A MANIFESTO:
PRINCIPLES FOR THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL SERVICE KEEPERS OF GOOD SERVICE PRACTICE
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When people are told that a computer is intelligent, they become prone to changing themselves in order to make the computer appear to work better, instead of demanding that the computer be changed to become more useful. People already tend to defer to computers, blaming themselves when a digital gadget or online service is hard to use...............We can’t afford to respect our own designs so much. Jaron Lanier, 2010
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Introduction In 2011 British people bought more goods from services online than any other major economy. Increasing numbers of companies in the private sector are now adopting a digital delivery for service, to ensure competitiveness in this market, and so for the first time in history we have an economy, of which the service sector accounts for 75%. Furthermore, with the declared service strategy of the UK Government to make all their services online and digital by default by 2014, it means that our landscape of online and digital service is not only growing, but is becoming the standard expected channel for citizens to use, in order to access basic public services. Examples of services that are currently being designed as online webpages, as opposed to a telephone service, or a face to face service, include registering a death, obtaining a passport and applying for bus passes. Minister of the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude has stated that providing services online will be more convenient and cheaper. This is evident in light of the estimation that, in making government services digital, there is to be an estimated saving of ÂŁ1.8 billion a year. However those in the country who are currently unable to access online services are going to find themselves becoming increasingly excluded and disfranchised within Britain, as the digital service economy expands, and delivery of these basic public services goes digital by default, to help cut costs in other areas of service. It is becoming increasingly clear that we are experiencing an evolution in what the term ‘service’ means, and that it is not necessarily weighted in favour of all UK citizens.
Claire England Service Designer July 2013 4
Contents The Big Idea. 7 User Opinions. 10 The Principles. 11 Checklist. 13
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The Big Idea i.Introduction In June this year, a workshop program entitled ‘Technology Unplugged’ was launched as part of a research test for the authors Design for Service Master’s degree. Exploring alternative approaches to ICT teaching with adult learners, the workshop devised informal and creative methods to promote the engagement of digital technologies amongst unconfident individuals. Working with a small group of older ICT learners aged 50-75, from a community in the north of England, the workshops encouraged informal technology assistance amongst the adult learners. It stimulated their confidence and passion for sustained adult learning in a social setting, and presented opportunities for curiosity-led discussion and informal knowledge sharing amongst the group, through the cues that the low-fi design activities provided.
ii. The Problem
Through discussions with the adult participants during “Technology Unplugged”, it became increasingly apparent that often the problems the older learners faced when using online services were not their fault and therefore cannot be improved through the education or digital skills’ development of the learners. Often many of the problems and difficulties the unconfident adult learners faced, arose due to the inconsistent and badly designed service provision which various online private companies present to users through their websites. The difficulties they faced, made them reluctant and distrustful of a future digital by default government approach to public service; but this is not a complication that can be solved through the provision of ICT education for older learners alone. Seeking to improve the confidence of an older adult learner will not be effective unless something is done to ensure the improved service experience of the learners through better designed online websites. 7
“It is clear that adults and children of all ages face all kinds of challenges when using websites....They struggle with inconsistent, badly designed interfaces, fail to complete tasks and face unnecessary frustration and delays which significantly undermine the drive towards self-service.� Nigel Lewis, 2012
iii. The Implication
The implication for what was discussed by the older adult learners and the issue it high-lighted, requires a very big call for change across digital technology platforms, in order to help ensure the digital inclusivity of the future digital service landscape. There is clearly great need for a general service standard, and agreed common principles to help ensure that future online environments are safer and more accountable to their users, so that digitally less-confident users (who are therefore more vulnerable), can explore the internet, and use online services unaided in the future.
