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Transforming the flood service: responding to users

A smartphone in person's hand, displaying the flood information service page on GOV.UK, indicating the current flood warnings in England and Wales.

Over the past few years, the team behind the flood information service have made their offering more user-centred by designing it end-to-end, front-to-back, and for every channel. In this blog post, senior user researcher Silvia Grant shares what the service transformation looked like.

Transforming the ‘Request a bin’ service at West Berkshire Council

A woman’s hand holding a smartphone with the digital service interface of West Berkshire Council’s Request a bin or recycling container service

To redesign its Request a bin service end-to-end, a West Berkshire Council team worked with three departments, the waste contractor and a digital supplier. This blog post describes how strong collaboration led to measurable outcomes and benefits for citizens and government.

We’re changing the way we do service assessments to support coronavirus related services

A person writing a COVID-19 services peer review discussion report on a laptop computer, on the screen a headline reads: 1. Understand users and their needs (Point 1)

In recent weeks, we have seen a surge in government activity needing services to be launched at very short notice. So we created a condensed version of service assessments to make sure services are still secure, resilient and accessible, focusing on the riskiest factors to launch.

Measuring the value of service transformation

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Metrics and measurement, Service transformation
A person pointing at a printed list of services designed as digital by default

For years, GDS has been measuring and showing what good service transformation looks like. In a recent piece of work, we collaborated with individual service teams in several government organisations to identify and document the value of their digital transformation work.

How to run a remote service assessment

A laptop screen showing a remote service assessment taking place via video conference software with various people dialled in looking at a shared presentation headlined ‘How we fit into the service line’

The Standards Assurance Service Team at the Government Digital Service has adapted to running service assessments remotely. Here is our advice on how to make sure the remote service assessment works well.

In case you missed it: What happened during Services Week 2020

A closeup of a smartphone display showing Services Week, 3–7 February

From 3–7 February, the second edition of Services Week took place across all levels of UK government. It included more than 85 events. This blog post recaps the week through a selection of social media posts.

Does technology outsourcing still have a role in the public sector?

Dr Peter Bishop standing on stage after a talk listening to a question of a member of the audience, holding a microphone

As part of a significant insourcing effort, Birmingham City Council transitioned 350 employees and brought £55m of technology spend under direct council management. In this blog post, the council’s Director for Digital & Customer Services, Dr Peter Bishop, reflects on the changing role of outsourcing.