diff --git a/research/2025-09-12-Welsh_forms_interviews_findings_Aug_25.md b/research/2025-09-12-Welsh_forms_interviews_findings_Aug_25.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..86166a28a --- /dev/null +++ b/research/2025-09-12-Welsh_forms_interviews_findings_Aug_25.md @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +# Welsh forms user research findings August 2025 + +## 2025-08-04 / Sprint 22 to 23 + +## Aims +**Primary goals** +- Understand the behaviours, needs and pain points around how teams produce Welsh versions of English forms. +- Understand how Welsh forms work in terms of structure and content, and how they compare to any English counterparts. + +**Secondary goals** +- Understand the behaviours, needs and pain points around how Welsh form submission data is processed. +- Gather any existing research findings about how their form fillers behave and their needs and pain points. + +## Participants +- 7 people publishing Welsh versions of forms +- 3 people in Welsh translation teams +- 10 participants in total + +## Methodology +- 60 or 90-minute interviews, which included journey mapping with the form creators + +## Key Headlines +**Welsh form publishing journey** + +We learned about the journey that publishing teams go through to produce a Welsh version of a form, which is outlined in [this storyboard](https://app.mural.co/t/gaap0347/m/gaap0347/1757672226529/0429baadcf8abbbe2341099bae3722542c730346?wid=0-1756742539143) along with the detailed other findings on the same board and in the deck below. + +**User needs** + +We also learned about a lot of different users' needs, which are listed in [this spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YVf3aRblacPmh0x43eupmTnpGAdjyW3gbn30fwR362Q/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0). + +**General findings** + +Overall, we learned that there is a common high-level process of producing the English form first, getting it translated then producing the Welsh form. + +People work in different formats, depending on their systems and the type of form being produced (i.e. document-based, digital, services). + +When working with a translated version, it is either in a table format next to the English version, or as an exact duplicate of the English version so that all the formatting and structure matches. This is so that it is easy to relate each question to its original, otherwise they face challenges building the Welsh version with accuracy. + +There are some generally understood best practices in relation to bilingual forms, such as involving translators early, toggling between forms, and ensuring the whole journey is in the alternative language. + +It is helpful for form translators to have direct access to edit a form to ensure accuracy and efficiency of collaboration. + +Form fillers do not trust translated versions of forms and don't see them as the most reliable version. They need to switch between the 2 versions in order to check their understanding and to gain trust in the form itself. + +The forms processors receiving the Welsh data are likely to be the same people as those receiving the English data. They use the English questions to understand what data has been submitted. Translation is generally only required if free text response boxes are used. They need to know which language a form has been submitted in so that subsequent communications can be sent in the right language. + +Teams aim for the Welsh forms to mirror the English forms as closely as possible. This improves trust in the Welsh version. + +Welsh content is likely to be longer than the English original and it does have its own alphabet with special characters. The context of a piece of content greatly influences the words used in the transaltion, which can impact different elements of a form, such as lists. + +## Supporting Evidence +- [Slide deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fHNsM-kiZ7xOZRfK-9GfJ4yQ-JefqSIIrdFht5pi114/edit?slide=id.g3619d51f40a_0_67&pli=1#slide=id.g3619d51f40a_0_67) +- [Playback](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xvBTBjcvjAAHtawVOeVl1Qna9UX3L_VH/view?usp=drive_link) +- [Further documentation](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/137r-LQElpXffsnOeBushhFyCGG2-SOy0)