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2. Solve a whole problem for users

People don’t organise their lives around government - and they shouldn’t have to understand how government works to access the services they need.

If we understand people’s lives, we can learn which organisations are responsible for providing services needed by those users and find effective ways to deliver the best possible outcomes.

That doesn’t mean trying to fix everything at once or building complicated systems that are difficult to deliver because they try to do too much. Start small and deliver value to users incrementally and frequently.

Doing work early to see the big picture - users, their problems and needs and the organisations that will serve those needs - means you’ll have a good understanding of the context you are working in, and what problems you’re going to solve.

Even when what you learn about users can’t be solved by your project, it’s important to link to related services or share those insights with organisations who can use them. 

How you do it

  • Map the landscape
    Take time to understand how everything fits together - from user journeys to technology - and share this information
  • Define your scope
    Use what you learn about users to scope your service
  • Understand constraints
    Make sure organisational constraints - like procurement, policy and legislation - are understood and communicated
  • Remove barriers that will affect the service
    This might include working with policy professionals to update legislation
  • Work with other organisations
    Understand where you fit together as part of a user journey and work to improve the experience, for example reducing the number of times users are asked to provide the same information (while respecting their privacy)

Links to detailed guidance:

Digital Scotland Service Standard

1. Understand users and their needs

2. Solve a whole problem for users

3. Design and deliver a joined up experience

4. Help users succeed first time

5. Make sure everyone can use the service

6. Have a multidisciplinary team

7. Iterate and improve frequently

8. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy

9. Define what success looks like and publish performance data

10. Choose the right tools and technology 

11. Make new source code open

12. Use and contribute to shared digital practices, processes, components, standards, patterns and platforms

13. Operate a reliable service

14. Ensure sponsor acceptance

 

 

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