Requirements
- Allow anyone in the UK and over the age of 13 to buy a fishing rod licence
- They should be able to buy a licence that lasts 1 day, 8 days or 12 months
- Two types of licences for ‘coarse fish and trout’ only or ‘salmon and sea trout’
Discovery
Knowing nothing about fishing, I was surprised to find out the following:
- Currently, the main way of obtaining a fishing licence is at the Post Office
- The licence is for using fishing rods
- Licences last for 12 months maximum and need renewal
- There are different licences for ‘coarse fish and trout’ only and ‘salmon and sea trout’
- For ‘salmon and sea trout’, you need to report an annual ‘catch return’
- Concessions are made for young people, OAPs and Blue Badge holders
- Water bailiffs police the local rivers and lakes
- If caught fishing without a licence, there is a fine of up to £2,500
Challenges
- The main demographic is retired males
- Licences are usually bought by women — indicating that the fishers ask their wives to fill the forms in
- Users are not ‘computer savvy’
- Users usually leave licensing to the last minute
- Users liked having physical licences and were reluctant to go fully digital
- Should we allow multibuy purchases for groups of fishers?
Creating a digital service for fishers would prove difficult. It was discussed that we may need to offer incentives (e.g. cheaper licence) to those applying digitally instead of at the Post Office.
User journey mapping
To agree on a suitable MVP for the Alpha release, we ran a two-day user journey mapping workshop. We gathered user requirements and discussed how the service needed to work.
Formulating a content and design backlog
I created a content and question map to define the backlog needed to deliver a usable service. Post-it notes formed the basis of this backlog, and the dev team was involved at every step.
Prototyping
Using the GOV.UK prototype kit, I created a fully functioning prototype with routing logic for licence types and permutations.
Everything was committed to GitHub for collaboration and version control.
User research
Research took place across the country, starting with a fishing exhibition in Manchester. I also carried out guerrilla testing at a tackle shop in Bristol — users responded positively.
GDS Alpha assessment
The service passed its GDS Alpha assessment in April 2016.
It then moved to Beta and is now available at Buy a rod fishing licence.
Summary
Despite knowing little about fishing at the outset, this turned into one of the most enjoyable and unique projects I’ve worked on.
Our initial hypothesis about non-tech-savvy users was validated, but the simplicity of the service meant even they could use it confidently. Some still preferred to ask their wives to visit the Post Office.
Digital licences were trialled during research with mixed reactions. Most users preferred a physical copy for when asked by bailiffs.
We also identified the need for bailiffs to access a digital, up-to-date licence database while in remote locations with limited connectivity.
Screens
