Applying the Digital Service Standard on the inside
Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, the Ontario Digital Service launched the alpha of the Digital Service Standard. While the focus of the Standard is on public services, we’re excited to hear that our colleagues in internal communications for government are applying the standard as well.
I’ve been doing digital work in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) for a long time, so I was very excited when the Ontario Digital Service released the alpha of its new Digital Service Standard for government services. After fifteen years working in digital across the public service, I’m currently the Enterprise Intranet Manager for InsideOPS, the new intranet for all public servants in Ontario.
The intranet might not be a public product, but it’s an important tool in making sure government staff deliver the right kinds of programs and services to the people of Ontario. By making it easier for employees to access and share information, we’re making the work of all of government better.
Looking through the Standard, I was so excited to see the connections to my current product. I think InsideOPS is as an excellent early adopter example of this kinds of approaches espoused in the Standard, as our main focus is the user, and we work hard in an agile way every day to improve our digital service.
Here are some examples of how we’re applying the Digital Service Standard in our work on InsideOPS:
Establish the right team
The communications and I&IT staff on InsideOPS all work in the same space together; this really reduces any barriers and problems in translation. We don’t have to worry about misunderstood emails or waiting for meetings to be scheduled. We make decisions in real time, talking over the cubicle wall or sitting down together to look something over.
Understand users and their needs
Since our proof-of-concept days, this project has been engaging with staff from all over the province to find out what they want in an intranet. We have a user community (known as the “Insiders”) of over 650 staff who participate in online and in-person testing and focus groups regularly. The Insiders have provided us the information required to make important design, functional and architectural evidence-based decisions regarding the site.
Be consistent
One of the main problems our site was created to solve was a huge lack of consistency in employee communications. Before InsideOPS, there were more than 120 intranets with all kinds of different platforms and approaches. We’re creating a consistent user experience that all parts of our organization can use, with a search function that works.
Test the end-to-end service
InsideOPS has always employed a user-centric design approach which feeds directly into the development cycle and includes automated testing. Each user story—and subsequent site change—goes through rigorous testing prior to its deployment to the live site. It‘s tested by our QA and business teams and finally, verified by our users.
Make it accessible
InsideOPS is an accessible platform; by migrating all intranets to this site, all ministries will meet their legislated accessibility guidelines under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Use agile and user-centred methods
InsideOPS was a pioneer in the OPS when it came to using agile methodology. This was my first experience working on an agile project and I am now a total convert. Working this way, we incrementally make changes and test and try new things every day. If they don’t work, we change focus and go in another direction quickly and efficiently. At InsideOPS, we’re all about continuous improvement.
Use open standards and common platforms
We are a leader in open source web development, cloud hosting and single sign-on technology for the OPS. Our content management system, development and authoring tools as well as our server and database infrastructure all use open standards and common platforms to allow for interoperability, to allow us to leverage a large knowledge base, and to keep us current.
Encourage everyone to use the digital service
We’ve been communicating with OPS staff about the benefits of moving to one intranet for more than four years now. A multi-phased, wide ranging communications strategy has been delivering information about the site, its launch and its progress, with great results. Because of this coordinated strategy, in its first year the site had more than two million page views and has been viewed on mobile devices more than 80,000 times.
Provide support for those who need it
All of the ministries have a digital content strategist to assist them with their migration and content management, and we have a full-time trainer on the team to offer support to users and contributors around the province. We also have a dedicated user experience professional to continuously test the site with users, feeding all the data into our development cycle.
Measure performance
We keep a very close eye on metrics at InsideOPS to see what is and isn’t working for our clients and our users. We use a scorecard to keep project stakeholders up to date on how the site is doing. This scorecard includes metrics on site engagement, usage, platform performance and client satisfaction. We also continuously connect with our users to find out how we are doing and what we could be doing better.
When it comes to applying the Digital Service Standard, InsideOPS is definitely on board. We know that building the right internal platform for employees to collaborate will mean better services and programs for citizens, so we’re excited to be pioneering great digital methods on the work we’re doing on the Inside.
If you have any questions about InsideOPS, our agile and user-focused approach, or about how collaboration happens inside the public service, please do get in touch.
