At the Home Office we have a strategic ambition to make better use of data. We know that good quality data will improve outcomes for the people we serve, while also ensuring the Home Office can be efficiently run. To this end, we have several sophisticated internal data products which are run by teams of talented data experts.
But like a lot of large organisations, that is only one of many objectives that needs to be balanced with our other ambitions. We are also trying to be more user-centred in our approach to the design and delivery of our products and services.
Applying new ways of working to established data products and the teams delivering them is not straightforward, so we want to share what we have learned as a user-centred design team, working alongside other technical professions, to build a complex data-driven product.
We work in a multidisciplinary team of technical and user-centred colleagues, including Data Scientists, Developers, User Researchers and Interaction Designers.
We’re currently building and developing a research tool which will enable internal Home Office staff to search across, and identify, data which relates to suspicious patterns of behaviour.
However, working on an ever-changing, complex data product means balancing data dependencies and development timelines, while ensuring users’ needs are at the centre of any decisions we make.
We recently conducted a discovery on data quality, and how users interpret it, to show how we achieve this balance between data dependencies, development timelines and user needs.
During discovery we researched what data existed and how users understood it, framed any problems to be solved and gathered evidence in order to guide us in next steps.
The Data Scientists on the team conducted their own exploratory research, analysing data produced by an algorithm, which explored connections between different sets of information. They explored whether the results returned by the algorithm provided valuable insights, without overwhelming the user with unmanageable amounts of less useful data.
Our User Researchers then gathered feedback from a range of users and stakeholders to assess the value of this data, to ensure the algorithm we created was aiding users with beneficial information.
Parallel to this, our Interaction Designers built wireframes and mock ups which we used to run workshops to confirm assumptions, as well as for live design sessions, and conversations across professions. We involved the stakeholders and users in this process to ensure we continued to meet their needs for using and interacting with this data.
At this point we produced designs we wanted to test but, as they were prototypes, they were not connected to live data. We had to create mock scenarios and mock data so that, during research, users could navigate and interact with a realistic journey. While mock data is a useful tool, it only gives a snapshot of what the final data may look like. The final live data is likely to have its own unique situations that mock data doesn’t account for, as well as variations across data sets, and so this must be considered during research.
To help ensure that the mock data was as close to the final data as possible, we again worked closely with data science to produce real data that we anonymised and fed into our prototypes. This can be a lengthy (but crucial) process to enable us to present information to users that is as accurate and realistic as possible.
We worked with our stakeholders to critique the data and prototypes to ensure they were as expected, before conducting usability testing with the users to assess whether the interface enabled the data to be efficiently explored.
To fully test the design, we then developed it in the live system, connecting it to the data to simulate a more realistic experience for users in the beta phase of testing.
Once the research findings showed that our design was meeting user needs, our team developed a clear, documented handover process between roles to ensure a smooth transition from design to production:
Once the product was built and had been through multiple rounds of usability testing, we conducted a pilot study at the end of beta.
The pilot involved getting users to actually use the system, alongside other live systems, to conduct their day-to-day work practices and assess its success. This is a useful approach when working with internal data products as it helps us realistically evaluate whether the system works effectively in the context of the other tools and systems users are working with.
The product was then officially made live. But even after this point we continued to improve the data itself, as well as the design, to provide even more value to users and aid their investigations. We continued to research with users, testing out new features and enhancements to the product.
It was key at this stage to involve the whole team in the process, so that we could use the research findings to help identify design or data issues that were needed to be addressed along the way.
By working closely together as a multidisciplinary team, we could ensure the product and the data within it was presented in a way that met our users’ aims and considered their needs throughout the entire process.
User-centred design at the Home Office is about designing our products and services in collaboration with the people who will use them.
The work we do to design government services is varied, exciting and challenging.
You can find out more about user-centred design roles at our Home Office Careers website.
Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Delivery Managers are accountable for the delivery of products and services, helping teams to select the best ways of working and coaching them to continually improve their processes.
Delivery Managers are skilled in:
The Delivery Manager role is recognised under the DDaT Profession Capability Framework. Working within this framework, the Delivery Profession ensures there are clear career paths for every role and access to relevant continuous professional development.
