Aim to create a service that solves one whole problem for users. Work with other organisations where necessary.
Why it’s important
Fragmented services are difficult to use because users have to do the hard work to make sure they’re doing what’s expected of them. For example, working out which of several similar schemes they’re eligible for. Or choosing the right form to fill in, out of several near-identical options.
That does not mean building big, complicated transactions that are not intuitive to use. And it does not mean trying to fix everything at once. Start small, and continue to add value to users.
Make sure the changes are part of a plan to bring related content and transactions together in a way that makes sense to users from any organisation.
Users should not have to understand how government works to use public services.
What it means
Service teams should:
- think about alternatives to creating a service – for example publishing website content or running a campaign
- understand any limits to the service and work with policy professionals to solve any problems they’re causing
- make sure you scope services according to how users think – not too narrow or too broad
- be able to explain how the transaction they’re working on will join up with other things into a journey that solves a whole problem for users
- take responsibility for agreeing how this user journey will work with collaborating organisations
- work in the open so that people know what they’re doing, increasing the potential for collaboration and reducing duplication of work
- make available maps of existing services and roadmaps showing plans to develop new features
- work towards minimising the number of times users have to provide the same information to government
- work across organisational boundaries where it’s necessary to solve a whole problem for users