1

the problemDesignGov’s Lost in Translation report found that a serious problem in business/government interactions is that the preconditions for high standard service provision in the APS are not consistently available across the Service.

the ideaTo solve the problem, the report recommended Service by Design – an idea to facilitate development of a service-enabling infrastructure, built on common design principles and frameworks, to allow the APS to consistently provide better service.

co-designing the solutionOn 8 November 2013, DesignGov facilitated a workshop with public servants from across the APS to co-design solutions to the problem and make the idea of Service by Design real.

the solutionsThe co-design workshop developed four Service by Design concepts (tangible initiatives) to solve the problem.

Concept 1 - MyProfileLike the MyGov login for individuals, MyProfile is a personalised automated service that businesses obtain for use on Australian Government digital services. Fully integrated with MyGov, MyProfile is a personalised yet automated service that allows seamless and low-effort business interactions with government.

Concept 2 – The Right Start PolicyThe Right Start Policy is a service policy framework and accompanying policy toolkit. It helps public servants ensure their crucial ‘first contact’ service to businesses is successful – whether first contact is online, on the phone or face to face. Better first contacts lay the foundation for more productive business-government interactions.

Concept 3 – The APS Service Knowledge Café (ASK-C)ASK-C is the Australian Government’s digital platform and knowledge repository for public servants and business to share knowledge and resources that improve customer service. ASK-C improves business-government interactions by helping overcome the barriers to good service caused by agency silos and lack of understanding of the impact of time delays for example.

Concept 4 – The Outside-In View PolicyOutside-in view is an APS customer service policy that improves service to Australian businesses through a framework and tools to help public servants and businesses understand what its like to be in one another’s shoes – to build empathy between them. This helps address the crucial expectations gap between business and government that leads to the mutual misunderstandings that affect business-government interactions.

what’s next?The Department of Human Services will be further investigating the Service by Design concepts to test their soundness in addressing the problem and to refine them. In addition, the concepts are not mutually exclusive: all or some may be picked up and adapted by individual departments as a first step to an integrated approach.

more detail inside:The co-design workshop………… 3

Concept 1: My Profile…………………………. 5

Concept 2:Right Start Policy:……………….. 7

Concept 3:APS Service Knowledge Café…. 9

Concept 4:The Outside-In View Policy…….. 11

Ideas catalogue………………….. 13

Background

The problem………………………. 14

The idea…………………………… 15

overview

2

8 NOVEMBER 2013

Co-design workshop

8 November co-design workshop: 5 DesignGov staff, facilitating 18 public servants from Attorney-General’s Department, Department of Human Services, Immigration, Australian Tax Office, the Department of Industry and Customs and Border Protection.

design tool 1:user journey mapTo the right are images of user journey maps drafted at the workshops. User journey maps get participants to take the ideas and aims for Service by Design, drawing on their own experience and the information gathered in the Lost in Translation report (the intangible why?) and focus on tangibly how we get there – what resources and other support is needed.

In groups of 4-5, participants first drafted a ‘current journey map’ setting out the current user experience of APS service. This helped identify and build group consensus about the major problems in current APS service that Service by Design could address. Next, participants then drafted a ‘hypothetical journey map’. This was the same customer journey, except with an ideal user experience of APS service – with solutions to the key problems noted in the current journey map.

the process

instructions for useA google search for ‘how to do a user [or customer] journey map’ will yield links to sites that explain how to undertake a journey map. See for example: http://www.servicedesigntools.org/tools/8. Also, searching ‘user [or customer] journey map’ in Google images will yield some excellent visual expression of what a journey map is.

You can find further links to how to do a journey map in the DesignGov Compendium.

the participants

3

8 NOVEMBER 2013

Co-design workshopdesign tool 2 – desired future state brainstormDrawing on the user journey maps, DesignGov’s facilitators identified four broad ideas for how Service by Design could improve business-government interactions:1 – Personalised service through an automated system2 – Making the first touch point better3 – Overcoming silos4 – Supporting an outside-in view for public servants

In the same groups of 4-5, participants were asked to design a concept that would make each idea tangible. The result was four Service by Design concepts. Have a look at the next few slides for more detail.

instructions for useThis ‘desired future state’ brainstorming is just one way to develop a design concept. A google search for ‘how to develop a design concept’ will yield valuable links.

You can find further links to how to do a journey map in the DesignGov Compendium.

the process

4

the concept Like the MyGov login for individuals, MyProfile is an automated personalised service. Businesses use a login to gain access to Australian Government (and potentially other jurisdictions’) digital services. It allows for seamless and low-effort interaction with government.

