Idris Product Manager, Anna Lead User Researcher, Neil User Researcher, Richard Solution Architect

Improving the way we support people during bereavement

Losing a loved one is one of the biggest challenges any of us will face. Bereavement can make us emotionally and financially vulnerable and, for some, accessing financial support quickly is vital – especially if the bereaved person is pregnant or caring for young children. 

Evidence showed that many people didn’t know about the Bereavement Support Payment service, and there were limited ways for people to apply. Some people found it difficult to speak to us about their loved one’s death, and others found it hard to access or post a paper form. 

As a result, people sometimes didn’t get support as quickly as they needed or missed out on payments if they found out about it too late. This could then have a negative impact on their finances and mental health. 

A female and male colleague talking to eachother whilst looking at a laptop.

We looked at the barriers people faced when it came to finding support. We discovered that, understandably, bereaved people: 

  • can’t always think clearly 
  • may find it difficult to talk to others 
  • may have increased anxiety and depression 

Establishing our user needs and product goals 

Our initial user research found that recently bereaved people need: 

  • financial help to pay for a funeral and household costs 
  • knowledge of the financial support available as soon as possible 
  • the ability to claim support in a way that suits them 

Our goal was to make it quick and easy for bereaved people get the financial support they’re entitled to. To do that, we needed to: 

  • give bereaved people multiple ways to claim 
  • capture claim details in a clear, simple way 
  • increase awareness of the service 
  • automate user claims to reduce the time it takes to get support 
Man sat with colleague providing advice and signalling to a laptop.

We worked closely with stakeholders in digital, service delivery, and policy teams, bringing them into the work early and often. This ensured we built a service that aligns with legislation, protects against fraud, and allows us to quickly manage claims. 

We had weekly design review sessions and regular show and tells to help us navigate complex policy rules. We knew that to build a great service we needed stakeholders’ input into designs. 

Engaging our users in the right way 

Our task was to design an empathetic service based on our users’ needs for clear and simple guidance.  

But engaging recently bereaved people in user research to inform the service was a serious challenge. It was important that we got feedback on how the service was working, and where we could make improvements, but we needed to think carefully about how we did that. 

So, we went into private beta on GOV.UK and invited a limited number of people to test the service so we could improve it. We limited the number of daily claims, as it was still going through testing and improvement. 

People could now use the service, volunteer to take part in user research, and we were able to recruit more participants to help inform design decisions and meet our user needs. We also changed our content to clarify what we ask of our users, which increased the number of volunteers we got. 

Three colleagues, two men and one female stood up talking in an office setting.

In August last year, we went from private to public beta, making it possible for any eligible bereaved person to apply for Bereavement Payments quickly and easily, in a way that suits them. 

The online service takes about 12 minutes to complete, with 92% of applicants saying they are satisfied or very satisfied with the service. Many users have told us that they appreciate the simplicity and clarity of the service, finding it easy to use. 

At such a difficult time in their lives, it’s rewarding for us to know we’ve made a difference. 

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