UK Government:
Department for Education
Transforming education finance through data-driven insights
Developing a digital dashboard to enhance clarity and simplify financial management for education providers.
Product
Web App
Industry
Education
Government
Financial Services
My Role
Lead Designer
User Research
Prototyping
Design Systems
User Testing
Timeline
5 months
25,000 +
education providers empowered by new product
95% reduction
in reporting time for education providers
27 to 0
number of Excel reports required by education providers to understand their funding
The challenge
The Department for Education (DfE) faced a significant challenge in delivering clear and accessible funding information to education providers. Their existing method depended on an outdated system of offline spreadsheets and files sent over email, making it difficult for providers to accurately track, understand, and plan their finances. This approach resulted in inefficiencies, increased costs, and a general lack of transparency around funding allocations.
The solution
To modernise the funding service and enhance clarity for education providers, we developed a digital dashboard that delivers real-time visualisations of their funding data. This innovative tool seamlessly aggregates, calculates, and presents financial information submitted by schools and colleges in a clear, visual, and user-friendly format, transforming complex financial data into actionable insights.
The Process
Research
To thoroughly understand the challenges faced by education providers and pinpoint their key needs, we employed a mixed-methods research approach.

Our qualitative research involved in-depth, one-on-one interviews with heads of finance from over 35 organisations, ranging from small institutions to large providers managing over 1,000 students. These interviews delved into how the DfE could better support providers in interpreting their financial data and addressed the difficulties they encountered with the existing process.
Complementing this, we conducted a quantitative survey that received over 900 completed responses. This survey helped us gather broader insights into the challenges and priorities of education providers.

This comprehensive research approach enabled us to identify five key user needs that would shape the development of the platform:
Consolidated Data
A unified platform to view all financial data in one place.
Real-Time Updates
Up-to-date data and real-time outputs for informed decision-making.
Data Filtering
The ability to filter data by various criteria for easier analysis and reporting.
Historical Comparisons
The ability to compare historical data to identify trends and assess performance.
User-Friendly Interface
A simple, intuitive interface for easy navigation and understanding.
These insights guided the design and functionality of the dashboard, ensuring it directly addressed the needs of education providers.
Ideation and co-creation workshops
After identifying our user needs, we moved on to developing solutions through a series of ideation sessions and co-creation workshops in collaboration with key stakeholders.

During these workshops, the team engaged in various activities designed to generate ideas, assess risks, explore different approaches, and refine the project scope. Some of the key workshop activities we employed included:
Crazy 8's
This exercise was designed to encourage rapid ideation and generate a diverse range of solutions.

Participants were given a sheet of paper divided into eight squares, with a strict time limit of one minute per square. The objective was to quickly sketch out potential solutions to a given problem within each square. To optimise the exercise and generate more ideas within the allotted time, we adapted the traditional Crazy 8s format, requiring only four sketches per round.

After completing their sketches, participants presented their ideas to the group, sparking discussions and fostering collaboration.
Rose, thorn, bud
In this activity, we selected the most promising ideas and displayed them on a wall. Participants then used coloured stickers to share their thoughts: red stickers, or "roses," highlighted the positive aspects of each idea; yellow stickers, or "thorns," identified potential challenges or drawbacks; and green stickers, or "buds," pointed out opportunities for growth or improvement.

This collaborative method allowed us to clearly see the strengths, weaknesses, and areas for development in each idea, helping us to prioritize and refine our solutions effectively.
User Journey Mapping
To gain firsthand insight into the existing user experience and identify the best entry points for our new dashboard, I mapped out the entire end-to-end journey of submitting, processing, and receiving files within the current system.

This detailed analysis enabled the team to visualise the current process and identify the most strategic locations for integrating our dashboard. By pinpointing the most strategic locations to integrate our dashboard, we ensured that the new tool would fit seamlessly into the existing workflow, facilitating a smooth transition for education providers.
Bringing Data to Life
Next, the team evaluated various options for building the platform and chose Power BI as the ideal solution. Its ease of integration with existing systems and its rich visualisation library made it the perfect fit for this project.

To ensure the data was presented in the most effective and visually appealing way, I carefully assessed the available chart types in Power BI, aligning each one with the specific data it was meant to represent. This selection process enabled me to create visualisations that were both informative and engaging. For instance, line charts were used to display trends over time, bar charts to compare different categories, and pie charts to illustrate the composition of various funding streams.
From Sketch to Screen
To explore different design approaches, I began with quick sketches that allowed us to rapidly iterate and collaborate on initial ideas. These rough drafts were instrumental in quickly visualising potential solutions and refining our approach.

Building on these sketches, I developed low-fidelity, grey-scale wireframes. These wireframes focused on the overall structure and user flow, deliberately avoiding the distraction of colours or detailed design elements. The primary goal was to establish the layout, hierarchy, and functionality of the dashboard, ensuring alignment with user needs and the project's objectives.

After validating and refining the low-fidelity wireframes, I advanced to high-fidelity prototypes. These prototypes incorporated detailed design elements such as colour schemes, typography, and interactive components. The high-fidelity prototypes closely resembled the final product, enabling comprehensive user testing and valuable feedback.
The GOV.UK Design System
To ensure a consistent user experience with the existing service, I leveraged the GOV.UK Design System throughout the design process. The GOV.UK Design System provided a comprehensive toolkit of pre-built components, styles, and patterns specifically designed for government services. By integrating these elements, I ensured that the dashboard adhered to established government design standards, enhancing user familiarity and trust.

Additionally, the system's emphasis on accessibility allowed me to create an inclusive dashboard for a diverse range of users, regardless of their abilities.
Strategic Rollout
The dashboard was launched as a Minimum Viable Solution (MVS), introducing key functionalities specifically designed to meet the primary needs of users.

The MVS included real-time data visualizations of financial submissions, allowing education providers to gain immediate insights into their funding status. It also enabled historical data comparisons, letting users analyze current funding against data from up to five academic years. Additionally, the dashboard featured data filtering across various categories and supported multiple funding models, including 16-19 funding, Adult Skills, Apprenticeships, Community Learning, and Skills Bootcamps.

Opting for an MVS approach allowed us to deliver essential features quickly, providing immediate value to users while leaving room for iterative enhancements. This strategy enabled the team to validate core functionalities before committing further resources, ensuring that subsequent improvements were guided by real-world user feedback and experiences. We continued to user test the live product and gather feedback through a survey link embedded in the dashboard, ensuring the product evolved in line with user needs and expectations.
The result
The introduction of the dashboard has significantly transformed financial management within the education sector, benefiting over 25,000 education providers across the UK. By offering real-time visualisations of financial data, the dashboard enables providers to make more informed decisions, optimise financial planning, and gain a clearer understanding of their funding allocations. This has ensured that public funds are utilised in alignment with government targets for quality and value for money.

Follow-up user research revealed overwhelmingly positive feedback. The majority of users indicated that they would use the dashboard at least monthly, in line with the frequency of funding reports, while an additional 30% reported they would use it weekly. This high level of adoption highlights the dashboard's seamless integration into the daily workflow of education providers.

Survey results further confirmed that the service has successfully simplified the funding process for providers, delivering substantial value to their organisations. Users consistently described the dashboard as easy to use, useful, and clear, reflecting a strong positive sentiment toward the new product.
Let’s make great things together
Have a project or idea you'd like to explore? Let's connect! I'm always open to collaborating and would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop me a line or schedule a chat through one of the links below.
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