提高地方政府数字化服务水平, we need to transform the ones that aren’t fit for purpose into ones that create a better user experience, 无障碍和包容, 满足用户需求. 这一切都始于发现阶段. It sets the priorities when delivering a new service, or improving an existing one. It’s w在这里 you’ll identify the problem, and come up with ways to fix it.
注意: 如果您不熟悉发现阶段，请查看 发现阶段是如何工作的 在政府.英国维修手册.
并不是所有的项目都能通过这个阶段. 我并不是说所有的发现都应该如此. 有时 you realise 在那里’s nothing you can viably build to solve the problem, 或者它不值得你花费时间和资源. But we can work on improving our processes to get important work past the finish line, 所以我们可以做出有影响力的改变.
以下是项目无法通过发现的5个原因, 以及如何确保他们在该做的时候做. (或者尽可能接近你所能得到的).
1. 你没有定义一个明确的结果
You can’t really move forward with a project just because you can see 在那里’s an area that’s not working. Chances are it won’t make it out of discovery unless it’s meeting a priority, 目标, 或者来自领导团队的需求. They could be interested but can’t see how it will fix a problem. Or they’ll not be able to find the time, money and people to see it through. And then it’ll just sit as a useful piece of discovery that’ll probably never be acted on.
Find the right things that are the burning issues of the teams you’re working with and try to tailor your discovery towards that to help them. Talk to the right people upfront about the latest priorities and strategies. 这在不同的组织之间可能略有不同. Try the programme management office, executive leadership team or policy and partnership people.
2. 你没有钱来建造它
这是一个大问题. Some local government teams have lots of time and the right people to do discoveries. 他们会有一个数字化转型团队, 例如, 谁能向董事会展示他们的发现并推动它向前发展. 但有时没有足够的钱来交付.
This isn’t a user-centred design (UCD) issue – it’s an organisational one. 了解你的环境. 例如, 如果你的组织只使用供应商来交付产品, understand how that affects your ability to do discovery in the first place. 同意一个明确的预算或某些参数. 对于一定数量的工作，可以组建一个小型的内部团队. Make sure 在那里’s one system for getting work approved, and that you’ve defined ownership of it.
3. 交付更改依赖于遗留工具包或IT修复
T在这里 are a number of traditional key players who have always provided big, 地方政府遗留的后台系统. These cost a fortune if you want to improve your in-house coding system to do things like, 例如, 在网上获取市政税账单.
If you don’t have ownership of a system because a third-party supplier does it, 你解决问题的能力被彻底摧毁了. 你无法控制的部分可能需要几个月才能完成. 等工作完成的时候, you might not have the people anymore to finish the project because they’re working on the next bit of strategic importance. 这也可能发生在公司内部. 团队往往会被拉长. If something’s broken they have to fix it but it’s hard to keep to time frames because 在那里’s always so much going on and so few people. 他们可能还有其他重要的事情等不了.
For an organisation to genuinely be able to redesign and transform, 你的体制需要一点松懈. You need to be able to give people the time to go and do the thinking, 这意味着他们需要退出日常运营.
总之, 专注于确保每个人都同意一些事情, and decide on the priorities because you can only really work on those.
4. You haven’t translated it into the language of your organisation
有时, the money for transformation is placed in roles w在这里 people might not be experts in digital service redesign, 比如服务改进角色. 不要误解我的意思，这些角色也可能很重要. 问题是, 他们可能对服务或行业非常了解, 但他们不了解UCD的细节和专业知识, 就像我们在社会工作或规划立法中所做的那样.
注意你在不同工作上的预算分配. 但同时，也要清楚每个人的角色. Have one team working together in a way that allows everyone to play to their strengths. The service improvement people can tell you everything you need to know about the problem needing to be solved, and the digital design team can make sure that the solution is based in UCD so that it does actually solve the problem. If you can get clear on everyone’s roles as early as possible this will mean that the service improvement people don’t also come with what they think the solution should be.
5. 你没有达到政府的服务标准
如果你的组织不为政府工作 服务标准，他们应该. This sets out all the things you need to have done to make a project successful.
You don’t need to pass a GDS assessment for it to be a valuable thing to do, because you’ll still need to meet the standards for your IT and security team to be able to deliver a piece of work. 一切都是为了方便你. If you’re confident you’d pass an assessment then the thing you’ve built is good, 你的组织更有可能同意这一点.
What makes it hard in practice is the point w在这里 the legal and information management team have to get involved. 通常是因为他们工作过度. 他们也非常谨慎. 这可能与金钱或声誉风险有关.
如果我能给当地政府一个建议…
It’s best to stick to one joined-up plan and pre-agree things to prioritise. 没有被告知 在这里 去做，再来一遍 在那里 别的地方. 不要把发现放在自己的泡沫里.
The best way to get people to understand the value of good agile discovery is to remember this: 战略仍然是交付. 这真的很难, but if 在那里’s an acute or emergency situation you can use for the benefit of all, 那是人们明白的时候.
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Hear Made Tech UCD Principal Joanne Moore speak at our webinar on how to set up user-centred design to save time and money this August! 了解更多 拿好票.
