The Biometric Residents Permit enquiry service had previously failed its Beta service assessment twice. We were asked to help overhaul the struggling service and pass its government assessment.
Biometric residence permits (BRPs) are issued to non-british citizens by the UK Home Office to confirm their status and entitlements while in the UK. They are a critical document for these citizens, being able to act as a proof of identity, right to study and enabling access to public services.
The department was receiving over 100K enquiries per year reporting problems with BRPs over email, phone and post channels. Important information was missing. This resulted in repeated contact and delays, which was not only a bad experience for the user, and inefficient for the service provider. Therefore, the Home Office created an online BRP Enquiries service, enabling users to get help easily if they have any issues with it, such as it being lost or stolen.
The service had failed 2 Beta service assessments against the government’s digital service standard. The assessors explained in their report that whilst the team had a good understanding of how the operational team ran the service, a lack of user research meant they knew very little about what users needed to be able to successfully use it. They also challenged the decision to use proprietary software, which goes against government guidelines to use open source software to reduce vendor lock-in.
The client was understandably frustrated, and therefore asked Marvell Consulting to help the service pass its beta reassessment.
Our development and user research experts supported their blended team to help the service pass the Beta and subsequent Live service assessments.
To better understand the current state-of-play of the service and challenges it was facing, we conducted a number of initial investigations, including:
The first challenge was addressing assessors’ concerns about the lack of user research. We needed to actually identify users of the service we could engage with, so we could ensure our testing would be done with real service users, and our research findings would be truly valid. Initial findings from stakeholder and user interviews enabled us to generate user personas and segmentation maps to ensure we achieved appropriate coverage of the user groups.
We used a number of methods to find the right people, such as:
In addition, we identified vulnerable user groups such as asylum seekers and refugees, including young people, and those who support them to communicate with the Home Office about issues with their Biometric Residence permit.
These users were then engaged throughout the Beta, being involved in a range of user interviews and prototype testing sessions. Findings from these research sessions were used to develop recommendations to be refined and prioritised for ongoing prototype testing.
Through our testing, we confirmed that a section of the user base had lower digital skills or who couldn’t easily access the internet.
We ensured we followed WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines and conducted accessibility testing so that components of the implementation could be used by users with lower digital skills, and across a range of assistive devices. For instance, we implemented an accessible country selector so that screen reader users can complete a form in five minutes.
Furthermore, we conducted extensive cross-browser testing on desktop and mobile devices using screen readers, magnifiers and built in voice controls to evaluate interface components, and ensure the service worked for everyone.
Lastly, we proposed an alternative telephone-based solution for people in these circumstances. We also provided clear signposting from Visa decision letters and designed the telephone support model.
Upon joining the project, we conducted a technical review of the service requirements and analysed the existing software in use across the Home Office. We identified progress made on open-source libraries within HMPO and performed a spike to evaluate the feasibility of reusing these libraries within a central framework. The findings from this investigation informed the development of the service, addressing the panel’s concerns regarding the reliance on proprietary software in the previous solution.
By building the new service with open-source technologies, the department avoided being locked into costly supplier contracts. We implemented a cloud-native, containerised microservices architecture, delivering a flexible, high-performing, and secure solution.
We developed all of this using a process of continuous testing and deployment. By enabling the team to make releases and improvements to the software quickly, easily and regularly we could ensure we were able to be responsive to changes in business and end user needs. For instance, during busy periods, we could quickly update the service’s response times so caseworkers weren’t overburdened with queries and user expectations were better managed
The service passed on our first Beta assessment, and subsequent Live assessment, validating that our approach fully aligned with GDS standards. It was also fully GDPR-compliant, as we ensured only necessary personal information was shared securely with UKVI caseworkers in order to allow the processing of the user’s enquiry.
By taking a user centred approach, validating the design of the service through continuous user research, and making the forms accessible and easy to use, the new service achieved 95% digital take up.
It also provided more detailed and actionable management information to support senior decision-making within the unit and supplied monthly reports detailing service capability and KPIs to support knowledge transfer.
Finally, we developed and tested an accessible country selector that enabled screen reader users to complete the form in just five minutes. By making the selector available on GitHub, it is now being used by numerous other services and departments, allowing them to benefit from the work we delivered.
Following this engagement, Marvell Consulting provided live support (Level 3) to UKVI’s Biometric Residence Permit services for over 2 years.
After many years of delivering a successful service, the Home Office will soon be retiring the service, as BRPs are being replaced by eVisas.
“This is an important service with international exposure. The team has embraced the difficult recommendations set out in the original beta assessment and demonstrated that it’s possible to successfully challenge the status quo to create a high quality digital service that meets user needs.” Service assessor, Home Office
"Supporting the Home Office in refining the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) enquiries service was a pivotal opportunity. Faced with the challenge of a service struggling to pass government assessments, we collaborated with the team to stabilise the offering and align it with GDS standards. By addressing key gaps in user research, accessibility, and technology, we transformed the service into a high-performing, user-centred solution.
The result was a service that passed both Beta and Live assessments on our first attempt, achieved 95% digital uptake, and delivered a vastly improved experience for over 120,000 users annually. We’re proud to have played a role in this transformation and to see elements of our work, like the accessible country selector, being adopted across other government services."
Aspasia Dellaporta, Chief Research Officer at Marvell consulting
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