Human-centred design
Human-centred design is an approach to problem solving that puts the audience at the centre of the solution. It ensures we're always putting the audience first.
Whether you're writing content for a single page or an entire section of the website, you'll always have an audience you want to read it. Therefore, it's very important to consider them throughout the process of creating your content, not just at the very end.
Human-centered design helps ensure that what you're producing is useful and easy for your audience to use, and that it helps them achieve their goal – which is why they came to our website in the first place.
User research
The best way to understand what your audience needs is to ask them.
User research is an important part of planning and creating content. It can be done by:
- conducting interviews
- reviewing existing analytics
- researching online forums and existing support channels the users may turn to.
Jobs to be Done
Jobs to be Done (JTBD) is a technique that approaches user research with the purpose of understanding the user's motivation for using a service or product. In our case, the product is web content.
If we understand what goals or 'jobs' our audience is trying to achieve, we can gain a deeper understanding of their needs. This can lead to more innovative thinking and better user design.
If our content aligns to the JTBD of our audience, our audience is also more likely to find it, use it and action it.
Jobs, sub jobs and activities
Jobs are often broken up into so-called sub jobs. These describe what the user needs to get done to achieve the higher-level job.
Under each sub job are activities, which are the steps the audience may take in order complete the sub job.
Example
Job: Get ready for work.
Sub job: Have breakfast.
Activities: Make coffee, make toast, eat/drink breakfast, clean up afterwards.
Case study: Parents and carers
To ensure education.nsw content is useful to our parents and carers audience, we commissioned user research to help us understand them better.
We turned the insights from this research into a JTBD framework.
Help me best prepare my child for a rewarding life.
From there, we identified four key jobs, which in turn formed the basis of our content pillars on the site: learning, wellbeing, going to school and pathways after school.
It's important to remember that the user research on parents and carers isn't exhaustive. And so, JTBD is an ever-evolving piece of work. The jobs aren't in chronological order and not every parent or carer will need to complete all sub jobs or activities listed in their specific circumstances.
Job 1: Choose and navigate the right educational setting for my child
Content pillar: Going to school
This content guides parents and carers through getting their child into the right school, moving into a new school year, financial obligations and school policies.
Visit our parents and carers Going to school section for this content.
Does your parent and carers content fit into any of these sub jobs and activities? If so, it belongs in the 'going to school' content pillar.
Sub job: Identify and evaluate suitable education pathway
Activities:
- consider accessing early education
- decide on type of early education service
- decide on school setting.
Sub job: Select and enrol my child in a new educational setting.
Activities:
- plan start of early childhood education
- identify suitable early education provider
- plan start of primary school
- identify suitable schools
- evaluate suitability of a school for my child
- seek admission in desirable school
- prepare my child for admission test
- choose school to enrol in
- enrol my child in desired school.
Sub job: Ensure necessary support structures are in place.
Activities:
- contact prospective school about support needs
- seek provision in-school support
- request physical modification to the school
- seek admission in desired education pathway
- apply for Assisted School Travel
- develop support plans
- arrange external specialists to facilitate in-school support.
Sub job: Prepare my child and family for the school year.
Activities:
- prepare my child for early education
- prepare my child fro primary school
- prepare my child to transition to high school
- prepare my child to change schools
- prepare my child for transitions within the school
- prepare my child for the new school year
- organise care whilst me and/or my partner are at work
- budget for the school year
- organise necessary equipment
- organise school uniform
- plan for key dates and events.
Sub job: Facilitate day-to-day school attendance.
Activities:
- prepare equipment
- facilitate transport
- facilitate school uniform
- organise my child's lunch
- pay contributions
- deal with absences.
Sub job: Ensure my child's safety and supervision.
Activities:
- contact prospective school about support needs
- seek provision in-school support
- request physical modification to the school
- seek admission in desired education pathway
- apply for Assisted School Travel
- develop support plans
- arrange external specialists to facilitate in-school support detention
- suspension/expulsion
- holiday care
- parent teacher interview.
Sub job: Preparing for school.
Activities:
- care when parents are at work
- high school
- kindergarten
- new school year
- preschool
- primary
- school year budget
- switching school.
Sub job: School life.
