A 'how to' guide to service design developed for NSW government. It is a step-by-step service design process with case studies. Relevant for public and private sector organisations.

1. 1
4
The NSW Government logo is
the primary branding emblem
for all NSW Government
agencies and entities.
The primary uses of this logo
are for agencies’ and entities’
communications material. This
includes stationery, reports,
advertising, and brochures.
The NSW MAKING IT HAPPEN
brand should be the
primary logo used on all
projects, programs and
announcements that:
- Target economic growth
and promote confidence
in investing in NSW
- Build infrastructure, new
precincts, public spaces and
other developments
-
-
Use of the State Arms
(Coat of Arms) is “for any
official purpose” by a state
government agency or body.
Agencies or bodies can
determine for themselves
appropriate use of state arms,
taking the State Arms, Symbols
and Emblems Act 2004 (Act),
and the Guidelines for the
application and use of the
New South Wales Coat
of Arms into consideration.
State agencies and bodies
do not need to seek any
additional authority.
In accordance with Section
6 of the Act, no individual,
organisation or entity (aside
from state government
a
p
A
th
o
T
m
S
o
WHICH BRAND SHOULD I USE?
SERVICE DESIGN IN NSW GOVERNMENT 2015-16RE-FORM:

2. 2
We have produced the playbook to
share the Service Reform approach,
process and projects across govern-
ment. A goal of innovating public
services is not one that a single team
or agency can achieve. It will only
be achieved by the collective action
of multiple public servants, teams,
branches, divisions, agencies, leaders
and ministers.
We started this journey in early 2015
with two workshops with senior gov-
ernment leaders. The group defined
a small number of exemplar projects
which would demonstrate the practi-
cal value of taking a digital approach.
You will see some of those projects
showcased on these pages. We have
included them to bring the approach
and process to life.
Many in government are already
doing digital and design well.
While the Service Reform approach
incorporates learnings from your
experiences, we produced the
playbook less with you in mind, and
more for those looking for new ways
to solve old problems, to set up their
own digital capability, or even just
run one project.
As well as learning from those who
went before us, the playbook reflects
private sector approaches to digital,
design and innovation, and is highly
consistent with the Digital Transfor-
mation Office (DTO) approach.
A note on digital design, and inno-
vation. These are words now used
pretty freely and often interchange-
ably. Understandably so, as there is
a high overlap between the concepts.
It’s a bit like the old saying about
speed, low cost, and high quality:
you can only have two of the three.
The Service Reform approach to
digital, design and innovation is that
you can have any two, provided one
of them is design.
It is possible to do digital without
being innovative. Just putting what
you do already online may well be
worthwhile if not innovative as such.
And you can be innovative without
being digital – social impact invest-
ment bonds are just one example.
But you can’t do either without
design. That means conceiving and
orienting what you are doing around
the user or citizen perspective: what
is the need we are trying to meet,
what is the problem we are trying
to solve, what is the policy outcome
we want to achieve.
Finally, the playbook is open source
and version 1. You are welcome to,
and in fact we expect that you will,
build on and improve the approach.
Our goal is simply to save cycle time
by not having to start with a blank
sheet of paper so you can keep on
with the important job of improving
public services.
With our best wishes
Penny and the Service Reform team
P.S. In keeping with the potential for digital
to be better and radically cheaper, the cost
to produce the playbook was very modest
– about $12 per copy.
TOWARDS BETTER
PUBLIC SERVICES
Welcome to the Service Reform playbook. While we hope
you find it interesting, most of all we hope you find it useful,
in ways small or large, now or in the future.