iiii. The Suggestion In the light of this, I recommend following the example of the design principles put forward by the Government’s own digital team within the cabinet office. They have set out 10 digital principles which promise to provide standards for user-centered service online, with the vision of inclusive design as well as better experience for any citizens using digital government services. I believe that these principles need to become a manifesto which all companies providing online e-commerce services agree to sign, when developing service online. The terms of this manifesto would promise customers of any digital ability, access to well considered, quality service design, and the agreement that when website glitches occur, the service experience will extend to providing the user with assistance, in a manner that is helpful to the user, through principles incorporated into the web design which put the user at the heart of service. This booklet sets out to provide suggested principles for good digital service to help ensure that web designers and companies of the future, who are looking to expand their service through digital channels, have a checklist when making service decisions, to help integrate inclusive design practice into their website development. 8
User Opinion Here are the discussion points mentioned by the older ICT learners from this research. They support the need for digital service principles:
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“When online transactions follow a script, it feels like heads they win, tails we lose.” ____________________________________________________________ “When online transactions are timed, I can’t type my details in fast enough.” ____________________________________________________________ “Memorising the different procedures for every website is hard, they vary so much.” ____________________________________________________________ “When I hit an unexpected problem, I can’t make any progress because I don’t know where to go for help. I’m left on my own, stuck. The frustration and hassle feels like hitting a brick wall.” ____________________________________________________________ “Help is only available online and even then it is hard to find, why isn’t it clearer?” ____________________________________________________________ “Why do website layouts change so often? It seems superficial and doesn’t help me- it makes it harder to find my way around.” ____________________________________________________________ “Too many organisations hide behind their websites because it is a cheaper service. They are not open with their contact details because they don’t care for my opinions.” ____________________________________________________________
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The Principles The principles for great digital service design were created by the Government Digital team in 2012: 1. Start with needs. User needs not your needs. * Identify real user needs. * Understand and think about these needs. * Don’t make assumptions. 2. Do less. Only do what only you can do. *If someone else is doing it-link to it. *Concentrate on the irreducible core. *Don’t try and do and say everything. *Decide what is the most important thing on the page. 3. Design with data. Learn from the behaviour of your users. *Prototype and beta-test with real users on the live web. *Understand a user’s desired paths. *Shape the system to fit what people naturally choose to do. *Learn from their behaviour. 4. Do the hard work to make it simple. Make it simple to use despite the underlying complex system. *People have no choice but to use your digital service. *If you don’t work hard to make it simple and usable then you are abusing that power and wasting peoples’ time. *It is called responsibility. 5. Iterate then iterate again. Be effective by starting small then iterating. *Release early, test with real users, move from alpha to beta to launch and refine, based on real user feedback. *Iterate to reduce risk and make big risks unlikely, turning small failures into lessons.
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6. Build for inclusion. Build a product that is as inclusive, legible and readable as possible. *Sacrifice elegance; accessible design is good design. *Don’t be afraid of the obvious. *Don’t re-invent web-design conventions. *You are designing for the whole country, not just those who are accustomed to using the web. 7. Understand context. Don’t design for a screen. Design for people. *What context are they using the service? In a library? On a phone? *Have they used the web before? *What are the technological and practical circumstances in which users are using the service? 8. Build digital services, not websites. Services don’t begin and end at the website-it might start at a search engine, and end at a post office. *Design for this, even if you can’t control it. *Right now services are best delivered on the web but this might change in the future. 9. Be consistent, not uniform. Use the same language and design patterns so people can become familiar with them. *Make your underlying approach consistent for users so they have a reasonable chance of guessing what they’re supposed to do. *You can’t imagine every scenario and write rules for it,so just be consistent in order that users can come to understand and trust your service as it moves into new digital spaces. 10.Make things open: it makes things better. Share code, designs, intentions and failures. *The more eyes there are on a service the better it gets. *Howlers will get spotted and better alternatives will be pointed out. *The bar for what good digital service is possible will rise.
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Checklist Here is a web design checklist, developed from the Government digital service principles, and through conversations with the Technology Unplugged participants:
Are your touch-points standardised? ______________________________________________________ Are your interactions flexible? ______________________________________________________ Does your script use the local language? English/American? ______________________________________________________ Are your instructions instinctive? ______________________________________________________ Can a user trust you have their best interests? Why? How? ______________________________________________________ Do you have offline help options? ______________________________________________________ Will a user run out of time completing instructions and forms on your website? ______________________________________________________
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Is there help clearly offered when things go wrong? ______________________________________________________ Can a user be confident of their progression through your website? Why? How? ______________________________________________________ What will happen to a transaction if a user makes a mistake? ______________________________________________________ How does a user know how to contact you? What response will they get? ______________________________________________________ Do your website instructions allow for preferences or are they rigid rules? ______________________________________________________ Does the help you offer assist a user as much as it could? ______________________________________________________ How will you design ways to listen to service feedback from your users? ______________________________________________________
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