Following consultation from across government, and working with a host of internal teams and individuals, we are pleased to announce the new, revised Design Standards.
What’s changed
We’re building out the Standards as an ecosystem to not only help underpin excellence and digital transformation, but to highlight the behaviours and practices that teams need to consider upfront, reducing risks and avoiding poor service and products delivered to customers.
Our new lean structure covers:
- key considerations
- a way for practitioners to determine quality of work
- skills that can be applied across NSW government
To achieve this, we have:
- removed several layers of hierarchy so that the ‘must haves’ are upfront
- created distinct roles for each section of a Standard’s content so that they can be used as stoppers in conversation as well as keep the content fit for purpose
- focused on the why and when of best delivery practices
- provided examples of risks that happen when things are not done properly
- moved detailed ‘how-to’ content into Resources
How to start using them
We’ve redesigned the Standards to help people advocating for product and service teams to deliver great outcomes for customers. This may be a passionate team member championing the customer at the centre, an agile coach pivoting a team to a new way of working, or a Product Owner ensuring their vendor is adhering to the NSW delivery practices.
To make this happen, we use a natural line of questions to identify issues and get teams thinking, then link to best practices to solve them.
Here’s how it may apply in practice
Example service description: A project to build a chat bot that guides users through a physical process that was previously done by people.
- are we designing things without understanding how hard they are to implement technically?
- if we are – let’s work out the skills and experience we need and talk to our stakeholders and sponsor about how to bring that person on now. We can use something like our resource on Multidisciplinary delivery teams and our local HR to help.
- are we building features straight away without talking to our users?
- we might be, so let’s build in research to how we work so we can be confident we’re delivering the right thing.
Let us know how you’re using them
Our example service highlights multiple ways the new Standards can be immediately applied to any in-flight or new projects you are delivering. Using them now will avoid the risk of delivering customer experiences that are insecure or don't meet user needs.
We’re currently integrating the Standards with project assurance, procurement, and capability uplift initiatives. We are keen to work with as many teams as possible, understanding how they’re being used in different circumstances and environments will ensure they remain fit for purpose.
If you’ve started using the Standards or need help to, feel free to reach out and let us know your experience!