3 Simple Tips for Digital Transformation
Earlier this month, I gave a talk at the Civil Service College on Digital Transformation and I am glad that many of the participants found the session useful. Some have requested for additional sharing with colleagues who missed the talk and/or for follow-up sessions to explore collaboration opportunities.
Unfortunately, my schedule does not permit me to say ‘Yes’ to all requests so here’s a – hopefully good enough – middle ground. :)
What Digital Transformation Is/Not
Some people define digital transformation as:
- all technology innovation-related activities
- synonymous with IT
- the investment needed to integrate technology into all parts of your organization
- going beyond technology to reflect an organization with a mindset that embraces constant innovation
- all data and analytics, AI and preferably blockchain too
In truth, the discussion on digital transformation is confusing because there is no clear consensus on the definition of digital transformation. Furthermore, many leaders use tech buzzwords without fully understanding them, conflating the use of technology with digital transformation and inadvertently adding to the confusion.
Digital transformation is really about mindset change, in order to seize opportunities that come with the adoption of digital technology across all aspects of society
Digital transformation is not about upgrading of existing services from analogue to digital. Digital transformation is about re-engineering your organization, to deliver a digital experience to your stakeholders.
Case in Point
The key difference between Grab/Uber and traditional taxi companies is the business model, not the technology. Commuters are the customers of the former and taxi drivers for the latter. This key difference affects all other key aspects of these organizations — financial assets and liabilities, service delivery and definition, technology investment, organization structure, success metrics, etc…
Make no mistake. The competition is being driven by their business model, not technology.
Three Myths and Opportunities
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” — Alexander Pope
Myth #1 — Chase the Technology Silver Bullet
Digital transformation is neither about building another website, mobile app or chatbot, nor is it about using AI or blockchain.
“This new UX-IoT agile-sensor will use AI-powered blockchain platform to toast your bread!”
(PS: If your boss is a sucker for tech buzzwords, this and this might interest him/her.
But I digress. Let’s get back on track. :) )
The heart of digital transformation is about moving away from a centralized model to a more decentralized, more distributed mode of engagement.
- The centralized system in Fig 1A is easy to understand, to build and to maintain, such as simple (CMS) websites where consumers passively consume information from a single source. It serves our needs until ‘good enough ain’t good enough’.
- The decentralized system in Fig 1B is somewhat like Fig 1A, albeit with power distributed across more, but not all nodes. This model is more scalable and has a greater ability to serve different needs. However, note that the central node has the power to shut down the entire network, like in Fig 1A.
- The distributed system in Fig 1C is nothing like Fig 1A and Fig 1B. The interdependence and interconnection of every node decentralizes everything. It decentralizes power and shifts this power to relationships at the edges. It is permission-less, robust and evolves rapidly to meet diverse needs. Examples of a distributed system include the Internet, Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer networks.
Opportunity —Leverage on Distributed Networks
Get past the tech buzzwords. Like capitalism vs. socialism, this is about ideology, being less directive and leaving more to the invisible hand of the market. Technology is only part of the equation that enables and facilitates the faster sharing of information and ideas.
The benefits of digital transformation can only be fully realized with a mindset change. It’s about finding a business model that empowers everyone and gives them opportunities to effect changes, where everything evolves and moves super quickly in this hyper-connected network, where the market decides what’s the next winning idea.
For starters, it is important to understand what platform thinking is, and learn to use it to design digital products. Leverage on the network effect of a marketplace/community to flow information. Decentralize work, shift power to the edges and let the market work itself.
One way to accelerate your delivery is to leverage on our Singapore Government Technology Stack — with tools such as Nectar, APEX, hats and WOGAA — that we are already using to build digital products and platforms for our government agencies.
Myth #2 — Put lipstick on a pig
Another common myth is the confusion between User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design.
Good UX design evokes the appropriate emotion from your user when they use your digital product. It does so through thoughtful design in all three areas — interaction, visual (UI) and content.
“Beauty is only skin deep” — Thomas Overbury
A digital product with pretty UI but poor interaction and/or content design creates friction and user frustration. The best way to refine your UX design is through iterative usability testing.
Opportunity —Apply Usability Testing
At Hive, my good brother Eyung runs the DXD Sandbox. It is a usability testing lab equipped with eye-tracker technology and user research rooms. In the DXD Sandbox, we conduct A/B testing to understand how different designs influence browsing behaviors and engagement levels.
We partner with government agencies to test their websites and mobile apps, and collect user engagement metrics such as conversion rates. The end goal is to use data to influence our design decisions and deliver delightful digital services for our citizens and businesses.
If you are building digital services for our government agencies and would like to leverage on our DXD capabilities, then please direct them to us! :)
Myth #3 —Agile is the vendor’s problem, not mine
Traditionally, government IT projects were outsourced using waterfall. Open tender specs would take one to two years to develop, another one year to award and then would be handed off to a vendor to develop for two more years before going ‘live’.
In contrast, all of our product development is done with agile by our squads in Hive, — there is absolutely no waterfall. We run two-weeks sprints, with business people and developers working together daily to deliver valuable software.
Agile delivers higher-quality products that have fewer defects. Development progress is highly transparent and visible, which in turn allows early identification and resolution of issues. Delivery is incremental, fast and predictable —there is no big-bang release. Most importantly, agile is highly responsive and adaptive to changes. The benefits of agile development are tremendous. Yet, despite all its benefits, I still see people doing waterfall or pseudo-agile, i.e. agile in name, but not in execution (e.g. hybrid-agile, agile-lite, etc …).
Old habits die hard. Otherwise, it would have been done. ¯\_(“,)_/¯
On a more positive note, many agencies are now at Stage 3 — Bargaining instead of in denial or anger, as compared to two years ago. Things are looking better and we hope to help more agencies be more agile.
Opportunity — Be agile!
If you are curious about how we have used agile to deliver government digital services, check out our Business Grants Portal adventure, which we delivered in half of the time, at half of the cost. If you want to know how we did it, here’s our secret :)
Final Thoughts
- Choose platform-thinking over building just-another-app
- Good UX design is much more than having a pretty UI
- Being agile is about more than outsourcing agile development
After you master the art of platform-thinking, good UX and agility, your next step is to learn about behavioral economics and digital nudges. I personally believe that most, if not all, policies are too coarse to handle the subtle nuances of life. On the other hand, a policy that caters to every, single, special case is bound to be too complicated to understand and to enforce.
The better we are at digital nudging to benefit citizens and businesses, the lesser need for heavy-handed policies.
Together, let’s empower Singapore with greater possibilities through technology! 💪🇸🇬
PS: We are looking for creative UX designers and solid software engineers who are passionate about tech and want to join us in building awesome digital services for Singapore! Drop me an email at steven_koh@tech.gov.sg (ゝ‿ ・)
Cheers! 🍻
