Digital
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Paving the way to omnichannel
2nd April 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog from Emma Jones, Lead Content Designer at Social Security Scotland. An accessible, inclusive way to communicate At Social Security Scotland, we are at the start of a journey to move from ‘letters as default’ to a more inclusive, accessible approach. An approach where the method of communication meets the needs of the client....
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Journey mapping as a content design tool
28th March 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog from Claire Robertson, Senior Content Designer at Social Security Scotland. “Journey mapping is completely fundamental to content design” (Sarah Winters and Rachel Edwards, Content Design, second edition) As content designers everything we do is based on user needs. User needs are the bread and butter of any user centred design (UCD) team. Every...
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Refreshing Scotland’s Digital Strategy, part 2
24th March 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog post by Colin Birchenall, Chief Technology Officer, the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government. At the heart of Scotland’s Digital Strategy is the recognition that digital is a fundamental enabler for achieving the country’s priorities. Whether it is economic growth, social inclusion, or environmental sustainability, digital solutions play a crucial role in driving...
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We made a content design system in 4 weeks
18th March 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog post from Andy Robertson, Senior Content Designer, Social Security Scotland. We built a design system for our intranet. It creates a consistent user experience for our colleagues processing benefit applications. The design system is a library of reusable content and patterns. Here is an overview of our approach to plan, write and build...
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ScotAccount recognised for having significant impact on public services
21st February 2025 by deborahamzil
Blog post by Scottish Government’s ScotAccount team. The ScotAccount team were delighted to join colleagues from Disclosure Scotland at the Holyrood Connect Digital Health and Care Awards in Edinburgh on 18th February 2025. The teams were thrilled to be short-listed for the Digital Service Transformation Award for their collaborative delivery of ‘PVG Online’. The Digital...
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Iteration and continuous improvement – a Blockbuster story?
12th February 2025 by Stewart Hamilton
Guest blog from Jayne Purcell, Service Design Lead, Social Security Scotland. Iteration and continuous improvement are words I hear a lot. What I have observed over the years is that iteration and continuous improvement usually means iterating and improving the current design, with not enough effort put into exploring the future and the vision to...
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Refreshing Scotland’s Digital Strategy: Process blog part 1 (of a few)
27th January 2025 by deborahamzil
Blog post by Becca Fairless, head of digital strategy and policy, Scottish Government. In 2021 we launched our Joint Digital Strategy for Scotland – A Changing Nation – how Scotland will thrive in a digital world. For the first time it brought together the work on digital transformation happening in local authorities with the work...
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How text message notifications helped more than 2000 Social Security Scotland clients use unspent benefit payments
22nd January 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog post from Jake Keith, Content Designer, Social Security Scotland. A Social Security Scotland SMS (short Message Service) pilot led by the Product and Design team has helped hundreds of people access cash paid to them but left unspent. A total of 2,205 clients have spent money on their prepaid card since the start...
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Designing with purpose and empathy
15th January 2025 by deborahamzil
Guest blog post from Emma Jones, Content Design Lead, Social Security Scotland. Good content design is about making the user experience simple. We need to design to help people do what they need to do, and no more. We need to focus on the purpose. Finding (and sticking to) the true purpose can be hard...
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Foundations of the Digital State – Independent research report published
18th November 2024 by Stewart Hamilton
Blog post by Becca Fairless, Head of Strategy, Policy and Communications, Digital Directorate. OverviewThis is a summary of the independent research report “Foundations of the Digital State” by Gordon Guthrie, a Digital Fellow of the First Minister’s Digital Fellowship Programme during 2023-2024. The research aimed to lay out a transformative roadmap for how governments imagine...