Client
The Department for Education
Industry
Government Services
Transforming Access to Early Years Funding: A User-Centred Approach
Revolutionising Early Years Funding with Design Thinking
The Early Years Financial Incentive Service is an initiative aimed at simplifying access to financial support for early years education providers. As a Senior Interaction and Service Designer, I led the human-centred design efforts for this project from its discovery phase in January 2024 through to the rollout of the private beta in November 2024. Over this 11-month journey, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to ensure the service was not only functional but also intuitive and inclusive for its diverse user base. While the finer details of this project remain confidential, I've shown some wireframes, workshop plans, and user journey maps below to demonstrate the work I did on this service.
The impact of this work was immediate and substantial, contributing to nearly £10 million in incentives paid to school teachers across the UK within the first week of launch. This project stands as a testament to the power of user-centred design in transforming public services and delivering tangible benefits at scale.
Balancing policy requirements with user needs was critical to the success of this project. As government directions evolved, the design had to remain flexible, adapting to policy shifts while keeping the focus on accessibility and usability. Limited timelines and constrained resources required prioritization and efficient workflows, ensuring the project stayed on track without compromising quality. By fostering collaboration across departments and keeping the user at the heart of the design process, we delivered a service that met regulatory standards while addressing real-world challenges faced by early years educators.