3. 3
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
RENT PAYMENT PLAN TOOL
WHAT WE MADE
5 2 1 1
PROTOTYPES
OPEN INNOVATION
PROGRAMMES
INNOVATION
PROCESS
PRODUCT
DIGITAL NSW
Innovative projects from
across government
brought together
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Civil justice processes
reimagined
LEARNER LOGBOOK
More than a digital version
of the old-school book
ENGAGE NSW
A system design to
break down ‘us and them’
barriers and involve
citizens in government
decision-making
PREMIER’S
INNOVATION
INITIATIVE
Finding private sector
solutions to wicked
policy problems
aNSWers
Started as
a hackathon,
now part of
government’s open
innovation approach
SERVICE REFORM
METHODOLOGY
A design and delivery
process for better
public services
NSW CUSTOMER
SERVICE DASHBOARD
Capturing the state of play
in service delivery around
the state
INSIDE TOWARDS BETTER PUBLIC SERVICES
WHAT WE MADE
SERVICE REFORM METHOLOGY AND INNOVATION PROCESS
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
AUNTY’S HOUSE
LEARNER LOGBOOK
ENGAGE NSW
DIGITAL NSW
ANSWERS
PREMIER’S INNOVATION INITIATIVE
CUSTOMER SERVICE DASHBOARD
THE SERVICE REFORM TEAM
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
2
3
4
AUNTY’S HOUSE
‘Breathing Space’ for
secondary stage domestic
violence survivors

4. 4
OUR MISSION
As a whole of government
team, we design and deliver
services with citizens,
for citizens.
SERVICE REFORM
METHODOLOGY –
OUR INNOVATION PROCESS
In integrating these threads, we designed
a bespoke process to provide a standardised
approach to projects which would:
• be centred around users and focus on delivery
of better outcomes
• start with understanding the problem or need
to be addressed
• involve progressive cycles of testing and iterating
• keep the project small and costs low until – and if
– there is evidence the new service is working
• include ‘minimum viable governance’ and ‘minimum
viable documentation’
• include collaboration with relevant government
agencies and external partners
• establish the sponsoring agency or another entity
(not the Service Reform team) as the service owner
• provide seed funding up to the end of the prototype
stage, with funding thereafter to be provided by the
sponsoring agency or service owner
Although the methodology slightly pre-dated the
creation of the Australian Government’s Digital
Transformation Office (DTO), the common sources of
digital and design meant a high level of consistency
between the approaches of our two teams, even if
some of the naming is different.
For example the DTO process is Discovery, Alpha, Beta,
Run. This can be mapped to the Service Reform stages
of Ideate, Prototype, Pilot, and Test, Scale and Run.
The process is the version as at June 2016.
The intention was that the process and methodology
itself would be tested and refined with each project.
When the Service Reform team was formed
in 2015, the NSW Government did not have
a standard digital or design process.
In accordance with its mission ‘as a whole-of-govern-
ment team, [to] design and deliver innovative public
services with citizens, for citizens’, we began with
four core principles:
1. the desired outputs are public services which
deliver better outcomes
2. the process is a collaboration with relevant
agencies, external partners and users
3. Service Reform provides digital and design
capability but is not the ultimate ‘service owner’
i.e. not responsible for managing the redesigned
services ongoing
4. seed funding is provided for the early stages
Sara Hewitson, who led development of the
methodology, drew on a number of sources and
team members’ prior experience to develop a
methodology from these principles.
The sources were common, private sector processes
for digital and design, including human-centred design
(design thinking) and agile project methodology. We
reviewed and included aspects of the experiences of
other public sector digital and design teams. And we
prioritised the need to ensure funding was clear and
appropriate levels of governance were ‘baked in’.
The opportunity for digital
is to automate the routine,
personalise the exception.

5. 5
DIGITAL INNOVATION PROCESS
OUR PROJECTS
Get inspired and read more about a few innovative
cases that we worked with under Y 2015/2016
design > prototype > pilot > scale > business as usual
IDEATION
Collaborate +
Discovery + Ideate =
Concept Brief and
Service Design
SEED IDEA
Paper Prototype
10s of people
PLANT IDEA
Click Prototype
10s of people
NUTURE IDEA
Iterate
10s of people
PILOT IDEA
Beta – Development
100s of people
SERVICE REFORM
Process and tools
Project management
PROJECT TEAM
Comprises Service
Reform and agency(s)
Build and test project
deliverables
SERVICE OWNER*
Stakeholder engagement
Evaluate test outcomes
Approvals
USERS
Engage and test CX
Business case / agency funding
SCALE IDEA
Launch
1 000s of people
SERVICE REFORM
Service blueprint (joint)
Implementation (joint)
Project management
PROJECT TEAM
Build and test project
deliverables
Progressive handover
to service owner
SERVICE OWNER
Service blueprint (joint)
Implementation (joint)
Approvals
USERS
Engage and test CX
RUN IDEA
BAU
SERVICE REFORM
PIR
Benefits reporting
Share learnings
SERVICE OWNER
Run
USERS
Engage and test CX
PILOT SCALE RUN
*from sponsor agency
Service Reform provides seed funding
PROTOTYPE EVALUATION
Assess assumptions Pivot and refine
OUR PROJECTS
Read on to learn how the methodology worked in practice

