Digital

Beyond ‘what is’

January 8, 2025 by deborahamzil No Comments | Category Content Design, Digital Public Services, Social Security Scotland, User-centred design

Guest blog post from Josie Vallely, Senior Service Designer, Social Security Scotland.

What will our new service design team look like? Like the medieval bestiary artists who were asked to paint creatures they had never seen in real life, we don’t know exactly what it will be, so we have the freedom of imagination to decide!

I recently started as a Senior Service Designer at Social Security Scotland. Shortly after starting we came together for the first time as a new service design team (myself, Hannah Heaton and Jayne Purcell, Service Design Lead) within the User Centred Design Team at Social Security Scotland.

Beginning a new team is an exciting and slightly daunting task. We sat down to explore all the different elements we need to consider, alongside understanding how we will work together and where we fit. We also thought about how we will communicate our work and what values underpin it. There’s been lots of interesting work done in these areas that we can draw upon. For example, we were examining the Ministry of Justice playbook for service design, which consolidates an understanding of the role of service design and how it is communicated. As well as looking at the things put in place by previous iterations of the team.

In my previous role as the Service Design Development Lead at Iriss, I used design to support the social care workforce in meeting the outcomes of people who use Scotland’s social services. Often, we see the user and the workforce as separate entities, but in my experience, there is a lot of overlap between these groups. Our focus was on supporting the workforce, in order for them to meet the needs of their users. I look forward to bringing that experience and outlook into this role. This narrative is already embedded in Social Security Scotland, which I find reassuring.

While I’m undoubtedly a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of Social Security Scotland, joining the new team feels like an opportunity to bring some of my design values and problem-solving practices into an area where I can make an impact. I’m looking forward to having a community of practice and being part of a larger organisation striving to make their values ‘live’. After just one week in I already had some understanding of the complexity of the system. It was also immediately clear that people within it are keen to make change and feel purposeful in their work here. I’m used to working quite independently on projects from start right through to evaluation, in a linear way. It’s been great to seeing how people are collaborating, grappling with the complexities of e.g. data and user experience. I can see the value of working in multidisciplinary teams across product owners and business teams. There will still be a lot for me to learn, and I’m sure that I will continue having to wrap my head around things for a long time yet.

There is a lot of potential for service design across the whole organisation. While it is useful to go into a complex system and expose some of the less effective goings-on (and designers love to think of themselves as truth tellers), the methodology and process that need to come out of this need to be practical, collaborative, and meet the needs of users and the workforce. My personal approach to design is in collaboration and building small steps towards success.

My interest in design is its ability to think beyond ‘what is’. I like to imagine what could be. For me, this isn’t just about designing ‘brand new things’ – it can also be supporting tests of change that can ripple out to change cultures and systems. I love using creative visualisation and prototyping to help people think differently, but ultimately see relationships and people (workers, service recipients, team members) as the biggest asset in a design process.

So far so good. I’ve enjoyed immersing myself in the office culture, getting to know people, and gaining insights into how other members of the User Centred Design Team are conducting their work and collaborating as a team. So onwards and upwards.

Are you setting up a new design team, or thinking about how you might expand yours? How does Service design work in your setting, and how might you make the most of the opportunity? Get in touch at  contentdesign@socialsecurity.gov.scot.

Tags: content design, digital, digital public services, Digital Scotland Service Standard, Social Security Scotland

Comments