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https://ruralpayments.blog.gov.uk/2014/05/01/understanding-user-needs/

Understanding user needs

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By Judy on the Defra CAP Insight team

As part of the CAP Information Service’s Customer Insight team, it’s my role to understand users’ needs and help the programme understand who the service users are and what that means for digital and assisted digital service design.

We have a programme of fortnightly user research visits running since July 2013, asking farmers, land managers and agents how we can keep improving this new service.

Since the beginning of 2014 we’ve seen customers in Reading, Kent, Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Somerset.

We were at the NFU conference in February and asked delegates to test the parts of the service that will allow others to act on their behalf, such as agents. We also used the Country Land and Business Association’s office in Richmond, North Yorkshire and invited members to test adding environmental features. The ability for users to view all their land parcels with both aerial and OS views is received very positively.

From this summer onwards, customers will be able to see their personal, business and land holding details and either confirm these are correct or change them.  This is an important preparation to the CAP claim process and we’ve tested these steps extensively with customers. Following feedback the programme has simplified this confirmation process considerably, reducing the number of mouse clicks from 13 to five and added guidance in places users told us then needed it.

We are always keen to hear from customers who would like to volunteer to be test participants. If you are interested please email capdeliveryprogramme@capdelivery.gsi.gov.uk.

The GOV.UK website provides a single point of access to further guidance on CAP.

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  1. Comment by Rodge Brownlow posted on

    I always used to think that reform meant improvement but now realise it just means change and usually endless change and not for the better just more complications that tie the farming industry down.