Mapping services as users see them
In Crisis Response & Community Resilience at British Red Cross, we’re about to start a bit work to map our services as users see them.
Example of mapping services
Mapping services have been done for a while. There are some great examples and thinking from the public sector. I recommend reading blog posts defining services by Kate Tarling and understanding your services by Ben Holliday.
‘Mapping services’ is still a bit abstract, so here is an example. One which I was lucky enough to be part of—In 2015 a joint team from DVLA, DVSA and GDS went about mapping driving services that the UK government delivers part or all of.
The team’s aims were:
- Learn how thousands of paper forms, databases, webpages, vehicles and driving tests join together to form services
- Understand these services from the perspective of users
- See common tasks shared between different services
- Spot opportunities for digital transformation
Through interviewing users, frontline teams and analysing data, the team mapped 42 services as users see them. These services included:
- Learn to drive
- Import a vehicle
- Drive a taxi
- Employ a driver
- Buy a vehicle
A visual map was even made, which helped show common tasks shared between different services, for example:
- Apply for a provisional licence
- Book a theory test
- Register a new vehicle
- Tax a vehicle
- Book a driving test
- Inspect a vehicle is safe to drive
Mapping services as a user see them has helped make things like the award-winning step-by-step pages on GOV.UK, such as this page for ‘Learn to drive a car’.
Why we are mapping our services
Mapping our services in Crisis Response & Community Resilience our aim is to:
- Confirm what service user needs we meet now
- See opportunities for meeting user needs faster or more simply
- Identify common tasks we do to deliver current and future services
- Decide where to focus efforts of service design and technology
Ultimately mapping our services is the first step in doing more regular and coordinated digital transformation in Crisis Response & Community Resilience. Giving our frontline teams the digital tools they need to support people and communities facing fires, floods and other emergencies.
As Ben Holliday, Chief Design Officer at FutureGov puts it:
‘Understanding your services is the first step towards improving or transforming them.’
Next steps
We’re now pulling together a team with the skills to research and map our services — people from our frontline teams and specialists in design and technology. We will regularly be sharing our progress on this blog and remote show and tells.
If you want to know more, please do email me — harrytrimble [at] redcross.org.uk
Harry is the lead designer at British Red Cross, working in the Crisis Response Team to help design how the organisation responds to national emergencies.
