innovative ideas into real opportunities for growth”
Sally Lincoln, managing director of Nomensa, says: “Our work with Innovate UK has created a legacy we are proud of. The project, which took two years to complete, was all about the team coming together to deliver exceptional user experiences through the delivery of digital design excellence. We introduced a user-focused way of thinking, putting people at the heart of the design process, so we were working with them to introduce the Government’s digital design framework (GDS) and testing every part of the development cycle too.
“Taking a collaborative approach has been instrumental to the success of this project. Our delivery manager led a multidisciplinary, multivendor team of more than 50 people across five agencies helping to share best practice, deliver multiple work streams at speed, plug any knowledge gaps for the client and deliver UX and design excellence in line with the GDS design framework.”
Boosting the economy
With Innovate UK already responsible for supporting over 7,600 businesses and helping to create 55,000 jobs through its innovation funding, its work with the plentiful digital experts in the South West such as Nomensa has meant the digitisation process has been a smooth success. It will mean the government will be able to be more efficient in providing the necessary business and innovation boosting grants across the UK – ensuring transformational new innovations can be developed as quickly as possible.
As Sarah Vodden, service manager at Innovate UK, explains: “Innovation has always proved challenging, particularly for smaller SMEs due to limited resources and access to investment and funding. By digitising our service and improving how businesses can access funding, we have made it easier for UK businesses of all sizes to develop innovative ideas into real opportunities for growth, ultimately helping to boost the UK economy.”
To find out more about Innovate UK’s new digitised application service, check out the Innovate UK website. You can also check out other UX-related expertise via Nomensa’s website or by following them on Twitter here: @we_are_Nomensa.
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