An online notebook
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An online notebook
Find and reuse digital service elements is a website put together by some folk at the Ministry of Justice that signposts the user to examples of publicly available guidance and patterns for digital work. Am not entirely sure what I…
Even if we adopt Tom Loosemore’s definition of digital – and we should – it’s still necessary to interpret it in the context of the service you are looking to digitise. I’ve worked out a really simple framework for thinking…
It was an absolute pleasure to talk with Neil Lawrence from Dorset Council about the research project he led, using Local Digital funding to find out what the user needs are that using a chatbot might meet. You can watch…
Back in 2017, Paul Maltby co-curated a list of reading for policy wonks interested in finding out more about digital. There’s loads of great stuff in there which have stood the test of time. I’ve always liked the idea of…
Folk in all sectors are being constantly bombarded with instructions to digitally transform their organisations, or calls to digitise services, and to make use of the cloud. With all these meaningless exhortations, it’s easiest just to ignore them. After all,…
Just before I went on holiday, I spent a bit of time one evening researching what content management systems (CMSs) are used by local councils in the UK. A CMS is the software that runs a website, just in case…
This is a living list post where I am keeping a note of all the active blogs run by local authorities. If you have any to suggest that I don’t have listed, please let me know!
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…
The ideal The GDS service manual is very clear on the roles required to run a proper multidisciplinary team to deliver digital services. It states that you must have a product manager service owner delivery manager user researcher content designer…
The local digital declaration is three years old as I go to keyboard. I was privileged enough to be around at the time it was being put together, had some small input into it, and helped to promote it. I…
Personas are a great place to start with user centred design, particularly if the whole practice is new to your organisation. This is because they can provide a quick and cheap way of ensuring your project puts the different types…
Something that I have found helps an awful lot is having a simple way to match identified user needs with the technology capabilities needed to meet them. It helps in two main ways: by encouraging people to consider the user…
The mechanics of making digital change happen in an organisation can be really complicated. What works in one place may well not stick in another. It all depends on strategy, structures, politics and personalities. One common approach is to have…
User stories are the strongest way you can capture requirements for your digital service and are another key component in taking a user centric approach to design. Rather than the old way of doing things, of producing a specification document…
I find this stuff so you don’t have to: An Open Letter to Software Suppliers – 13 Ways to Help the Public Sector to the Cloud – @copley_rich Why the obsession with “coding” misses the point – from @jjn1 “Whatsapp…
I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Little J Beta – via @willperrin The limits of collaborative consumption: Would people really share their belongings? Blogging – why do it? | Amandacomms’s Blog Raspberry Pi: Baking Pi – Operating…
I find this stuff so you don’t have to: Taming the Python – geting started programming on your Raspberry Pi Battle for the planet of the APIs Returning to Free Software: A Guide Robots and Robber Barons – NYTimes.com via…
Recently, as part of a survey of members of the Social Learning Centre, I put together a list of ten sites or apps I use a lot in my own learning activity. Actually, I thought ten was rather a lot, so to share it here, I thought I'd whittle it down to half that number.
I think it's useful to always remind yourself of the tools you use regularly in your own activity, particularly if you spend time designing sites, systems and platforms for others to use.
Anyway, hit 'Read more' to see the list.
I had a mixed day yesterday at the Online Information conference, which is excellently led by Steve Dale. The good bits were the sessions I attended and the chance to meet up with good friends, old and new. The less…
I find this stuff so that you don’t have to. Civic Commons code-sharing initiative bids to reduce government IT costs – "Around the United States, city governments have created a multitude of software. Unfortunately, most of the time the code…