All Home Office Technology Delivery Managers are part of the Home Office Delivery community. Members of the Delivery community support each other by sharing knowledge and experience. This includes:
Delivery Managers in the Home Office look to continually improve ways of working in their teams to get the best results possible.
The Home Office Delivery Profession is always evolving as we improve and find new ways to support our Technology Delivery Managers.
Hello, I’m Depak Patel. I work as a Senior Delivery Manager in the Automation Centre for the Chief Technology Office within DDaT. Automation is the use of technology to reduce, remove or augment human intervention in tasks or processes and allows people to focus on value-added tasks. The typical timescale for an automation project ranges from 3 to 6 months.
I have oversight of a number of automation projects from discovery to implementation. It’s exciting to solve real life operational problems through the innovative use of emerging technology.
I deliver a live service that is appropriately security assured and robust. My responsibilities include:
Each day brings a variety of unique challenges.
I enjoy supporting and coaching Delivery Managers to ensure multidisciplinary teams deliver automation business products within scope, to time and to quality.
I particularly enjoy working with a diverse range of colleagues across different parts of the Home Office to help them remove their biggest pain points by improving processes. It’s satisfying to work together towards a common purpose, using innovative ways to solve problems and challenge the status quo.
Through the Delivery Profession community, I’m encouraged to learn new skills as well as maintain current agile methodology. I work in an environment that encourages me to fail fast and incorporate lessons learned into each new project.
We’re recruiting Technology Delivery Managers!
Apply by 13 February 2024:
Senior Outcome Technology Delivery Manager in our Data Services and Analytics team.
Apply by 14 February 2024:
Senior Technology Delivery Managers in our Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio.
Senior Technology Delivery Manager in our Data Services and Analytics team.
Read our Home Office careers website for more information on what it’s like to work with us as a Technology Delivery Manager.
Data Science is a fascinating and fast-growing profession, taking all the best bits from analytics and programming to gaining insights from big datasets.
At Home Office, our data scientists work on a variety of projects, ranging from helping support the efficiency of our operational systems, to providing insights on crime for our law enforcement colleagues.
Ethics is a vital part of the work we do, and we make sure we’re following the highest standards when it comes to the analytical quality and ethical implications of our work. This can make for some challenging but rewarding discussions as we strive to ensure our work benefits our users.
As Head of Data Sciences, I’m responsible for the strategic direction of Data Science in Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT). I lead on how we add value to products and on horizon scanning for new approaches, such as the explosion of public interest in AI.
I spend much of my time making sure the Home Office is a great place to work for Data Scientists. This includes making our recruitment process fairer and more accessible. I ensure we offer a great learning and development programme, including the opportunity to take part in hackathons and mentoring schemes. I advocate at senior level so that Data Scientists can use their skills to get the most insight out of our data.
Data is recognised as a Profession under the DDaT Profession Capability Framework. Working within this framework, the Data Profession ensures there are clear career paths for every role and access to relevant continuous professional development for our Data Scientists.
Personally, I’ve been pleased to see increased support and visibility of women in senior leadership roles, especially in technical areas. We have some way to go, but it’s great to see my senior management team of lead data scientists being 50:50 split by gender. It’s also been great to be so well supported as I prepare for maternity leave – I know that I have been treated fairly and will have a great role to return to after my leave is complete.
During the second lockdown from early November to early December 2020, I started my role not only in the Civil Service, but also the Home Office. Once security clearance was granted, I was given a starting date, and then a couple of weeks was needed to arrange accounts and IT. I then received the official job offer and contract.
During this time, my line manager arranged plans for the first day with me, discussing working hours and etiquette.
The induction spanned over my first weeks. My previous tech background and skills were mapped to some of the projects I became involved in. The main elements of my tailored induction plan were:
My manager connected me with other Data Scientists and diverse communities both inside the Home Office and externally too, such as groups in the Government Statistical Service (GSS). It’s been helpful to hear a wide range of opinions and find out what other work is being done in Data Science.
I was eager to develop my technical skills during my onboarding process. I was encouraged to expand my previous technical knowledge of SQL and Python through Home Office’s recommended free resources such as Datacamp. I learnt so much on the Python Programmer pathway, which includes courses like Git.
