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What service patterns are

Service patterns are evidence-based solutions to common service design problems. They can be used to build end-to-end services, for example applying for a licence or booking an appointment.

Following service patterns means you: 

  • avoid repeating work that’s already been done 

  • avoid making mistakes others have already learned from 

  • build on the research and experience of teams across government 

  • make your service consistent with other government services

Common service types

Service patterns are useful because most digital services fall into a small number of common service types. These include:

  • basic online services
  • complex transactional services
  • information and guidance services
  • eligibility checkers and calculators
  • registration and account-based services

Understanding which service type best fits the service you're delivering can help you:

  • reuse proven patterns and solutions
  • plan the right delivery approach
  • identify the skills and roles you need
  • reduce unnecessary complexity, cost and risk

You can explore the service patterns library to identify patterns that align with your service.

When to use service patterns

You can use service patterns at any stage of service delivery.

At the start of a new service, patterns can help you understand the type of service you are building, explore common user journeys, and communicate your vision to stakeholders and delivery teams.

When improving an existing service, patterns can help you understand the journey you are changing, assess the impact of changes on the wider service, and identify opportunities to reuse existing solutions.

Workshop activity

You might find it useful to work through the following service patterns workshop activity with your team.

Workshop activity

This workshop activity will help you plot out your service journey before speaking to a design team. It works best as a group activity.

Step 1 - Discuss your service

Think about who is using it and why. Also think about the people working to support your service and the roles they are responsible for. How is the service working? What could be improved? 

Step 2 - Gather your materials

  • a roll of paper (or several A3 sheets stuck together) 
  • 1 sticky note for each of the service pattern journeys and components listed below
  • extra sticky notes, to layer in your service's unique elements
  • thick pens

Draw a long, horizontal line along the centre of your paper. This is the journey that your service user will step through over time, while interacting with your service. Write ‘service user’ at the start of the line.

Service pattern journeys:

Service pattern components:

  • Learn
  • Find
  • Check
  • Prepare
  • Contact
  • Get help
  • Log in
  • Tell
  • About you
  • About your business
  • Prove
  • Add a reference
  • (Bulk) upload
  • Schedule
  • Pay (in)
  • Confirm
  • Be notified
  • Check progress
  • Additional information
  • Get the thing
  • Get assessed
  • Cancel
  • Share data
  • Contact preferences 

Step 3 - Discuss if your service is making use of a common journey type

Are your users applying, registering,renewing or complaining? If so, take a look at that service pattern journey. Discuss the ‘necessary’ and ‘optional’ components needed to assemble your service flow. Remember, your service can include more than 1 journey.

Step 4 - Layer in your necessary components 

These make up the ‘spine’ of your service. Doing them well will feel smooth and expected to users.  Write these along the horizontal line, in the order that a user would interact with them. 

Step 5 - Consider which optional components you need

Is this a service that people pay for, or update you over time? Is this a service where people renew things, or add in references of additional information? Add the ones that make sense for your service to the horizontal line. You may need to shuffle some of the sticky notes. It might be easier to make a pile of the service patterns that your service definitely does not need.

Step 6 - Add the unique elements of your service

Add sticky notes to mark the parts that may need wording changed, or specific people or moments added in. This will help the delivery team to estimate the workload, and will help the service feel like ‘yours’.

Step 7 - Talk to people about your ideas

Share your service journey map with your organisation, show it to stakeholders, and gather their feedback and ideas. Add extra sticky notes or or change the order as required.

Step 8 - Get into the details

Find out more about the service patterns you've plotted. Are there Design System elements or common solutions you can use?

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