6. 6
Problem
The Civil justice system is currently viewed as being
somewhat inaccessible and non-inclusive. Citizens feel it
is too costly and complicated to enter into the dispute
process and that resolution of disputes takes too long.
This project was established to enable individuals with
civil disputes to feel empowered to resolve them faster
and cheaper.
Solution
Housing disputes generate 41% of the NSW Civil and
Administrative Tribunal (NCAT)’s workload. Any im-
provement in this system would have a huge impact.
Human centred design methodologies were used to
identify the real user need. It was identified that citizens
did not know where to find relevant information once
they encountered a dispute.
In addition, they had been providing their information
and evidence to multiple government agencies, includ-
ing Fair Trading and NCAT. There was no information
sharing as there was no information sharing across
government agencies.
Multiple government agencies and advocacy groups
were interviewed along with citizens who had experi-
enced or were currently experiencing a housing dispute
matter. Human centred design methods were used
to map out current and future states for the solution.
In addition, a team of internal SMEs was set up to guide
the project and gain approval through multiple agencies.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
MILESTONES
STAGE 1
DISCOVERY
STAGE 2
DESIGN AND PROTOTYPE BUILD
BUILD AND TEST 1
PRODUCTION
7 WEEKS3 WEEKS EXTENSION 5 WEEKS
The Department of Justice, Courts and Tribunals saw that minor civil justice
issues were relatively expensive and inaccessible. They approached Service
Reform to help narrow down this problem into an actionable project, and to
apply a service design approach to devising a solution. For this project we
engaged Futuregov to augment the team’s resources.
“The work we started with Penny and her team
marks an important first step in the wider reform
of civil justice in NSW. The seemingly modest and simple
changes we are making to facilitate early resolution of
rental disputes have been designed to make access to
the civil justice system simpler, faster and ultimately,
fairer. Our intent is to apply this basic tool, once proven,
to remodel the way individuals and businesses throughout
NSW engage with the civil justice system to resolve
a host of other common civil disputes.”
— Michael Talbot, Deputy Secretary, Courts
and Tribunal Services, Department of Justice

7. 7
PROTOTYPE
RENT REPAYMENT PLAN
AND REPAIR RESOLUTION
What we made
Prototype 1: Focused on enabling tenants to submit
rental repair and maintenance requests via an online
tool directly to real estate agent.
Prototype 2: Allowed both real estate agents and
tenants to propose rental arrears repayment plans.
As the outcome of an NCAT hearing is primarily a
repayment plan, enabling this process to start earlier
and reducing the level of debt incurred during wait
time could result in a better outcome for both the
tenant and landlord.
Both prototypes provided a way to collect an evidence
base they could take into NCAT if negotiations failed.
Documentation is a base requirement for a hearing to
commence and these tools would stop citizens having
to re-prove and repeat their evidence as they move
through the dispute resolution process.
What happened
As was planned from the outset, the project was
transitioned into the Justice team to take the
prototype and develop the product roadmap.
A production version of the 2 prototypes is currently
in procurement and funding proposal for the wider
civil justice systems is underway.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Agencies consulted:
Courts and Tribunal Services
Fair Trading
NCAT
User testing
Customer insights
Customer interviews
PROTOTYPE 1
A FUTURE ONLINE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION EXPERIENCE
PROJECT PROCESS
PROTOTYPE 2
Online tool for tenants to submit
rental repair & maintenance
requests via an online tool
Online tool for both real estate
agents & tenants to propose
rental arrears repayment plans
Evidence documented
online if case proceed
to NCAT. Saves time.
ONLINE
DOCUMENTATION
PRODUCTION VERSION
of prototype is in procurement
User testing
Customer insights
Customer interviews