]]>We volunteered as Diversity and Inclusion practice leads in the Home Office user-centred design (UCD) community. Our goal is finding ways to embed diversity and inclusion into our research and design practices.
We’ve found that understanding the importance of accessible and inclusive government services is one thing but putting this into practice is another.
While working as part of a service team we noticed inconsistencies in how the sex and gender of users were referred to. When discussing the problem with other designers we discovered there was no best practice for tackling this within Home Office services.
Inconsistencies in the way we identify users risks unintended consequences that may exclude or disadvantage the people we build services for.
The words we use are crucial because it's how we communicate with people and give them the information they need to complete the tasks they need to.
Our services need to be consciously unbiased to effectively serve our users, so we wanted to fill the gap in how we use language to design inclusively.
Other organisations are starting to develop their own inclusive language guides to provide a standard for designers and create consistency in their approaches to language.
NHS Digital for example have an inclusive content style guide, tailored to the healthcare context. Google has published guidance on how to write inclusively, specifically designed for developers.
We spoke to people across government departments and professions to find out how teams were approaching content with our diverse user groups in mind, and if inclusivity was a key consideration.
It became clear that despite trying to design services that work for everyone, there wasn’t a single point of reference for inclusive language in the Home Office that people could use to guide their work.
Other than accessibility and usability standards, how we use language to communicate inclusively remained an elusive subject.
We've created our own inclusive language guidance for designers at the Home Office, to use as a benchmark for content in our services.
The guidance is not an exhaustive list but aims to start setting a standard for writing inclusively and consistently across the services we work on.
We've laid out clear guidelines for designers as to what language to use and how to approach writing about users from groups, including users from groups with protected characteristics. The guidance highlights how to avoid inconsistent approaches that have the potential to exclude and alienate users from certain groups.
Inclusive language ultimately builds trust and allows us to communicate effectively with our users.
Taking inspiration from some accessibility posters produced by one of our colleagues, we distilled the ideas of inclusive language into a more shareable format.
The inclusive language posters are quick reference, best practice guidelines and not meant to be used as a set of rules. The idea is that you can put them up in your office space to get UCD colleagues thinking about how to write inclusively as they design and research. They can also be used digitally.
The guidance and posters are available in PDF or JPEG format for anyone to find on GitHub and our Home Office design system.
We hope the posters will be used by teams to bake inclusivity into their designs and have it at the forefront of their minds when designing for all users.
These will be iterated as we continue to seek out new ways to be inclusive in our work and evolve design practices to build services that work for everyone.
User-centred design at the Home Office is about designing our products and services in collaboration with the people who will use them. We work on some of the most challenging and important government services. Our work helps to keep people safe and the country secure.
You can find out more about user-centred design at our Home Office Careers website.
Want to make a lasting impact on how the Home Office delivers user-centred products and services? We’re currently recruiting for an Interaction Designer. Apply by 3 December 2023 at Interaction Designer - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK.
Our colleagues from the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) in Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) tell us what they do and what they enjoy most about their work.
Hello, I’m Natalie. I’m a Senior Cyber Threat Analyst in the Threat Hunting team in CSOC. We’re responsible for proactively and iteratively identifying patterns of suspicious behaviour within the Home Office network to protect the services that you use.
My team are on the frontline of fighting cybercriminals. I keep ahead of the latest threats by conducting research and liaising with the Threat Intelligence team who gather, analyse, and categorise threat data. I identify service improvements and new processes so our team has the required tooling and visibility to detect and thwart well-resourced threats.
A large part of my role involves the development of hypotheses, which are informed assumptions about an attack. These form the foundation for a threat hunt. A hypothesis may also include the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures that can be used as a means of profiling the behaviours of a threat actor. They support in identifying anomalies and patterns in our data.
I’m also involved in delivering controlled threat simulation, using adversarial techniques to identify weaknesses in our defensive controls and strengthen the effectiveness of our existing cyber capabilities.
I enjoy the variety in my role. The threat landscape is constantly evolving, so there are always opportunities to learn something new.
