Design as an approach to problem solving
Editor’s Note: Michael Martino is the Executive Director of Customer Experience and Digital Programs at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), one of the largest insurance organizations in North America covering more than 300,000 workplaces across Ontario.
We’ve asked him to share a bit of the journey towards the birth of the Digital Factory at the WSIB.
If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to get in touch with Michael Martino directly at: Michael_Martino@wsib.on.ca
What if we approached every problem in government from the perspective of the customer referring to both citizens on the receiving end of a service, and employees, on the delivery front, from start to completion?
This framing has guided my career in government and has led me to take inspiration from Hillary Hartley and the team at the Ontario Digital Service who consistently put users first and dare to approach problems differently.
In the fall of 2019, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) opened its Digital Factory and we were honoured to host Hillary Hartley as our featured guest.
I’d like to share how the Digital Factory came to be, and what we’ve learned along the way.
Ontario’s First Chief Digital and Data Officer
In March of 2017, I didn’t know much about Hillary Hartley — just what was written in the official press release. The global search for Ontario’s Chief Digital Officer drew interest from more than 400 candidates from around the world, no small competition.
Shortly after Hillary Hartley was named Ontario’s Chief Digital Officer, I came across this paragraph in Delivering on Digital: The Innovators and Technologies That are Transforming Government by William D. Eggers:
“Design is an approach to problem solving. It’s about how you think about something. It’s not about typefaces, it’s not about pixels. Design is what makes a product successful. It’s the thing that makes it useful, that makes it understandable.”
-Hillary Hartley
In many ways, this is the quote that started it all and mobilized the birth of the Digital Factory.
“Design is an approach to problem solving”
If the new Chief Digital Officer of Ontario, Hillary Hartley, was highlighting the importance of design as a pathway to solving government problems, then our journey at the WSIB to work in this way was cleared.
Citizens expect exceptional customer experiences
Citizens have come to expect seamless customer experiences with (digital) services. From retail, to banking services, every sector is innovating to create the best customer experience for their users, and the government cannot be an exception.
The challenge is how do we get there? How can government create simpler, faster, better service experiences for all citizens?
Theory comes to life
The Digital Factory was formed to test out this very question from a human-centered approach. We asked ourselves, if we started with people’s needs — both our customers and WSIB employees- could we create a better customer service experience?
We did this by breaking down silos through the creation of power, trio teams, as we called them, comprised of three core employee advocates:
● customer advocates who are responsible for the customer voice, product roadmap, and product development
● business advocates who are responsible for the end-to-end design of a process spanning across business units
● technology advocates who are responsible for technology alignment and development to ensure all aspects of delivery and product releases
In May 2018, we threw this team together, and 16 weeks later, the Digital Factory delivered its first product.
The product gained so much popularity with our customers that if it were a song, it would be Old Town Road for its popularity and ability to stay on the top of the charts, and in our case, on the tops of customers minds, for weeks on end.
Three main lessons learned
The journey to the Digital Factory could be summarized in learning lessons across three main categories:
Driving cultural change
Government as a platform
Ideas matter
Driving cultural change
A line I use a lot is that culture is not foosball or free granola Tuesdays.
Driving (digital) cultural change is really about:
● taking an outside-in approach
● driving delegation
● pushing decision making down into your organization
● emphasizing action
● valuing collaboration
In September 2019, Hillary Hartley was our honoured guest for the grand opening of our Digital Factory. Her message that day was that culture starts at the top, which is an extremely important message. Our Digital Factory couldn’t work without the support of our senior leaders.
Starting with our President and CEO Thomas Teahen, our senior leadership team sets the tone for change. They drive the environment that allows for initiatives, like the Digital Factory to thrive. Without this culture shift from the top, our digital culture could not survive.
Government as a platform
Government as a platform (GaaP) is where our partnership with Ontario Digital lives. We anchor our service design journeys to our customer, and to the larger ecosystem of digital government within Ontario.
For example, someone wanting to start a company in Ontario needs to register with ServiceOntario, then with the WSIB, again register as an employer with the CRA, then apply for different licenses from other federal, provincial, and municipal agencies.
People’s lives don’t reflect the organizational structure of government, and we have kept this insight in mind as we continue to improve the WSIB customer experience.
Ideas matter
The public service has some of the most complicated problems to solve. We also need to solve problems that affect the most vulnerable pockets of society. Citizens don’t see us as multiple departments or agencies — they see us as one “government”. We need to deliver services as one entity, but we also need to share ideas on how to solve these complex problems because you never know how your ideas can inspire change.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or opportunities for collaboration, respond below, connect with me on LinkedIn or email me directly at Michael_Martino@wsib.on.ca.