8. 8
Problem
Australia has one of the worst rates of intimate partner
violence in the OECD. In NSW alone, Police dealt with
29,227 reported incidents of domestic assault in the
year to March 2016. Domestic violence is a complex
issue – truly one of the ‘wicked problems’ confronting
our state and country. And whilst increased awareness
is driving up reporting rates, more than two thirds of
incidents are never reported and the incident rate shows
no sign of slowing. Meanwhile, the domestic violence
sector is struggling to meet demand for accommodation
and to generate data that could inform more effective
service design.
The Aunty’s House team came to Service Reform armed
with several months of interviews with survivors, and
some critical insights that underpinned their strategy.
Their key question was “How might we enable her to find
breathing space in her relationship, access to safety plan-
ning and other professional services, before her life be-
comes critically endangered?” In other words, how might
we help change her course from from victim to survivor?
CONTEMPLATES
OR ATTEMPTS
TO LEAVE
• Violent episodes
increase in frequency
& severity over time
POSITIONING
SEVERITY
OF VIOLENCE
TIME
• *’Escalation’ describes the process by which controlling behavior becomes more frequent, less disguised, more damaging, and closer to lethal over time
CRISIS ACCOMM /
REFUGE - 20%
EARLY INTERVENTION - 80%
AUNTY’S HOUSE LIVES HERE
• 7-27 incidents before
she makes a complaint /
interacts with the
System • Pattern of escalation*
pegged on three familiar
phases: Tension-building
phase, Explosive phase
and Honeymoon phase
TENSION-
BUILDING
EXPLOSIVE
‘HONEYMOON’
MILESTONES
SURVIVOR AND
SECTOR EXPERT
conversations begin
AUNTY’S HOUSE
2015
INCUBATED IN SERVICE
REFORM TEAM facilitates
increased access
PIVOT AWAY FROM
DIRECT P2P MODEL
based on consultation
and insights
ONGOING R&D
3-5 Survivor interviews per week May – Oct to
inform Survivor journey. V1 prototype produced.
Aunty’s House is a digital intervention to facilitate early help seeking by
women in the early stages of domestic violence. The founders were referred
to Service Reform in May 2015 for incubation and further consultation with
government agencies. The intent was to expose the early-stage concept to
experts and to develop it into a workable service blueprint and digital
prototype that could be tested in the field.
MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
EXTENSIVE SECTOR RESEARCH AND
JOURNEY MAPPING – both Survivor and
Host. Host focus groups held. UX and V2 wire-
frames produced based on insights gathered.
Meet Minister’s Team to
INTRODUCE CONCEPT

9. 9
Solution
Aunty’s House founders hypothesised that community
resources could be used to increase a survivor’s access
to important, professional DV services. By providing
needed ‘breathing space’ in the form of temporary
accommodation offered by a volunteer ‘Aunty’, we
could open up an opportunity for her to seek help
at an earlier stage, and equip her with strategies to
reduce risk and stay safe. Effectively, the proposed
service would act as a circuit-breaker to interrupt
the escalation of psychological and physical abuse.
What we made
Following several further months of consultation with
government agencies and sector experts, a service
blueprint, including digital user journeys for Survivor,
Host and Caseworker were designed and produced.
A clickable prototype was also created, to demonstrate
how a user might interact with the service. Extensive
consultation was undertaken to validate the service
design, with particular attention to mitigation strategies
around identified areas of risk. The service was model-
led as a partnership proposition for NGOs and made
ready for real-world testing in a closed-community pilot.
The aim was to test the viability of digitally facilitated
community accommodation as a secondary interven-
tion, and whether this ‘breathing space’, in combination
with professional wraparound services, would deliver
better outcomes on both individual survivor and
community levels.
What happened
The founding team has advanced discussions with
leading NGOs and at the time of printing is hoping
to proceed to trial before the end of 2016.
AUNTY’S HOUSE
2016
If a survivor could come
into safe accommodation for
a night, to reorientate or
review her safety plan, then
we would have fewer women
who reach that high risk, crisis
status and who require urgent
intervention.”
— NGO leader
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
SCOPING OF DIGITAL PLATFORM AND TRIAL MVP
WITH PIVOTAL LABS, SYDNEY. Develop design for
field trial. Ongoing sector consultation. Passed NSW
Govt Digital Council Gate 2 (Nov).
ONGOING SECTOR CONSULTATION.
Passed NSW Govt Digital Council Gate 2 (Nov).
OUTCOME: Whilst agencies were broadly
supportive, sponsorship was unable to
be secured at the date of publication.
Multiple agencies consulted
in process of SEEKING
SPONSORSHIP for Pilot.
Agencies consulted:
NSW Police
Family and Community Services
Women NSW
Department of Premier and Cabinet
SCREENING AND
REGISTRATION
SECURITY CONNECTION TRANSPORT