I'm a Fast Streamer in my first posting in Cyber Security. As a Response Manager I work with the Protective Monitoring team dealing with our processes for monitoring alerts.
I help refine the incident response process, codifying documentation and writing playbooks for dealing with alerts and fixing existing process documentation.
I’m from a non-technical background and have really enjoyed working in a technical environment with the guidance and support of the team.
Hi, I’m Steven and I’m the Protective Monitoring Lead within CSOC.
One of my main responsibilities is leading 5 shift teams of Security Operation Centre Analysts. These teams work every day of the year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to detect and respond to cyber threats targeting the Home Office.
I joined CSOC as an Analyst and I’m glad I did. No 2 days in Cyber Security are ever the same which is probably one of the main reasons I enjoy the work so much.
I moved into the Threat Hunting team following experience working in Digital Forensics.
Threat hunting requires both an inquisitive mind and technical capability to create rules and queries to detect suspicious behaviours across people and computers.
I enjoy how creative the approach to the threat hunting process is. There are multiple ways to design the hunt.
Hello, I’m Izna. Threat intelligence is the basis of a lot of the work we do within CSOC. Threat intelligence involves gathering information from various sources, both internal and external, and turning it into actionable intelligence to enhance our security position.
It’s great to be able to learn from my team regularly and have constructive discussions; it really helps us to build a sense of how the intel we gather impacts the organisation.
My role is to scan, discover, prioritise and remediate cyber vulnerabilities using industry-recognised tools and methods to protect the Home Office.
The best aspects of the role for me are both the tools we use and the people I work with.
The Cyber Profession team at Home Office DDaT ensures the activities of the Profession align with the cross-government Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data.
We encourage our teams to take charge of their careers. We champion the Career framework for security professionals in government, which builds internal capability through recruitment and retainment of digital skills. The framework encompasses a Skills and Competency Model that maps the Skills Framework for the Information Age to roles and career paths, which is a great resource for colleagues identifying vertical and horizontal career moves.
For many, breaking into the cyber security industry with no formal education or cyber experience can be tough. We challenge misconceptions around the requirements needed to join the field by championing diversity and inclusion. For those new to the profession there are many opportunities to learn, such as shadowing expert individuals or teams. Shadowing really creates a sense of belonging, improves team cohesion, and gives you the belief that you can excel!
The Cyber Profession supports our teams to build their Continual Professional Development plan so they can continue learning new skills. We recommend the Government Online Skills Tool for civil servants to help colleagues identify their skills and address knowledge gaps by providing learning solutions.
We offer a range of training options. The Cloud Centre of Excellence provides Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure training. The Collaboration Innovation and Technology Forum provides mentoring and networking opportunities. O’Reilly provides books, videos, and conference talks from industry experts.
We encourage colleagues to join our community groups, such as The Women Non-Binary and Trans in CSOC. The group has given its members a platform to promote inclusivity and positive change through effective communication workshops and by encouraging leadership in cyber.
We’re recruiting a Lead Cyber Policy Manager to help secure the systems and environments the organisation relies on to achieve its objectives. Applications close 22 October 2023. Apply at: Lead Cyber Policy Manager - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK.
You can read more about how the DDaT Profession supports our people in all digital, data and technology roles in the posts below.
Engineering at Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) is a recognised DDaT Profession under the DDaT Profession Capability Framework. Our DDaT Profession teams are dedicated to providing clear career paths and continuous learning programmes to our digital, data and technology colleagues.
The Engineering Profession consists of over 2,000 engineers (civil servants and supplier partners) within 4 main job roles:
Our engineers are responsible for building and maintaining Home Office applications and platforms, ensuring they remain accessible to users.
We manage over 600 services spanning Borders, Immigration, Citizenship and Policing. Every year our systems support over 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and 140 million police checks on people, vehicles, and property.
The Engineering Profession team supports our engineers by offering ‘communities of practice’.
As part of our communities of practice offering we hold monthly community meet-ups, where our engineers hear from speakers on a range of topics such as artificial intelligence, FinOps and IT sustainability. These talks provide insight for our teams, challenge ways of thinking and provide an opportunity to share knowledge and experience.
