Apply human-centred design

Owned by Toby Page
Last updated: Jan 22, 2021
1 min read

Ensure that the design of digital solutions takes into account everybody they impact on

Rationale

City organisations have a duty to discover and consider everyone’s needs when they’re designing and delivering digital solutions.

Systems and services should work for everyone who uses them.  Being inclusive and accessible is better for everyone.  E.g. Using simple words helps people who are in a hurry as well as people who have a learning disability.

Focusing on the user and their problems rather than a particular solution often means that you learn unexpected things about their needs.

Example Tactics

  • Apply co-production techniques, work alongside user groups and conduct rigorous user research.  Make user feedback a routine.

  • Make use of service design techniques to understand problems that span care settings (user journey maps, service blueprinting, etc.).  Learn from and apply best practice.

  • Embed digital inclusion and accessibility in all new initiatives.

  • Discover and resolve pain points beyond your organisation.

  • Apply the three concepts of use:  ‘Useful’, ‘Usable’ and ‘Used’.

City Application

These approaches need to be coordinated within the current commissioning landscape. An outline process for this coordination is shown below:

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