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Project experienceEvans-Smith & Dando Communication Design has provided advice, developed strategies and written and edited products for a huge range of communication projects. Here's a sample (click the link for a description):
Income
tax consolidation - Tax Office We were commissioned to design and edit guidelines for taxpayers covering this key but complex Business Tax Reform measure, which has increased the volume of Australian income tax law by about 10 per cent.
The communication strategy eliminated the risk of product fragmentation and provided a clear communication pathway for users interacting with the measure at different levels.
Evans-Smith & Dando has a continuing role with the Tax Office to maintain the manual.
Program
review reports - Dept of Family & Community Services Evans-Smith & Dando facilitated the reporting process and edited the reports of teams reviewing a major systems development project and a key policy initiative respectively. We worked closely with the review teams and stakeholders in articulating, testing and documenting the conclusions and recommendations. In both cases we helped develop a logical structure for the reports, draft a compelling case for the conclusions and recommendations based on rigorous logical testing, and ensure that the assumptions and evidence were fully documented.
International
tax information - Tax Office We were commissioned to review the Tax Office's information products on international tax issues. To provide an initial framework for identifying user
needs, we developed an innovative methodology for simulating and documenting
scenarios for off-shore and on-shore users involved in investing, doing business
and working across the border. This is a pre-testing tool that can be used to
explore the context in which users might seek information, simulate their
experiences and develop models and prototypes for formal testing. The Tax Office has adopted our recommendations to redesign the architecture of the web interface and redesign and re-write key information products on international tax issues.
Pay
as you go (PAYG) system - Tax Office
We developed and/or edited a wide range of PAYG communication products, including booklets, fact sheets, web information, and taxpayer notices and correspondence.
Fuel
grants schemes - Tax Office For the launch of new and updated fuel schemes, we conceived and sold to stakeholders an innovative badging solution that avoided the use of potentially confusing and alienating acronyms for a pair of companion payment programs. For the purposes of client communication, the pre-existing Diesel Fuel Rebate Scheme (DFRS) and the new Diesel and Alternative Fuels Grants Scheme (DAFGS) were re-badged as the Off-Road and On-Road fuel schemes respectively. The schemes were designed for related but different purposes, and a key policy and legal requirement was that clients would claim and receive benefits under the right scheme. A further complicating factor was that the client bases for the two schemes overlapped significantly. In addition to developing the communication strategy for the launch and relaunch of these programs, we wrote, edited and managed the production of the full suite of client information and transactional products, including forms. The programs were successfully introduced, with high recognition and acceptance of the badging by clients and trade press.
Major
commercial proposals - Telstra We have written numerous proposals and other business-to-business marketing products for Telstra and other companies over many years. We have been responsible for delivering the final documentation for tenders up to several hundred million dollars in value. Our involvement with Telstra began with an outsourcing arrangement, under which we created and managed a proposal publishing service for its large commercial systems business unit. It was generally acknowledged within the unit that the quality and presentation of the proposals and supporting material played a significant role in its success. This was strongly supported by feedback from customers, who in several cases used Telstra's documentation as a benchmark to assess competitors' proposals. Our strategy was to apply the best practices and production standards of commercial publishing to communicating with the small audiences that make multi-million dollar purchasing decisions. The unit cost may be high, but the approach is cost-effective given the resources invested in tendering. Our approach brings together the presentation of a compelling business case, systematic documentation processes and high-quality publishing standards. With tenders, deadlines are set in concrete, and we have never failed to deliver on time.
Tax
basics for small business - Tax Office For the introduction of the New Tax System in 2000
we were asked to undertake a major updating of the Tax Office's flagship product
for small business. Our redesign of the product focused on the context of the
small business reader and incorporated new information
about GST, PAYG and other Over the following three years we continued to edit annual updates of the booklet, gradually reducing the detail on the New Tax System as it became more familiar to small business readers.
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Email david@evans-smith-dando.com.au with
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The task evolved into the development of a
full-scale communication strategy and the design and production of a suite of
communication products.
Central to this is a comprehensive reference manual
that provides a one-stop information source, published and maintained using the
standard corporate word processing application. Released as a draft, this product
has been recognised both externally and internally within the Tax Office as a
ground-breaking communication solution to an inherently complex and high-risk
measure. The reference manual project is described in more detail in a 
The PAYG system was a major initiative of the New
Tax System, replacing provisional tax and the PAYE system with new, integrated
arrangements. We were responsible for implementing the PAYG communication
strategy over two years, liaising with a range of Tax Office staff, facilitating
workshops, participating in market testing and providing editorial services and
advice.
measures. Market testing of a prototype revealed broad
user support for the new approach and enabled further refinement of the product.
In 2004 we developed a series of complementary slide
presentations, based on Tax basics for small business, to accompany a nationwide
program of Tax Office seminars for new business starters.