Our Profession team also focus on ensuring clear career pathways for our engineers. We have a skills and competency model based on the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), mapped to all role levels in Infrastructure, Network, DevOps and Software Engineering. It helps colleagues easily map which skills they need to develop for promotion or sideways career moves. The framework includes a distinction between managerial and technical pathways.
Our Engineering Profession team champion continuous professional development (CPD). We’ve launched an engineering training catalogue with an extensive list of courses aimed specifically for our engineers’ continuous learning. This includes training in both technical and soft skills.
The courses include Cloud, Application Security, Frameworks, Source Code Management and presentation skills. We encourage our engineers to undertake Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure training and certification.
We recently enjoyed collaborating with AWS to deliver AWS GameDay. Our engineers joined hands-on labs, diving into services such as Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), virtual machines, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networking and storage on AWS. These events help educate our teams about AWS products and services, developing the skills needed to build, deploy, and operate our infrastructure and applications in the cloud.
So that we can continue to grow our in-house engineering capability, we encourage our engineers to support our recruitment efforts. By getting involved in interviewing, tech testing and recruitment events our engineers improve their own career prospects by better understanding how to apply for promotion and excel at interviews.
The Engineering Profession create learning opportunities across the Home Office. National Coding Week has been running since 2014 and encourages people of all ages and abilities to give coding a try. During National Coding Week we introduce colleagues to coding by offering them hands-on taster sessions and interactive events.
Hi, I’m Katie, a Software Developer in Shared Applications Services.
I help develop and maintain various features of the Modern Slavery Statement Registry (MSSR). The MSSR is an online platform for organisations to voluntarily publish their modern slavery statements.
Working with the Modern Slavery Team has been rewarding and exciting. Although the transition from a Junior Software Developer to this position was initially challenging, it afforded me the opportunity to contribute to an important cause, while being a valued member of a supportive team.
I work on a wide range of projects in Home Office DDaT, such as:
One of my favourite projects so far has been the ‘Dashboard Project’.
I helped develop a custom dashboard to provide visibility into the health of the MSSR and its services. I gained competence in using previously unfamiliar tools and technologies, such as Terraform and Azure Functions. I also developed an understanding of system monitoring and observability practices and have shared these experiences with the engineering Observability guild.
We’re guided by the Software Engineering Profession Guidance and Standards (SEGAS), which is a community (or set of 'guilds') that strive to provide a baseline of cohesive standards for software development at the Home Office. As the guilds are community-based everyone gets to be a part of the discussions around these standards. Being a member of the guilds will give you opportunities to develop your confidence by presenting your work to peers and gaining feedback from the community on how to move forward with, or improve, projects.
Hello, I’m Imu. I lead the Programme Delivery team in Networks and Infrastructure.
I provide leadership to senior network engineers and architects who work on the network demands and changes needed by our national police to keep our citizens and country safe.
I work across multiple projects and programmes that require technical support to deliver project milestones in accordance with the DDaT strategic roadmap.
I guide engineers through the full life-cycle of a project, starting from discovery and design through to implementation, testing and documentation.
My role includes prompt response to high-impact incidents. If these occur, I lead on incident resolution management. I minimise disruption and investigate service outage and recurrence.
In the policing network, not a single day is the same. Our police forces need round-the-clock access to our systems and services without disruption.
Managing the policing network is exciting. I can make a positive impact and give back to the community. This is a great place for personal development, work - life balance and career progression.
Statistics updated 30 October 2023.
At the Home Office we're growing our Engineering profession across our main locations in Manchester, Sheffield, Croydon and Glasgow, and we want talented people to join us and make a difference to the lives of millions of people across the UK every day.
Join our online event on 17 October 2023 to hear from our Engineering team about what it's like to work at the heart of public sector technology.
Our Digital Career Development Programme is now open. Apply for the following roles at the links below:
Junior User Researcher (closes 18 August)
Accessibility Consultant (closes 18 August)
Junior Automation Developer (open to Home Office employees, closes 18 August)
DevOps Associate (closes 20 August)
Associate Developer (closes 20 August)
Product Manager (closes 20 August)
IT Operations (closes 21 August)
Junior Interaction Designer (closes 21 August)
Junior Service Designer (closes 21 August)
Associate Content Designer (closes 21 August)
The Home Office Digital Career Development Programme (DCDP) offers an 18-month paid accelerated learning experience to those with a passion for user-centred digital services.
