

In 2018, Acas brought in a Scroll content designer to help rewrite its website guidance for employers, employees and HR professionals.
A 2017 content audit, done as part of a wider review of the Acas website, found that:
This audit and other evidence led to another piece of work, known as an ‘alpha’. The Acas digital team – including a product manager, user researcher and content designers – investigated:
Among other things, they discovered content for employees, especially those with low digital skills, should be kept concise. They also found that the content and design of the website needed to be simpler and clearer, so that users would know they were on the right page.
The alpha found that a new project phase – ‘beta’ – was required. This phase would essentially be the creation of a brand new Acas website.
As part of this, content from the old website would need to be ‘transitioned’ to the new website. However, the nature of the problem meant this could not just be a simple ‘lift and shift’. It had to be rewritten from scratch using tried-and-tested content design principles, as used on GOV.UK.
When looking at what content should be prioritised, the digital team took an ‘80/20’ approach. This meant they transitioned the content affecting the greatest number of people first.
Working alongside the digital team, the Scroll content designer bore the following questions in mind before writing any words:
Once the team had identified the top-priority topics – such as hiring staff, discipline and grievance, working hours legislation – they worked through each in turn.
A typical content creation process for each topic would involve:
The initial benefits of this transition were a positive user response via the website’s feedback form, as well as improved clickthrough rates for many pieces of content including:
The homepage bounce rate also improved significantly, from 25% in 2018 to 38% once beta became the primary website.
“The Scroll content designer was a valued member of the small team building the new digital advice service and made a significant contribution to the success of the project […] upskilling and mentoring less experienced content designers on the team.”
Acas
Acas works with employers and employees to improve workplace relationships. It’s a non-departmental public body that receives funding from the government.