MyProfile seamlessly integrates with MyGov – so businesses who already have a MyGov login can automatically transfer that information across to MyProfile without needing to fill out that registration information again.

And like MyGov, MyProfile is the only login that businesses need to obtain for use on any Australian Government digital service.

The digital service suggests content for that business, based on information entered when the login is obtained, including updates on regulatory changes that will impact that business or eligibility of that business for government assistance.

MyProfile should be expanded to cover local and territory and state government services too, to strengthen its low-effort, seamless qualities.

how MyProfile works• The business fills out their profile on

registration• If the business person already has a

MyGov login, they only need to add some further details about their business – all their relevant information from MyGov is automatically transferred across without any effort

• The profile automatically filters government information using the profile

• The user receives information that is relevant to their personal situation

• The information in the MyProfile login automatically populates any forms the business needs to fill out – saving more time

• The information is agency blind – it comes from all areas of government relevant to the user

comments at the workshop• ‘This is a no brainer’• ‘The small business support line already

exists’• ‘Financially cheap but maybe hard to

implement’

other suggestions• MyProfile could include a live chat option

(e.g. via skype) to improve service• It could also include a business to

business information sharing and advice platform – so should be linked to BabelGov (see the DesignGov website for more details on BabelGov)

CONCEPT 1

MyProfile

MyProfileService-Enabling

Infrastructure

Whole of

government

informationPush tools

updates user

Personalised

information

SUPPLY

DEMAND

Automated system

passes on the

information the

business needs

Business seeks advice,

information

or services, registers for

MyProfile

5

MyProfileLike the MyGov login for individuals, MyProfile allows businesses gain access to Australian Government digital services. It allows for seamless and low-effort interaction with government.

MyProfile seamlessly integrates with MyGov – so business people who already have a MyGov login can automatically transfer that information across to MyProfile without needing to fill out that registration information again.

And like MyGov, MyProfile uses existing whole of government authentication capabilities so that businesses can access any Australian Government digital service.

VISUAL EXPRESSION

MyProfile – what it could look like

MyProfile login

A one stop login for all business enquires

Profile

Profile

Forgotten your login?

MyProfile

About MyProfile

Links to MyProfile member services – MyProfile manages the

businesses’ interaction with all these agencies. Ultimately

MyProfile should be expanded to include territory and state and local government agencies too.

Mock up of what the MyProfile

website might look like

account

Here businesses log in. Once registered, MyProfile will automatically email relevant information to businesses based on their profile e.g. to alert about regulatory change or government assistance

6

the concept

CONCEPT 2 – MAKING THE FIRST TOUCH POINT BETTER

Right Start Policy

Right start policy

High quality first touch points

for ongoing good interactions

between business and

government

Better training,

reward and

recognition for

front line staff

Expanded

mygov app

Sharing

good

practice

The Right Start policy is a service policy framework and accompanying policy toolkit. It is aimed at helping public servants improve the ‘first contact’ service they provide to businesses. That is, it means that businesses will always have a good, low-effort first contact experience when they interact with government – whether that first contact is online, on the phone or face to face.

Right Start responds to evidence that the first contact is by far the most crucial interaction between government and business in building a strong relationship and delivering high quality service. By ensuring that interactions get off to a good start, the Right Start Policy sets the foundations for a productive and efficient relationship between government and business.

• Right Start framework also emphasises involving front line staff in service design

• Accompanying the framework is the Right Start Policy Toolkit

• The toolkit supports first contact service to business with a checklist for direct contact staff; business satisfaction survey development; persona development tools to help public servants empathise with their users; communications to business guides; customer standards development procedures; and how to provide customer service coaching and shadowing

• The MyProfile and MyGov websites and apps should be expanded and refined based on the Right Start Policy

• The toolkit also makes practical suggestions for individual APS business units to improve their first contact service – for example, guides on how to enable skillshares in every divisional and branch meeting so success stories are shared, how to create a ‘one day a month project’ for front line staff to work on their own project that will improve the service that their branch provides, and including APS6 staff as front line staff to improve service.

comments at the workshop• ‘We should trust the front line view’• ‘Governments could call all new ABN

holders to minimise non-compliance’

other suggestions• My profile’ idea overlaps with this• Improving both face to face and digital

ensures all users will have an improved first touch pointhow Right Start works

• The Right Start Policy is implemented across all APS agencies

• It includes a policy framework to guide public servants in ensuring the first contact a business makes with is effective. This includes guides for public servants who design the digital platforms that businesses access

• The Right Start framework emphasises the importance of better training, reward, recognition and empowerment of front line staff

7

Right start policyCustomer Service by Design

This document sets out ‘Right start’ –the Australian Government’s customer service policy that aims to ensure that the first contact businesses make with Australian Government services is a good one

This policy is about ensuring that the first interaction a business has with the Australian government always gets first good contact – whether person to person or on a digital platform.

