Guidance library
Guidance and advice about how we plan and deliver user research in DfE.
We are currently reviewing and rewriting all of our guidance content to ensure it is up to date and to make it more usable. As we do this, this index page will be split into two sections. Updated guidance appears first on this page, with content we've not yet reviewed underneath.
Using incentives
When you can use incentives in DfE user research, and how to purchase them
Conducting user research in a pre-election period
How to decide whether research can take place or must be paused in the weeks before an election
Guidance articles currently being reviewed
You should still follow the guidance in these pages, but be aware that they are under review and the guidance may change in the future. We will announce changes in the user research community DfE Teams channel as they are published.
Ethical research and safeguarding
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Gaining informed consent | How to ensure fully informed consent from participants when our standard methods are not appropriate |
| Participant safeguarding | Advice on keeping particpants safe during research, and what to do if you have a safeguarding concern |
| Psychological safety and researcher self-care | Keeping yourself and your colleagues psychologically safe during and after research |
| Reducing burden on DfE's users | Ensuring we always use our users' time well, and don't create a burden |
| Research with children and young people | Guidance and ideas to help you plan and conduct research with children and young people successfully, safely and ethically |
| Researching with internal users | Ethical risks and considerations when researching with colleagues and other internal staff |
| Using social media in user research | Ethical considerations and constraints when using social media for user research |
| Get further advice on research ethics questions | How to get answers to questions not covered on this website, from experienced DfE user researchers |
How to manage participants' personal data in user research
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Introduction to managing personal data in user research | How we meet UK GDPR law and high ethical standards when handling the personal data in user research |
| What to do when planning a project or phase | Setting up file storage, risk assessing your data collection, and other activities to do before you begin research |
| Collecting personal data during your research | What to do as you collect personal data in research sessions |
| Using lists of people for participant recruitment | Building and managing lists of people, and using other data in the department, to recruit participants |
| Anonymising UR personal data | Understanding anonymisation and pseudonymisation in user research, and guidance and tips for doing this |
| After your research is finished | Knowing how to continue to manage personal data correctly after the end of a project or phase |
Inclusive research
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Inclusivity in user research | Why it is important to include all types of people in our research, and tips for doing this |
| Research with users with access needs | Planning and delivering research with people with access needs |
| Research with people who speak limited or no English and sign language users | Considerations and practical advice to plan and conduct user research with people who speak limited or no English, including sign language users. |
Planning user research
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Writing a user research plan | How to create an effective user research plan |
Recruiting particpants for research
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Recruiting participants yourself (self-recruitment) | Rules and guidance for when doing your own participant recruitment |
| Using a commercial agency to recruit participants | How to access DfE's contracted commercial supplier, and other suppliers |
| Using or building a recruitment panel to recruit participants | Rules and guidance for building and using participant recruitment panels in DfE |
Recruiting user researchers into DfE (civil servants and contractors)
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Recruiting a user researcher for your team | Rules, support and templates for planning a recruitment campaign for a civil servant UR |
| Managed service contractors and statements of work | Planning for success when bringing in managed service user researchers |
Surveys, survey tool and survey champions
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Surveys, survey tool and survey champions | Rules, support and templates for planning a recruitment campaign for a civil servant UR |
User research in the civil service
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| Doing user research under the Civil Service code | Constraints and considerations that you must consider while delivering research in the civil service |
Working with a user researcher in your team
Guidance for delivery managers, and other team members working with a user researcher.
| Guidance | Details |
|---|---|
| What user researchers do | Understanding what user researchers do in DfE, and what they will bring to your team |