The programme is designed for graduates, or individuals with some digital experience, but who have not had the chance to work in a large government organisation like the Home Office.
Learners follow a structured learning and development path, tailored to enhance their chosen role, with access to senior mentors, project rotations and recognised qualifications. After the first 12 months (sometimes earlier), learners will be able to apply for a permanent position at the Home Office.
Salaries for DevOps, Developer, Interaction Design, Service Design and User Research roles are £32,000 (National, minimum) and £36,000 (London, minimum). Salaries for Accessibility Consultant, Content Design, IT Operations and Product Manager roles are £25,750 (National, minimum) and £29,750 (London, minimum).
Stephanie Longden secured a permanent position as a Junior Interaction Designer within a year of starting the DCDP. She’s since been promoted to Interaction Designer. She tells us more about her experiences on the programme below.
I discovered my passion for User Experience (UX) design while creating a website in a previous role at an Arts charity. I then studied UX design on an evening course.
I knew I wanted to pursue a career in designing digital products. The DCDP seemed tailor-made for me. I was keen to learn from experienced designers while being well guided and supported by a dedicated team. My project mentors have helped me understand my role and team and my career mentor has supported me in achieving my long-term goals.
I’ve really enjoyed working on both internal and public-facing projects, and in the process have learnt a lot about the challenges of the different phases of project delivery.
The programme is committed to learning and development. I’ve been able to carve out time to attend training and learn new coding skills. I’ve particularly enjoyed working on a project for a charity with my team where I developed my leadership skills and thrived on the challenge of designing a new app in a short period of time.
My first placement on the DCDP was in the Police and Public Protection Technology Portfolio. I designed an internal case management system. I learnt how to prototype using the GOV.UK Prototype Kit and how to work in an agile delivery team of user-centred designers.
In my second placement in the Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio I created a web and app journey for a public-facing service. I created user journeys to understand where services needed to be improved.
It’s possible to apply for a permanent position in the Home Office while on the DCDP. I applied to become a Junior Interaction Designer as soon as I was ready.
I’ve continued to learn new skills and take on greater design responsibility. I’ve contributed patterns to the Home Office Design System, undertaken agile courses and attended industry events such as UX London and a Women in Tech conference.
The programme and the broader community have provided me with invaluable support - I’ve recently been promoted to Interaction Designer! There are incredible prospects for growth and development in Digital Data and Technology at the Home Office and I’m excited to continue my journey here.
]]>We’re celebrating 7 years since the Home Office’s Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function was established. As the Chief Technology Officer, I’ve been reflecting on the progress we’ve made with digital transformation in my department since I joined in October 2018.
For me, digital transformation is about adapting an organisation’s strategy and structure to capture opportunities enabled by digital technologies. It requires a mindset shift that lets us adapt and respond confidently to emerging needs and challenges so we can serve the public better.
While transformation by its nature will never stop, I’d say we’re about halfway through our current journey. Our intent is that we are able to make rapid and strategic changes across all the Home Office systems and some of our recent successes showcase what is now possible.
We have completely revolutionised how the police work with data. Our Law Enforcement Data Service is a scalable cloud platform that empowers operational officers, giving them access to vital information and critical new insights as soon as they become available, helping officers make informed decisions in real time.
The e-gates, at the point of entry to the United Kingdom ('the UK'), process more passengers than any equivalent system worldwide. These systems have transformed border crossings by significantly reducing wait times, enhancing security through biometric authentication and providing a self-service experience that improves traveller convenience, while allowing Border Control Officers to focus on analysing risks. This progress with e-gates has been down to the hard work of everyone in our Digital Services at the Border Programme, which has digitised regular migration and provided a single view of people crossing the border using the Person Centric Data Platform.
We’ve greatly modernised the immigration service, for example, through rolling out a new digital case-working system called Atlas. Atlas automates large parts of the immigration casework process and will ultimately eradicate the use of paper. Information from historic case files have also been migrated onto the new platform so case workers can easily access all the data they need to. Our colleagues can now spend more time identifying potential security risks, ensuring the safety of the public. Meanwhile applications of those who are migrating to the UK are dealt with far more swifty, thereby improving the user experience.