1. What is this policy about?

2. Why has this policy been established?An Australian Government study of business - government interactions found that sometimes businesses were unhappy with the quality of service given by the Australian Government.

The investigation also found that if the first interaction between business and government was high quality – this laid the foundations for a strong relationship and productive, efficient future interactions.Conversely, a poor first interaction could doom the relationship to inefficiency, frustration and loss of productivity.3. Contents of this documentPage 2 – Foreword from the SecretaryPages 3 -4 – Right start service frameworkPages 5-10 – Customer service tools to help public servants make a right start

CONCEPT 2 – MAKING THE FIRST TOUCH POINT BETTER

The Right Start Policy

Note: This first page of the Right Start Policy is just a mock up to help visualise and explain what the Right Start Policy would be like. Credit to the Department of Human Services for the layout – see: http://www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/corporate/site-information/resources/8348-1212-social-media.pdf

The Right Start PolicyThe Right Start policy is a service policy framework and accompanying policy toolkit. It is aimed at helping public servants improve the ‘first contact’ service they provide to businesses. That is, it means that businesses will always have a good, low-effort first contact experience when they interact with government – whether that first contact is online, on the phone or face to face.

Mock up of what the Right Start Policy might look like

8

Right start would be a policy framework to improve customer service, by assisting public servants in making their first interaction with business a great interaction. It would be on both agency intranets and on the internet for the public to see.

In addition to the right

start framework, the right

start policy would be a

compendium of customer

service tools and methods

that public servants could

draw on to improve the

first interaction

the concept The APS Service Knowledge Café (ASK-C) is a digital platform that serves as a repository of APS customer service knowledge and resources. It is accessed by all agencies. As a whole-of-government information and resource sharing initiative, ASK-C helps overcome the barriers to high quality customer service caused by agency ‘silos’. In particular, it helps public servants obtain information and resources from other agencies that could help them provide better service to business.

• This sharing of information about business and public servant expectations of customer service will help overcome the ‘mutual misunderstandings’ that have affected business/government interactions – that is, the gap between expectations of business and public servants that makes building a strong relationship difficult

• ASK-C includes the ASK-C wiki that allows for discussion of customer service in the APS for learning

• ASK-C has ‘customer service awards’ to encourage high quality service to businesses

CONCEPT 3 – OVERCOMING SILOS

APS Service Knowledge Café (ASK-C)

How it works• ASK-C is a website accessible by public

servants and by businesses• The website includes a repository of

research about the common attributes of good services, together with learning tools and links to ‘who to talk to’

• By allowing businesses to access ASK-C, they can share their suggestions for improved service delivery. They can also read about the experience of the public servants who provide customer service – helping develop empathy both ways

APS Service

Knowledge Cafe

SUPPLY

DEMAND

Service-Enabling

Infrastructure

Learning

tools

Links to

‘who to talk

to’

Repository of

good service

research

• Other ASK-C features and resources are templates for common performance measures across agencies, complaints resolution advice, guidelines to parachuting experts into new areas to help establish them, and a customer service charter with accompanying tools

• Cultural change from the top supports these initiatives and encourages public servants to post information and share resources on ASK-C

Notes• This concept received the most votes from

participants at the workshop

Business

seeks advice,

information

or services,

Knowledge sharing

within and between

agencies supports

high quality service

9

CONCEPT 3 – OVERCOMING SILOS

APS Service Knowledge Café

ASK-C – The APS Service Knowledge Café

ASK-C – the APS Service Knowledge Café is a digital platform for public servants and businesses to share knowledge about customer service with each other

By sharing service knowledge, ASK-C helps public servants overcome the barriers to high quality customer service

Post on the ASK-C customer service forum here: Now trending: How to manage complaints and ensure they are actioned and lead to better service processes

Read about customer service on the ASK-C Customer Service Wiki here:Article of the week: Customer service performance measures and how engagement with ASK-C is now measured and a deliverable for public servants

Search ASK-C

username password

Remember me Login

Who to talk to – public servants and businesses you can contact who are

experts in customer service

Share your customer service success stories, problems and complaints

management knowledge here

Learning tools – resources to help public servants provide high quality

service

Askc.gov.au

APS customer service of the month winner For Outstanding service!

