Project aim
Our aim was to increase the reach and impact of Sport Wales community investment grants.
The problem we're solving
The existing grant application process threw up significant barriers to people who wanted to apply for a Sport Wales grant.
Through interviews in discovery (the first, research phase of Agile service design), the project team found that users lacked the information they need, especially about eligibility for grants. Users were also put off by complicated language in the application process. At all stages of an application, users found getting help with their applications difficult.
An inflexible process and lack of clarity about eligibility were stopping people from applying for grants who should be able to.
Partners
Our main partner in this project was Sport Wales.
Our combined team also depended heavily on the participation of the people whose needs it was intended to meet: grass-roots sport clubs, associations and communities across Wales, with a special focus on hard-to-reach groups.
A summary of the work
Discovery
In discovery, we gained a clearer view of the needs of grant applicants and the barriers they faced.
We also explored the technical, operational and design challenges of a grant application service. However, the research was broader than just looking at the grants system.
The aim was to understand how Sport Wales community grants could increase their reach and impact.
Alpha
We then moved into the next, experimental stage of Agile service design – alpha. In this stage, we designed and tested parts of the application process to meet the needs of current and potential users, as well as those of Sport Wales.
We extended the alpha phase to design and test an end-to-end user journey, including how it affected back-office processes and system requirements. This also helped to shape the specification for Sport Wales's procurement of a new system to manage the process.
Lessons learnt
Our work showed that there was ample room to improve the current grant application process through user-centred service design. A more inclusive service would reduce the burden on users, while meeting the organisational needs of Sport Wales.
A user-centred service promised to make grants accessible to everyone who was eligible – so sport funding could make the real difference that it should.
Next steps
When our involvement in the work ended, Sport Wales took up the implementation of the new system designed around user needs.
We have an ongoing relationship with Sport Wales as they identify new digital projects – we'll support them in building their own delivery teams and prioritising this work.
