Here’s what’s been going on for me in the last week.
What’s happened at LocalGov Digital this week?
As mentioned a few weeks back LocalGov Digital is about to go through some reshaping and I’ve taken on the role of chair, with my co-founder Carl Haggerty as vice chair.
Fixing our own plumbing
The main activity is still very practical in nature. We’ve been making the most urgent changes to the website (thanks to Dave Briggs for the help and continuing to host), trying to get to grips with the membership sign up process, and getting ready for LocalGovCamp North next week (13 November, Leeds, skillfully organised as ever by Nick Hill – more info here).
Digital as part of every service
It was lovely to get a mention in The Procurement Roundup (thanks to Warren Smith for the inclusion) and have word of LocalGov Digital spread. Procurement might not instantly strike as an area aligned with our network, but that’s the thing – while digital practitioners are specialists, use of digital in the sector needs to be something in every service. Procurement is really key to the transformation of public services: having the right process, the right standards, the understanding of what is procurement which opens possibilities rather than limits them…if you’re in procurement please do join the network and help shape this and more.
The importance of grassroots networks and communities of practice
There are lots of conversations sparking already too. This week it was great to catch up with another of the founding crew, Gavin Beckett. Among our chat we both reflected what a positive impact LocalGov Digital had on us individually, and in roles we’d held in the past. I also had a great chat with Dr Jekaterina Shulga, who is doing research into communities of practice for the LGA.
Grassroots networks are vital – perhaps even more so at this moment in a sector in the cross-hairs of radical structural change, the deepening impact of austerity and increased demand on services, and technology and user-behaviour outpacing what legacy systems and processes can provide. Working out where LocalGov Digital fits to best support the sector at this moment is key in the reshaping activity.
Essex guidance on good forms
I really like this guidance from Essex County Council on how to create usable forms – thanks to James Green for sharing it.
There is so much more to building usable and effective transactions than the technology and this process really shows that. As ever, it is the hard work to makes things simple, which will pay the dividends – understanding what information is needed through the transaction to deliver the service, structuring and seeking that information in the right way, and then being able to measure what you’ve done.
It might feel like common sense but it’s this sort of fundamental process which so often gets dropped in favour of ‘what can the tool do’ – to the detriment of customer, service and designer.
Getting insight on customer journeys
I’ve also been really getting into the free Digital Journey Coach tool from Lydia Bishop and David Bishop. This gives ‘AI-powered user journey analysis for council websites’ and while still undergoing some development is already looking incredibly useful.
Using the GDS standards the tool analyses key journeys (Apply for a blue badge, report a missed bin collection etc) and highlights the good and bad, in an actionable way for teams. This could be a really useful way to fast-track improvements without the need to lengthy programmes of review – manual review I believe is still important but so is finding ways to evidence how we build better public services quickly.
Some weeks are hard
It would be easy not to include this and curate a glossy view of everything going on, but I’m not sure editing our lives for an online view is the best thing for anyone. So, here’s in recognition of hard weeks. For me this has been one.
Hard, of course, comes in many flavours. If I had to name mine then I think it’s a heady blend of exhaustion, overwhelm, and frustration. Perspective is vital, but not to the extent it dismisses feelings and having a safe space to share openly and without judgement is really important to recognising, processing and moving on. I’m really grateful to colleagues who have held that space this week for me.
We rest, we regroup and then we ride again.
We’ve all been there
Spent sometime playing this – resonated harder than is perhaps comfortable: Scope Creep – the game
Print is not dead
Popoptica – the music website I run is about to move in to print. While keeping the website going has been a bit stop-start over the last 5 years (due to life meaning I took a lot of time out from both music and writing) it has always been the plan to have a print edition.
I started out in zines, and have most enjoyed music writing when it ends up in print. I like the slower pace of finding and reading, the design, the commitment and permanency. I enjoy the challenge of writing for print with finite space and the skill of page-setting. I adore the community around zines, and the trading aspects with other writers, the connection with readers.
So, here we go. Features and interviews are underway, design is in progress, we have an estimated publication date. I’ll share more soon. In the meantime take a look at popoptica.com and follow on Instagram or Facebook for new music on the daily.