ASK-C includes a customer service discussion forum

and wiki for knowledge

sharing

To the right is a mockup of what the APS Service Knowledge Café (ASK-C) might look like.

As a digital platform that serves as a repository of APS customer service knowledge and resources, it can be accessed by staff from all agencies and businesses/ the public.

As a whole-of-government information and resource sharing initiative, ASK-C helps overcome the barriers to high quality customer service caused by agency ‘silos’.

Above all, by encouraging experience, knowledge and resource sharing between business and government, it helps bridge the expectations gap between what business and public servants expect from each other. This empathy building will help secure a strong foundation for business government interactions and address the ‘mutual misunderstandings’ that affect business government interactions.

ASK-C includes customer

service awards to

incentivise, reward and

recognise good service

and helps encourage

engagement with the

website

ASK – C is a platform for sharing customer service knowledge

and resources beyond agency silos

10

the concept Outside-in view is a public sector customer service program. It is comprised of a number of initiatives designed to improve service to Australian businesses by helping public servants and businesses understand what its like to be in one another’s shoes – to build empathy between them.

Putting themselves in the shoes of the businesses they serve helps public servants provide better service. For example, they better understand what a 30 day wait for what a business might feel should only take a few minutes feels like, and getting a better sense of what it feels like to have to wait on regulatory approval or to wade through government red tape.

Similarly, businesses will better understand the environment in which public servants operate, and how what may appear to be tricks of procedure or unresponsiveness may actually serve an important purpose.

This way, Outside-in makes a significant contribution to ending the ‘mutual misunderstandings’ that affect business government interactions.

CONCEPT 4

Outside-in viewHow it works• Outside-in sets out a roadmap to support

businesses and public servants to develop understanding of each other

• It recommends simple and accessible messages about the user and their needs, use of technology (e.g. videoconferences to link states and clients and officers), crowd/peer-to-peer training and sharing of tools

• In particular, Outside-in recommends targeted design jams (events where representatives of business and public servants network and co-design customer service improvement programs and ideas)

Other suggestions for outside-in from the co-design workshop• Outside-in should include engagement

systems and collaboration, better sharing of client experiences, protocols for collaborating between agencies and engaging departments early, and principles/frameworks to reinforce the outside-in perspective

SUPPLY

Outside-in view

Customer service program

Using supporting

technology

Design

jams

Accessible

messaging

Crowd/

peer to peer

training

DEMAND

Empathetic public

servants able to provide

better service that meets

the needs of businesses

Empathetic business

seeks information or

services but understands

the constraints public servants

face

11

Outside – in viewThe Australian Government’splan to build more empathetic and productive business/government interactions

CONCEPT 4

Outside-in view

Mock up of what the

Outside-in program

might look like

Outside-in view is a public sector customer service program. It is comprised of a number of initiatives designed to improve service to Australian businesses by helping public servants and businesses understand what its like to be in one another’s shoes – to build empathy between them.

Putting themselves in the shoes of the businesses they serve helps public servants provide better service. For example, they better understand what a 30 day wait for what a business might feel should only take a few minutes feels like, and getting a better sense of what it feels like to have to wait on regulatory approval or to wade through government red tape.

Similarly, businesses will better understand the environment in which public servants operate, and how what may appear to be tricks of procedure or unresponsiveness may actually serve an important purpose.

This way, Outside-in makes a significant contribution to ending the ‘mutual misunderstandings’ that affect business government interactions.

12

Outside-in includes research on why empathy is important, and includes principles, tools and frameworks to help business and government put themselves in each other’s shoes

Outside in is an official

policy document that aims

to improve business

government interactions

through empathy - helping

business and government

put themselves in one

another’s shoes

Ideas catalogueSome other ideas for Service by Design

Participants identified some qualities that Service by Design should aim to provide.