Activities:
- absences
- behaviour
- extra scholar
- lunch
- pay contributions
- transport
- uniform.
Sub job: School selection and enrolment.
Activities:
- choose school to enrol
- enrol my child
- evaluate school suitability
- identify school
- identify specialised disability school
- plan to start primary school
- prepare admission test
- request adequate support
- seek admission.
Job 2: Support my child's learning and development
Content pillar: Learning
This content explains the curriculum, what's required for tests and exams, how parents can support their child academically and how this helps prepare their child for the future.
Visit our parents and carers Learning section for this content.
Does your content fit into any of these sub jobs and activities'? If so, it belongs in the 'learning' content pillar.
Sub job: Access early intervention programs.
Activities:
- understand support needs
- action on referral to early intervention
- request access to early intervention program
- secure financial support.
Sub job: Ensure child's learning needs are met.
Activities:
- monitor learning plan
- organise access to school-based intervention programs
- obtain additional support or resources.
Sub job: Support what's taught at school and beyond.
Activities:
- work with my child on homework
- support child's numeracy learning
- support child's literacy learning
- support subject-specific learning
- support extra-curricular learning
- access external learning support programs.
Sub jobs: Support learning of daily life skills.
Activities:
- increase online/digital citizenship learning
- increase money management and budgetary skills
- support independent travel to school.
Sub job: Monitor child's progress.
Activities:
- monitor teacher/support team feedback
- deal with school report
- communicate with teachers.
Sub job: Prepare for tests and exams.
Activities:
- prepare for HSC
- prepare for NAPLAN
- prepare for Best Start
- prepare for Opportunity Class test
- prepare for Selective Schools test.
Job 3: Increase my child's health and wellbeing
Content pillar: Wellbeing
This content provides advice and resources on bullying, safety, social and mental health challenges, and what proactive measures parents and carers can do and the resources they can access to support their child's health and happiness.
Visit our parents and carers Wellbeing section for this content.
Does your content fit into any of these sub jobs and activities? If so, it belongs in the 'wellbeing' content pillar.
Sub job: Deal with common issues.
Activities:
- deal with bullying
- deal with online issues
- deal with mental health challenges
- deal with behaviour challenges.
Sub job: Ensure my child's physical safety at school.
Activities:
- keep my child safe
- ensure health needs are met
- ensure health risks are minimised.
Sub job: Assess my child's wellbeing.
Activities:
- monitor wellbeing at school
- monitor wellbeing at home.
Sub job: Ensure my child's social inclusion.
Activities:
- request adjustments to school events
- monitor social wellbeing.
Sub job: Parent proactively.
Activities:
- ensure my child is mentally strong
- pre-empt online safety issues
- provide a healthy lunchbox
- ensure they eat healthily at school.
Job 4: Prepare my child for life after school
Content pillar: Pathways after school
This content guides parents and carers through helping their child make the best study choices and best decisions for their life beyond school.
Visit our parents and carers Pathways after school section for this content.
Does your parent and carers content fit into any of these sub jobs and activities? If so, it belongs in the 'pathways after school' content pillar.
Sub job: Support subject choices.
Activities:
- help decide on subjects
- help optimise subjects for the HSC
- help decide on VET pathways.
Sub job: Identify and prepare for post-school options.
Activities:
- determine whether my child is employable
- contribute to and monitor individual transition plan.
Sub job: Help my child find work while at school.
Activities:
- help my child get a student job
- help my child organise work experience.
Sub job: Help my child get a job when they leave school.
Activities:
- find job options after school
- obtain support when no employment is found.
Sub job: Help my child decide on a career pathway.
Activities:
- help my child decide on potential career choices
- help my child decide on a pathway to chosen career/s.
Sub job: Help my child decide on further study
Activities:
- help my child choose a university pathway
- help my child choose work/study pathways
- help my child choose other tertiary education.
Sub job: Prepare my child to live independently after school
Activities:
- support my child in finding a place to live (unassisted)
- arrange assisted living
- support learning of life skills.
Access the department's Parent and carers section.
Remember, user research never stops. All further research conducted with parents and carers will continue to help evolve, shape, validate and fill gaps in the parents and carers JTBD framework.
Learn more
Explore human-centred design and the JTBD model as well as other education.nsw user research projects in the links below.