We’re further evaluating how we continue to improve our operations and achieve true digital transformation through ‘Connect Conversations’ held across the Home Office.
These conversations are a series of events that give colleagues the opportunity to share their views on a particular topic. The topics are chosen in response to interest and, this year, colleagues want to discuss digital transformation.
We’ll be asking questions like how the specific processes in day-to-day operations can be made more efficient. For example, could a particular administrative process be more joined-up or even automated?
We’ll use the data collated from these conversations to strengthen our ability to transform.
DDaT stands for more than technology, tooling and automation. Wider digital transformation involves us having to rethink and improve how the Home Office operates. And this is why everyone across the department has a role to play – our people, no matter their role, are the key to helping us become a more modern department. If we want to transform our services, we need to transform the way we think and work.
It’s why the DDaT Strategy and our Home Office CoLab highlight the importance of initiatives such as product-centricity. Both provide ways to introduce digital behaviours that can help us transform our culture and change how we design and deliver services. By breaking down siloes and encouraging cross-functional teams, they’re enabling us to unlock opportunities and respond more effectively to the challenges we face.
We need to ensure native digital behaviours – like openness, empowerment and collaboration – are embedded into our culture so that we understand and make the most of what technology can do for us.
Connect Conversations are tapping into our colleagues’ curiosity about the potential for digital transformation across the Home Office. We’d love to hear from other large departments who are working on a similar digital cultural shift and the initiatives they’re leading to enable this. Please let us know using the comments below.
At the Home Office we work on some of the most challenging and important government services. Our work helps to keep people safe and the country secure.
This means that our designs can have a big impact on people's lives.
That’s why design ethics is so important. Design ethics is about being aware of how your designs can impact the welfare of people, society and the environment. It helps reduce the risk of causing harm.
We are practice leads in design ethics for the user-centred design community (UCD) at the Home Office. The UCD community has practice leads in a number of areas, including climate and sustainability, inclusion and prototyping.
Our aim is to raise awareness and develop materials that support designers and their teams to make informed ethical decisions in their work.
We’ve done that through:
Ethics can be very subjective. And there are multiple ways you can approach something ethically. This can sometimes make decision-making hard.
For example, what if your design improves a person’s personal life but it leads to increased digital pollution?
We want to help designers think, discuss and reflect on this in their teams. We won’t tell designers what is ethical, or what they should do.
Rather than giving designers rules to follow, we want designers to be able to lead those conversations, find the unintended consequences of the design and decide what they and the team agree 'good' is.
Many of our designers work in time-constrained delivery teams. We wanted to make ethical designs easier for them to understand and apply at pace. We looked at existing resources, but they didn’t quite align to our needs.
So we explored various ideas and decided that a design ethics toolkit - a central resource that designers can use whenever they need - would be a great way of doing this.
We felt that a toolkit would allow designers and their teams to collaborate in a space where they could explore, identify and raise their concerns. It would also give them the opportunity to gather other perspectives and provide a framework to work from.
The toolkit includes:
Once we developed the toolkit, we held a workshop with designers to test a real design scenario to see how it was used.
Feedback was positive, and it brought up some interesting conversations around what we can and cannot influence. We also found that designers needed the framework to be flexible. Designers may need to choose sections that suit their needs, and adjust it based on how much time they have, rather than having to do everything.
Ethical decision making isn’t something that only we and the UCD community are working on - this is part of a bigger effort across the Home Office.
In response to recommendation 17 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, the department has produced an ethical decision-making model. The model is there to help staff articulate and resolve difficult ethical issues.
Like our toolkit, it doesn’t tell you what you should do or provide a 'right answer'. It encourages critical thinking.
This model has formed the basis of our design ethics decision-making framework, included in the toolkit. We’ve worked closely with strategy and policy teams to make sure these 2 tools are aligned and we continue to share what we learn.
Now that we’ve started to test the toolkit, the next steps are to learn from the toolkit and iterate it.
