WIREDGOV

Ofcom’s Behavioural Insights Hub ran its first in-house online trial this year, and we’re looking to do more.

We found that upgrading a typical broadband contract summary with behavioural insights led to greater comprehension of key contract information, as well as making it quicker to read. Our online randomised control trial worked effectively and marks the start of how we plan to use this agile methodology right across our regulatory regimes.

The purpose: building our own expertise

We’ve recently carried out several online trials in collaboration with external agencies, focusing on a variety of online safety features. These collaborative trials have generated valuable insights, but they can take significant time to set-up, design and run. We recognised that by developing our own in-house capabilities we could complement our work with external partners with a more agile approach, while extending our experience of running trials to Ofcom’s other regulated sectors. This led us to embark on a new journey, one where we take a more hands-on approach, starting with the telecoms sector.

We identified broadband contract summaries as the ideal starting point.

Contract summaries are designed to distil complex, lengthy, and often quite technical agreements into a more digestible format. A consistent template also aims to help consumers to more easily understand key terms, compare different offers and make informed decisions. However, we wondered: could we improve these summaries?

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