British Columbia – A Model for Digital Government Service Design
British Columbia offers a comprehensive blueprint for the Service Design practices of Canadian Digital Government.
The Government of Canada Digital Standards provides the high level guidelines for Canadian Digital Government.
“Our goal is to provide public services to Canadians which are simple to use and trustworthy. The Government of Canada’s Digital Standards form the foundation of the government’s shift to becoming more agile, open, and user-focused. They will guide teams in designing digital services in a way that best serves Canadians.”
- Design with users
- Iterate and improve frequently
- Work in the open by default
- Use open standards and solutions
- Address security and privacy risks
- Build in accessibility from the start
- Empower staff to deliver better services
- Be good data stewards
- Design ethical services
- Collaborate widely
Published to a Github repository British Columbia has defined their Principles of Digital Government, intended to guide the work of individual public servants and vendor partners as the Province of British Columbia continues to evolve into a Digital Government.
Digital Service Design
Central to this ambition is the role of Service Design.
The BC Service Design team located in the Government Digital Experience Division is changing how citizens access government services by bringing innovation and a human-centred approach to areas such as health care, transportation, education, policy and finance.
The Service Design Playbook takes a holistic approach to designing service experiences by working directly with citizens, developing prototypes, testing, analyzing and implementing results, and offers a complete methodology for a Service Design project.