‘Digital’ doesn’t mean a website
Over my time in Barnardo’s, I’ve met with a lot of colleagues outside of my little digital bubble, mostly through project work or delivering introduction to agile training sessions. It’s always interesting to understand what people think our work is, as it helps me refine my approach and modify my language to ensure I’m understood correctly.
The word “digital” can often lead to misunderstanding between me (or the wider team) and the people I’m talking to. In a way this isn’t surprising; we live in a digital age and people commonly associate the word with websites and apps. Digital services delivered via a website or app can be more effective, reaching more users for less money.
Digital services are also more likely to be designed around the needs of the user and available when and how the user wants them. Think about the last time you applied for a passport; you probably filled a form in, got a photo from a booth, and posted it. Now you can upload a selfie and pay online.
So when our commissioners and service users ask for digital services, and when my colleagues talk about digital services, they mostly mean a website or an app. But does “digital” always mean that?
Tom Loosemore, one of the founders of the UK’s Government Digital Service, once defined “digital” as
Applying the culture, practices, processes and technologies of the internet era to respond to people’s raised expectations.
He doesn’t say that that means a website.
This is pretty much what we in Barnardo’s Digital & Technology mean when we say “digital”. We are applying the culture, practices and processes of this new era so that we can better meet our commissioners’, service users’, and colleagues’ needs. At its most basic, this is just as simple as asking people what they need. But if you’ve been following the work of our Service Design team, for example here or here, you’ll know it’s a lot more complex and involved, and can produce some interesting results. They’ve not built any websites.
A little story I’ve told in my training sessions with colleagues. Early in 2018, we were asked for a secure website where service users could talk to each other and to their social workers. But when we looked into it — using the good practices and processes mentioned above — that wasn’t what they really needed. What was needed was a way for service users to contact their Barnardo’s social worker between fixed appointments. So we changed the charity’s policies to allow social workers to use text messaging on a device provided by the charity. That met the need.
So “digital” can mean a website, but not necessarily. Apply the practices and processes of “digital”. Talk to your users to find out and understand their needs and how they can be met. This is how taking a “digital” approach adds value; and this is how we are transforming children’s social care in the UK and delivering better outcomes for more children.
Darren is a Programme Delivery Manager in the Barnardo’s Digital Products & Services team. To get the latest updates from the Barnardo’s Digital & Technology team, subscribe to blog.barnar.do on Medium, and follow #FutureBarnardos on Twitter.
