What is service design?
Here at the IS we have been building our knowledge and skills for our own areas of work and thought we would share how we are harnessing a design approach in case others find it helpful. The Improvement Service recognises that across Scottish local authorities and individual services within councils, the maturity of embedding service design is varied and there will be different support needs across the country. In response, the IS will tailor our support to accommodate the varying needs that exist across the country to maximise the positive impact for each local authority.
The Scottish Approach to Service Design is a good example of how the Double Diamond model (developed by the Design Council) can be positioned within a national framework. In Scotland, this framework is set out in 7 principles and the double diamond is the tool that guides the process.
Our aim is to support people to harness the Scottish Approach to Service Design within the complexity that we support day to day – understanding the systemic nature of some the problems to be solved and that iteration rather than big bang implementation is often what’s possible.
Across each phase of the design journey, we share some practical tips on how the current methods you may be undertaking and multi-disciplinary skills already in your teams can provide a rich starting point for your service design journey and can often be incorporated in the process. We also signpost to other resources and tools being used across Scotland to solve problems of different scales and natures through design – from health and social care services to digital redesign.
Why service design?
Service design stops local authorities from speculating about what people need by placing emphasis on collaboration to design services through a citizen lens, leading to more innovative and effective solutions that better meet the needs of citizens.
The IS acknowledge that the operating context of Scottish local authorities is facing challenging and complex times. Therefore, councils must make efficient use of resources and work with citizens to ensure services are inclusive, accessible and tackle inequalities to improve people’s lives.
Some notable benefits of embedding service design processes in local authorities include:
- Reduced risk by spending less time and money generating ideas and only investing resource in ideas that will create meaningful change
- Tackles inequality through inclusive and accessible services
- Builds a more positive and trusting relationship between local authorities and citizens
- Creates efficient and streamlined end to end service journeys
- Uncovers deep insights and data about challenges local authorities are facing to discover the root causes in complex systems
- Improves short and long term planning for local authorities
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The Scottish Approach to Service Design
The vision for the Scottish Approach to Service Design is that the people of Scotland are supported and empowered to actively participate in the definition, design and delivery of their public services (from policy making to live service improvement).
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The Double Diamond (Design Council)
The Double Diamond is a visual representation of the design and innovation process. It’s a simple way to describe the steps taken in any design and innovation project, irrespective of methods and tools used.