This is a nice and easy framework to use when you find yourself needing to do a quick service discovery to find out some basic details about a service and how it can be transformed.
The point at which you might want to use this is right at the start of your digital work, when you either:
- need to identify a service to work with
- or have decided which service to work with already, but need to gather some up front information on what you’re dealing with
Whichever way you use it, you’ll find it a really helpful way to have a meaningful conversation with the service owner, that will help you get on the same page really quickly.
How to use the template
Some quick notes on how to use this – although remember, you are free to do what you like with it!
- Replace <Name of service> with… oh, you know surely
- You can delete the link to this post to protect your reputation if you like
- Add a quick summary of what the purpose of service is – both in terms of the user need and what the organisation needs to achieve
- Consider the components of the service (whether tech or process based). Leave ticks for those that are needed and crosses for those which aren’t
- How is the service currently delivered? Again, leave ticks and crosses in the right places
- Think about the users of the service. Are they
- Everyday residents?
- People running their own businesses?
- Professionals working alongside the organisation, perhaps solicitors, architects, or folk from other public services?
- Politicians, whether at a local or national level
- As well as doing the tick and cross thing, add the number of people who use the service every month, to get an idea of the size of this thing
- Finally do some quick analysis on three criteria:
- What would the level of benefit be to the end user if we transformed this service? Green for lots, red for little, amber for somewhere in the middle
- What would the level of benefit be to the organisation (savings, happier staff etc) if we transformed this service? Green for lots, red for little, amber for somewhere in the middle
- How hard would it be to transform this service? Green for easy, red for nightmare, amber for somewhere in the middle
If you are running this exercise before choosing which service to transform, this analysis will help you decide whether a particular service is a good candidate. If you’ve already fixed on a service to transform, the outcome of this might a) change your mind; or b) decide how to approach it.
Hopefully this comes in handy! Let me know if so 🙂
