Scottish Approach to Service Design

Maturity assessment matrix

Engagement with SAtSD principles, tools, methods and community

Awareness: No evidence of engagement with design methods and tools or community. Limited evidence of design thinking or user-centred design practices.

Interested:Some limited evidence of design practices. Limited awareness of the Scottish Approach to Service Design principles or engagement with the community.

Growing: Awareness of design growing in parts of the organisation, though policies and services are still designed for more than with their service users and staff. Some in the organisation are challenging where design practices are lacking. The organisation has good engagement across the community.

Strengthening: Awareness and support for design and the principles of the Scottish Approach to Service Design is evident at many levels of the organisation. The organisation is regularly engaged with the community, contributing to and testing design methods and tools.

Thriving: The Scottish Approach to Service Design principles are understood at all levels of the organisation. There is strong leadership for design in the organisation, which is heavily engaged in contributing to a shared set of design methods and tools, as well as the community.

Capacity and capability for SAtSD

Awareness: Heavy reliance on external capacity and capability to undertake user research and service design. Very limited ability to procure and manage projects that align to the principles of the Scottish Approach to Service Design or design in general.

Interested: Heavy reliance on external capacity and capability to undertake user research and service design. Limited ability to procure and manage service design projects.

Growing: Limited in-house capacity to undertake user research or service design, though procured projects do specify aligning to the Scottish Approach to Service Design and are well managed.

Strengthening: Growing capacity to undertake user research and service design. This includes procuring and managing projects that embrace the Scottish Approach to Service Design, with budget and resources allocated to support participation in policy and service design projects. Larger organisations may have a number of design professionals in house.

Thriving: Strong in-house capacity to manage and/or undertake service design projects. For larger organisations this might include having a full design team or teams in house, as well as a focus on capacity building and training to support collaboration in policy and service design projects. Design leadership is present in the executive team and/or board.

Focus on people and their lives

Awareness: Services are designed around organisation needs rather than service user needs. Projects have very limited or no focus on understanding the current situation or problem before designing the solution. No awareness of related services.

Interested: Service users and their needs are less well attended to/understood than organisational needs, technology options, etc. Decisions about services often lack robust research insights to back them up. There is limited awareness of related services due to a lack of understanding of people’s life circumstances.

Growing: Awareness of related services. Projects start with a focus on understanding the current situation or problem and the perspectives of a diverse range of people (service users, other people in their lives, staff delivering services etc.), before designing the solution. However that initial understanding is not continuously challenged and improved through ongoing engagement with people. Limited collaboration across related services.

Strengthening: Projects have a good focus on understanding a diverse range of perspectives when exploring the current situation or problem, as well as designing the solution. There is a strong effort to include the views and ideas of people often excluded from policy and service design projects. Typically, the problem definition stage takes a good proportion of the overall project lifetime and is continuously challenged and improved. Good engagement and collaboration across related services.

Thriving: Projects have an early and strong focus on understanding the current situation or problem as well as designing the solution, with insights and ideas contributed by a diverse range of people. This understanding is continuously improved and challenged. There is a strong focus on related services, with alignment across the overall experience driving collaboration with others.

Enabling people’s participation in research and design activities

Awareness: Service user engagement in designing services is limited to consultation, and some or no research or usability and accessibility testing. Little service user engagement in live service improvement. Engagement is heavily focused on engagement with stakeholder organisations and direct involvement of service users is rare.

Interested: Service user participation in design is limited and is mostly in the form of being researched upon, invited to test prototypes late in the solution design phase etc. Service users have little or no engagement in ongoing improvement of live services beyond being asked to participate in ‘satisfaction measuring’. There is some effort to directly engage service users and staff as well as via stakeholder organisations. People rarely know what impact their involvement has had on policy decisions or service design.

Growing: Service users are engaged in some stages of projects from inception to problem and solution definition through to live delivery. Participation tends to be more evident around designing and evaluating prototypes. Planning for participation includes consideration of scope and where decisions can or cannot be made in partnership with people. Service users participate in some of:

• designing research and co-design activities
• framing research questions
• making sense of user research findings and defining opportunities for change
• prototyping and evaluating solutions
• ongoing improvement of live services

Strengthening: Service users are fully engaged in some or most stages of projects from inception to delivery. Participation in different activities and phases may not be consistent, however there are pockets of good practice where participation standards are well understood and applied, and a strong focus on continuous improvement. Service users participate in most of:

• designing research and co-design activities
• framing research questions
• making sense of user research findings and defining opportunities for change
• designing design activities
• prototyping and evaluating solutions
• ongoing improvement of live services

Thriving: Services are fully designed with, and not just for, service users and staff. The scope of policy and service changes are clearly communicated, as well as where decisions can and cannot be taken by those taking part. Service users participate in all of:

• designing research and co-design activities
• framing research questions
• making sense of user research findings and defining opportunities for change
• designing design activities
• prototyping and evaluating solutions
• ongoing improvement of live services

It is clear what changes have taken place as a result and people regularly take part in evaluation activities.

Inclusion and accessibility needs for participation in design

Awareness: Little or no attention to ensure that design activities undertaken with service users or staff are accessible and inclusive.

Interested: Design and research methods and tools are sometimes or often not accessible and inclusive for all design participants, both end users and organisation staff/teams. The importance of diversity in both user and staff team memberships is poorly understood. Encouragement for participation is rarely or never backed up by accommodations.

Growing: Design and research methods and tools are inclusive and accessible for some design participants, both end users and organisation staff/teams. The importance of diversity in both service user and staff team memberships is recognised. Encouragement for participation is not always backed up by accommodations, though feedback is acted upon quickly.

Strengthening: Design and research methods and tools are inclusive and accessible for most design participants, both service users and organisation staff/teams. The importance of diversity in both service user and staff team memberships is understood, with a focus on training and upskilling where sustained involvement in projects is required.

Thriving: Design and research methods and tools are inclusive and accessible for all design participants, both service users and organisation staff/teams. There is a strong focus on building skills and capacity so people can contribute and work together meaningfully, particularly where a commitment has been made to supporting people in making decisions or delivering solutions. The importance of diversity in both service user and staff team memberships is well understood and accommodated.