This includes our principles. The principles in the toolkit were created to support our existing standards, like the Service Standard and Civil Service Values.
We’re currently working with the Home Office UCD community and the wider cross-government design ethics community to define a list of ethical principles that designers can use.
We’ll explore what those principles mean to us and how we’re going to apply and promote them. But more on that in another blog.
User-centred design at the Home Office is about designing our products and services in collaboration with the people who will use them.
The work we do to design government services is varied, exciting and challenging.
Read more about how we're making an impact on user-centred design in previous posts below.
You can find out more about user-centred design roles at our Home Office Careers website.
IT Operations at Home Office Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) is a thriving cluster of over 600 people working on exciting projects which impact the daily operations of critical services in the United Kingdom (‘the UK’).
We support services such as Border Force, Policing, and Immigration at airports and seaports around the country. Internally, we provide critical service support for national infrastructure and Home Office systems, with the objective of maintaining live services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We oversee IT Service Management functions such as the Service Desk, Incident Management, Change Management and Service Management.
IT Operations also includes Service Architecture and Design and Service Transition teams who are responsible for producing comprehensive and forward-looking service designs. These teams help manage the structured and safe transition of projects to live service.
Heather Hawkins is the Community Lead of IT Operations at Home Office DDaT. She is part of the wider DDaT Professions team dedicated to providing clear career paths and continuous learning programmes to our digital, data and technology teams.
Here Heather highlights the initiatives the team have introduced to support our IT Operations colleagues:
We’re proud to have built a strong IT Operations community within the DDaT Profession. The community acts as a support network to:
Continuous professional development is a key focus for our IT Operations colleagues. We encourage the community to complete courses such as ITIL v4 and Agile Service Manager which provide a core foundation and central structure in IT Operations. We’ve set up a dedicated course booking service to make it easy for our colleagues to undertake the right courses to advance their careers.
We provide mentoring and coaching so our teams can learn from each other by giving back, and receiving, learning.
We’ve developed a comprehensive Training Catalogue bespoke to each IT Operations role featuring bite-sized learning on multiple platforms, recognising that we all have different learning styles. For example, the Catalogue caters for audio learners through podcasts and audiobooks.
We run monthly ‘Serving Up Knowledge’ sessions. These sessions provide a forum for our teams to learn about initiatives from their peers and serves as a place to generate new ideas.
We’ve set up a ‘mock interview’ initiative to provide interview coaching and feedback for those wanting to excel at interviews and advance their careers.
We encourage work shadowing so our teams can learn from the way other areas work. Work shadowing is also encouraged for those looking for insight into potential new roles. If our colleagues do identify a new role they would like to move into we support them in preparing for the move.
The IT Operations Profession is evolving to continue delivering value to the Home Office and to our customers, especially in parallel with different ways of working, such as Product Lifecycle Management. To achieve this, we’ve established the IT Service Management Strategy Group, a dedicated focus group working to transform and innovate the way we work, keeping IT Operations at Home Office DDaT relevant and critical.
Hi, I’m Aaron Brock. I work as a Senior Service Manager in IT Operations in the Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio, supporting Immigration IT Services. I oversee and assure the services once they are live. Seeing them in action is so rewarding.
I had never considered working in tech or in the Civil Service. I started on an emerging talent scheme in the Home Office to familiarise myself with an organisation of this scale. I was introduced to Agile Service Management while working in multidisciplinary teams delivering industry-leading services to the public and to Home Office colleagues.
There are so many different programmes and services that you have the chance to get involved with.
In my area of work, we look after these programmes and services after they have gone live. So, when I watch TV and see how many people we have been able to support through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, for example, I do feel a great sense of pride.
I love that no two days are ever the same. The type of work I’m involved with includes:
The IT Operations Profession team encourage me to continue developing my skills through a development plan tailored to my career goals.
The team provide opportunities for me to deputise for the Lead Service Managers at our Delivery and Prioritisation Boards. This means I’m able to help guide the strategic decisions made on our IT systems.
Are you interested in a role in digital, data and technology at the Home Office? Our Home Office Careers site has more information on our roles and how to apply for them.
You can read more about how the DDaT Profession supports our people in all digital, data and technology roles in the posts below.