--- tags: Get Further --- # Sienna Engagement: Get Further ## The Brief / Problem? / Challenge? Get Further require a digital tool to make the process of grouping and matching students to tutors according to availability more streamlined for their Programme Managers. This is currently a manually completed task, that with growing numbers of students could become ever more time consuming and distracting from other important work. A digital solution should take availability data from students of a college and tutors then output a workable calendar according to certain parameters and desirable features. ## About Sienna **(too long?)** We develop for social impact and have worked on a variety of projects ranging from the solution discovery & definition phases to development. The initial phases involve a varying degree of research using design sprint workshops and prototypes for usability testing. We guide organisations through the processes of digital service design to work out what solution will solve the problem. Depending on the outcome of the research, the development phase may include a configuration of off-the-shelf tools that already exist or the development of a bespoke solution. Over a series of development sprints and the integration of testing feedback, we iterate upon the digital solution based on user stories defined by the product owner - the representative from Get Further. something about re-use as a value too? ## Proposed Approach We propose to begin engagement with a research phase combining definition of feature and functionality requirements through co-design workshops with Get Further staff, and a wider exploration of off-the-shelf tools that could potentially be used to realise a solution. Outputs of this phase include: * A set of agreed user stories that describe requirements for a 'minimum viable product'] * A backlog of features that may not make the first live iteration of the tool, but could be added later * Navigable prototypes that can be used to test and validate the solution before development begins in earnest. A research phase will allow us to become much better acquainted with the current workflow, which areas of that workflow can be improved with a digital tool, and what functionality will make that possible. We will have identified whether we can implement any existing tool(s) on the market, or whether a bespoke approach will be required Creating and testing simpler navigable prototypes in this phase will ensure that our approach is answering the right questions, and allow us to more quickly test and improve, so that an informed and considered solution is taken forward to development. This also mitigates the risk of more expensive large edits later during or after the MVP build. *Once we have a solution that is validated in prototype form we can move forward into development of a first live iteration.* ## Proposed Timeframe **(we should discuss)** * Contact time Workshop 1 - 2h Workshop 2 - 2h User research 1w **(us or GF?)** * Sienna time Prototyping (bespoke/off the shelf) 1w Usability Testing 1w (us or GF?) Integration of feedback 1w total time: 16 days? * Future dev potential? 3x2 week sprints ## Costs 200pd/developer ## Next Steps Once the solution and prototypes from the research phase have been validated we can move forward to building a first functional version of the application - a 'minimum viable product'. Estimating the time it will take to build this solution is reliant on what comes out of the research phase. This is likely to be either a configuration of existing tools and automations that satisfies the requirements, or a bespoke application that does so from scratch. --- ## Glossary Design sprint Prototype Off the shelf Usability testing