Qualities to seek in touch points• Staff have relevant knowledge and skills• Staff have good knowledge of end users

and their needs, empathy and understanding the user’s circumstances

• Staff have flexibility to navigate the edges of the rules that govern their work

• Staff are reliable, follow through and do what they said they would

• Staff are easy to deal with, even in a difficult situation

• Small business support line could call all new ABN holders to help them get set up as a business

• There could be a ‘doing business’ mentor who assists the new starter

• Users get ‘customer forms’ to fill out red tape requirements

• Public servant provides direct number for assistance

• Simple messaging to users• User of technology to link public servants

to users

SUGGESTED QUALITIES

Ideas catalogue

Qualities to seek in emotions and experiences• Single starting point, with smooth handover

to relevant area if required• Able to get in touch with a real person then

and there – timely service and easy to find relevant area

• There is a one stop place to assist a person to set up a business

• Close and personal collaborations with physical spaces that allow for collaboration (e.g. Design Jams)

• Immersive ethnographic research• Public servants bring users in early when

designing customer service policy and programs

• Public servants can share tools• Extensive data and market research and

easy access to it for public servants• Decision makers are involved in the

process and empathetic to user needs, flexible enough to meet the users needs

• Protocols for collaborating between agencies

13

The preconditions for high standard service provision in the APS are not consistently available across the Service

Jane and her partner Gavin run a bike importation and sales business. They find the government services in their business leaves a lot to be desired.

Jane and Gavin were once told by the agency that the information they provided was not quite right – but not till late in the process. If the paperwork was not at the docks when the ship came in, the goods were sent to a costly storage facility.

They find that things are occasionally held up as a result of minor problems that could have been resolved by short, upfront communication from the department. They say that the agency covers its tracks by saying in all of their documents ‘Don’t leave it to the last minute,’ but these are all your obligations – Jane doesn’t feel that responsibility is equally understood on both sides.

“If I hadn’t had my accountant to talk to [after the phone call from the

official], I could have gone out and killed myself”

the problem

businesses need:• easier ways to find answers to their queries• reduction of problems caused by some attitudes

and behaviours by public servants with regard to cost, productivity and consequences incurred by businesses through incomplete or untimely advice or actions

intermediaries need:• definitive answers from government• not having to repeat requests for further

information

public servants need:• more opportunities to directly interact with

businesses to improve mutual understanding• better access to service-enabling infrastructure• better capacity to collaborate and interact with

business while facing competing demands• businesses to understand the context and

conditions under which the public sector is required to operate

the needs to address

THE CHALLENGE

“Treat me with respect”

Meet Janethe bicycle retailerBusinesses need a public service that

has regard for their circumstances.

Public servants also need their roles and responsibilities understood and respected. Businesses require respectful treatment and certainty, as they are partners in delivering economic growth and employment, and achieving regulatory goals. There are, however, a number of barriers impeding public servants from providing that service.

the context

Jane is a composite persona that reflects the needs of dozens of businesses and intermediaries that DesignGov interviewed during the Business and Government Interactions project. For more information, please download the report (http://tinyurl.com/designgovfindings) and prospectus (http://tinyurl.com/designgovprospectus). 14

the idea Service by DesignEmbedding a bias for service within the public sector

We are aiming to facilitate development of a service-enabling infrastructure, built on common design principles and frameworks, to allow the APS to consistently provide better service.

how we get thereWhat must Service by Design be able to

achieve?• explore how better hard and soft

infrastructure can improve service delivery and interactions with business

• create a set of design principles for the entire APS

• harmony with existing service principles used in APS agencies

design principles• start with needs• simplicity• users drive design and content• public servants to provide good service

without jeopardising independence and impartiality

assumptions• there is key infrastructure to be targeted to

implement Service by Design

unknowns• the cross agency services architecture for

the APS and the UK Government’s Design Principles can help inform Service by Design.

• changes to key infrastructure (systems, processes and capabilities) can allow public servants to offer better service for business without compromising impartiality.

organisational challenges• how will Service by Design interact with

existing service and conduct principles and standards?

Some of the factors to be considered during prototyping

THE PROPOSITION

Prototyping Service by Design

the benefitsbusinesses benefit by:• having targeted interactions• limiting the effort required• experiencing considerate, understandable

interactions and service• government accommodating exceptions

intermediaries benefit by:• having two-way relationships, industry

knowledge and professional expertise valued

• receiving considerate service

public servants benefit by:• providing good service• adding value to policy and services• allowing for tailoring of services• receiving official support and training for

high standards• having principles of democracy reinforced

DesignGov will be running a series of workshops aimed at further developing this concept and testing how it might work.If you would like to get involved, contact us through our email (design@design.gov.au) or phone number (02 6125 4974)

SERVICE

BY DESIGN

SUPPLY

DEMAND

Business seeks

advice,information or services

Public sector

frontline staff

are service

focused

Service-Enabling

Infrastructure Service Design

Standards

Service

Design

Principles

Complaint

Management

Satisfaction

Surveys

15