Five elements of service design for government

Five elements of service design for governments

The key to success for public services has always been delivering quality services to citizens. With the rise of smartphones and other user-centric technologies, people are increasingly relying on online and digital public services. This digital revolution presents enormous opportunities for governments and launches a new era of smarter digital government.

But to thrive in this digital era, governments need to innovate, transform and adopt unprecedented levels of openness and transparency. Given the complexity of government processes and the huge delivery costs, this transformation may be difficult.

Understand the citizen experience, then design services around that.

The current citizen experience is often a broken one. Citizens do not trust the government, nor do they feel empowered. Governments should not only focus on designing services that solve citizen problems but also engage citizens in designing the services. By investing in citizen engagement, governments can gather valuable insights from citizens to better understand their needs, which in turn will help them design better services.

To engage citizens effectively, governments must invest in two-way communication. Citizens should feel empowered through meaningful participation and feedback. They should feel like their input is valued and their feedback is considered. Governments should encourage citizens to voice their opinions and gain their feedback through surveys and town halls.

Governments should also focus on making services accessible and easy to use. Government services should be designed around user needs and not government processes. Governments should create digital service channels such as social media, websites and mobile apps. Citizens should also be able to contact the government through other channels such as phone or email.

Finally, governments should invest in technology to make their services more efficient. Data analytics should inform the government's decision-making and budgeting processes. Governments should integrate technology into citizen-facing services to create positive experiences for citizens.

Design for a complex world by simplifying processes for citizens.

How can governments simplify their processes so that citizens can engage with them easily? Public services have evolved into complex landscapes where citizens must navigate multiple touch points at different stages of their journey. Governments must streamline their processes by using technology, design and data to help citizens complete tasks efficiently.

How can governments simplify their processes so that citizens can engage with them easily?

Start by asking yourself: "What is the process?" To identify the process, you need to categorize it into journey steps and identify the touch points where citizens interact with the government.

Once you have identified the process, you can identify the pain points and simplify them. For instance, if citizens need to submit their documents by a certain date or a certain time, then you could provide them with a calendar that shows them the deadlines and helps them complete the process in time.

You should also involve citizens in your process to make it user-friendly. You can do this by conducting usability tests with them. The feedback you get from these tests will help you improve the process and make collaboration easier.

To streamline the process, you should also build a data foundation and dashboard to track progress and measure it against key performance indicators. This will give you accurate insights into your citizens' journey and help you identify areas of improvement.

Make government processes tangible in people's minds.

When policymakers draft laws and regulations, they often overlook how the public will interpret them and act on them. We need to create a context that accurately conveys the motivations behind the law, and how it will impact people's daily lives. We need to make government processes tangible in people's minds.

To effectively do this, here are three steps:

Plan and implement workshops – Workshops allow people to build an understanding and appreciation of laws and other government processes. This can be achieved by inviting people who are stakeholders in the law, or people who will be impacted by it. During the workshop, experts can explain the law and answer questions, allowing participants to ask questions and form their own understanding.

Use stories – Stories are an effective way to convey messages because they tap into emotions. Stories can showcase how people are affected by law and help people understand how the law will impact their lives. Stories can show how the law affects real people and how people feel about it. Stories can encourage people to take part in government processes.

Use technology – Technology can help people visualize how laws impact their lives. For example, we can create interactive stories/games that help people understand laws and how they can be enacted and enforced.

Interactive stories can provide users with insight into policy objectives and implementation methodologies while showcasing public opinion and letting you gather people's feedback.

Digital tools allow you to expand and scale your citizen services, perform data analysis more efficiently, and understand citizen needs more closely than ever before. Using technology and good design, we can develop innovative solutions to break down the critical barriers preventing citizens from engaging with the government.

Use agile development methods to create iterative prototypes that test assumptions.

Agile development methods are popular because they encourage teams to work collaboratively and iteratively to drive product development. Agile development methods rely on small, incremental steps and prototypes to test assumptions. Agile development methods help teams avoid the wrong by testing assumptions and ensuring they build the right thing.

There are three key principles to agile development methods that are used every day in software development:

Focus on the user experience – The user experience is at the core of agile development. Agile teams are constantly asking "what does the user need?" and "what does the user expect?" to ensure that their final product meets the needs of their target customers.

Build prototypes – Agile development methods rely on creating prototypes to test assumptions early in development. This helps teams identify issues early on in the process and allows them to make changes before wasting too much time or money.

Test assumptions – Agile development methods rely on testing assumptions so teams can quickly course-correct and avoid wasting time and money building the wrong thing. Agile development methods focus on building the right product, not a perfect one.

Deliver services with commercial best practices in mind.

Small businesses have to stay competitive to thrive. To do so, they must deliver high-quality services requiring fewer resources. However, it can be challenging for small businesses to compete with larger enterprises (e.g., Amazon), which can offer lower prices. As a result, small businesses must strive to deliver their services with commercial best practices in mind. By following these best practices, you'll provide better services, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce operational costs, and improve cash flow.

Understand citizens – Make a conscious choice to know your client's needs and meet them. This might mean coming up with a customer service plan that emphasizes relationship-building. Provide content, such as a blog or newsletter, that gives your customers a sense of familiarity and allows them to get to know you.

Design your services – Your services should be designed with a customer-first mentality. This means you should map out how your customers will interact with your services and engage in conversation, enabling them to get what they want.

Deliver exceptional citizen service – Government services should put customers first, but they must do so while respecting available resources. When designing citizen services, you should use the best commercial practices to ensure optimal citizen experiences.

Deploy automation tools – Managing citizen services is incredibly challenging to provide the same level of service to each citizen without increasing operational costs. Governments can use automation tools such as chatbots to help streamline processes, eliminate redundancies, and reduce human errors to stay efficient and effective.

Stay proactive – Customers are busy, so you should always focus on finding ways to position yourself as a problem solver that knows your customers' problems before they do. This way, you'll be able to anticipate what your customers might need before they even know they want it.

Be transparent – Be transparent with citizens by providing them with regular updates on the status of services. Let them know about what you are doing to resolve their problems.

Always follow up – Once a customer signs up for a service, ensure that you follow up on them regularly. Ask them for feedback on your services, and thank them for their patronage.