Building internal systems v providing services
As we go about redesigning public services to be clearer, simpler and faster, we sometimes hear things like, ‘civil servants are users too.’ And of course they are.
Service design
The hidden benefits of user centred design
Delivery teams across the Home Office spend a lot of time observing and testing ideas with users. It’s an essential component of user centred design and helps us understand if our ideas work.
Discovering the value of access needs research
Chris has worked in UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) since 2003. Aspasia, a user researcher working on visa applications, invited Chris to observe a research session. Together they went to visit John, who has a degenerative eye condition that’s left …
Creating a common language to describe services
When we build teams to work on services, the individuals may have never worked together before, and may have different ways of describing their work.
The power of pictures in service design
In October 2015 the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Service had got off to great start. User researchers had done some excellent discovery work to paint the general picture of the existing Syrian refugee resettlement process in the UK.
How will this new shiny thing deliver value?
As a user researcher working on immigration case working, I was recently asked ‘How will this new shiny thing you’re designing deliver value?’
What do service designers do?
As we establish new roles in public service, such as 'service designers', it raises some good questions and debate. We already have multidisciplinary teams designing and building services, so where does the service designer fit in, exactly? What do service …
How a digital team is helping to resettle Syrian refugees
I’m immensely proud to be working as a researcher on a smart but simple-to-use case-working service for staff at the Home Office.
What does transformation really mean?
There’s a lot of talk about transformation. People who use services don’t care if something has been ‘transformed’ or not. They just want to do something. So when we talk about ‘transformation’, we’re already speaking from an internally-focused perspective rather …
Sharing design patterns to work smarter
In a team as big as Home Office Digital, there’s always the danger that we replicate each other's work. Knowing what others are working on or have worked on becomes really important. But what’s the best way to do this …
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