Summary
As part of a MHCLG funded transformation programme, we were tasked with redesigning an outdated, manual planning system into one fit for the 21st century. Planning officers were grappling with systems that didn’t meet their needs. They were spending a lot of time on manual tasks and dealing with the impacts of human error. Our brief was to deliver a planning service designed by its users, in this case local authority planning officers. We took a radical approach of embedding with a team of subject matter experts, sharing knowledge around digital and agile as we went. This approach meant that user needs drove every action we took but also that the transformation of thinking and approaches from agile and service design started to have an impact on the local authorities themselves. We developed a set of design principles to keep both user needs and our collective vision at the heart of the process with a focus on moving from documents to data, reducing ‘noise’ and bringing the right information to users at the right time.
Key Insights
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Service designers should take responsibility for the long-term viability, scalability, and adaptability of the services they help create.
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Embedding agile principles into public sector service design enables more responsive, collaborative, and iterative development processes.
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Developing blended teams of designers, developers, and domain experts working side-by-side shortens feedback loops and improves outcomes.
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Planning officers evolved from limited domain experts to empowered product owners and champions of agile ways of working.
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Creating platforms that enable local authorities to configure application types themselves fosters scalability and ownership.
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Service designers must engage beyond traditional user needs to also address procurement, legislation, funding, and policy challenges.
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Open and transparent collaboration across suppliers and stakeholders promotes consistent language and shared goals across complex ecosystems.
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Moving from document-heavy to data-driven services reduces manual errors and processing times significantly.
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Building communities and coalitions of users who collaborate accelerates adoption and drives continuous service improvement.
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Service designers should embrace flexible roles and continuous learning rather than rigidly defining their remit.
Notable Quotes
"A viable service is one that not only functions well, but can also develop, grow, and flourish."
"We’ve been creating a team that can build and maintain a service, not just us as service designers, but all the people involved who will live with these systems after we are gone."
"Better software comes from individuals and interactions over processes and tools."
"Our devs are involved in sketching sessions and design feedback; they observe user testing alongside designers."
"We saw planners evolve from just domain experts to product owners capable of wider thinking about desirability, feasibility, and viability."
"We moved from designing each application type one at a time to creating a platform for planning experts to build new types themselves."
"The shift in the role of planning experts allowed planners to drive the process that enables change."
"User research and testing are vital, but it's the iteration of the service that uncovers nuances and unexpected behaviors."
"We didn’t have hard boundaries about what service design was or is; our roles shifted with the ecosystem’s development."
"Change is fundamentally about people, and agile principles help create teams that can build and adapt together."
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