10. 10
Problem
A paper logbook was not only old-school, it was
inefficient, needing manual inputs and calculations.
Rather than encouraging or enhancing learner driver
competency, it was focused only on recording the
number of hours a driver spent on the road. While
we knew a digital solution could do so much more
than its paper counterpart, it was critical that it not
distract drivers, supervisors or instructors!
Solution
The solution was to enable something better than
a digital version of a paper logbook. Service Reform
lead a Discovery phase to research the learning-to-drive
experience for learner drivers, parents, driving instruc-
tors, and relevant government staff, including mapping
the customer journey and identifying problems and
unmet needs. An innovation challenge was developed
where the results of the discovery phase would be
shared with the start-up community and a competition
held for a new and better digital logbook.
OPPORTUNITY STATEMENTS FROM USER RESEARCH
1. How might we digitally capture and
share the information required in today’s
paper based log books; removing or
reducing the need for manual inputs
and calculations?
2. How might we focus the log
book experience on assessing
and building learner driver
competencies?
3. How might we ensure that log
books do not distract learner
drivers, supervisors or instructors
while they are on the road?
Well
done!
In December 2015, the Minister for Innovation’s Office asked us to investigate
how a digital logbook could be developed for NSW’s learner drivers.
The project – a collaboration between Service Reform and Transport for NSW
– set out to develop a process and model to enable the design and delivery of
the digital logbook, using the start-up community to build and own the solution.
Meld Studios assisted with the user research.
LEARNER LOGBOOK

11. 11
What we made
The outputs were an innovation challenge process and
approach, supported by a customer journey map and
a set of defined opportunities (unmet needs and prob-
lems) for the start-up community to design and build a
digital logbook. The innovation challenge involved three
stages; broadcasting a call-out to start-ups and holding
meet-ups to discuss the opportunity, an application pro-
cess and pitch event at which up to three winners would
be selected, and then an incubation stage during which
the winners would work with government to build and
pilot a minimum viable product. If successful, the service
would then be rolled out more widely.
What happened
The project was handed over to Transport for NSW
and Roads and Maritime Services in March 2016, to
run the innovation challenge and deliver the solution.
The challenge was announced in early June 2016.
LEARNER LOGBOOK
Agencies consulted:
Transport for NSW
Roads and Maritime
Services
Service NSW
Learner Driver Logbook Research 28 January 2016 Page 9
Opportunities that need to be addressed in initial prototypes:
Learner Driver Logbook Research 28 January 2016 Page 9
Opportunities that need to be addressed in initial prototypes:
Learner Driver Logbook Research 28 January 2016 Page 9
Opportunities that need to be addressed in initial prototypes:
Learner Driver Logbook Research 28 January 2016 Page 9
Opportunities that need to be addressed in initial prototypes:
4. How might we capture
poor novice driving
behaviour as it occurs;
using this information to
enable future learning
experiences?
5. How might we connect learner
drivers, provisional drivers and
supervisors so that achievements
are recognised, learning is maximised
and overall driver outcomes are
improved?
6. How might we enable
supervisors to become
more effective
instructors?
7. How might we create an
ecosystem that is integrated,
seamless and connected for
everyone on the learner
driver journey?
Workshop 1: 17 December, 2015
Workshop 2: 14 January, 2016
Workshop 3: 20 January, 2016
(All from first workshops aside from one)
Participants at workshops
Workshops
Document outputs
Transport
for NSW
Department
of Finance,
Innovation
and Services
Department
of Finance,
Innovation
and Services
Roads and
Maritime
Services
Department
of Transport
Newly
Licenced
Drivers
SupervisorsLearner
Drivers
Examiner
Service
NSW
Roads and
Maritime
Services
25
3
2

12. 12
ENGAGE NSW
A group of senior government leaders met in early 2015 to identify opportunities
for whole-of-government digital initiatives. One of their recommendations was a
way to more deeply engage a broader spectrum of citizens in government’s policy
formation and decision-making process. After in-depth discovery involving both
citizens and agencies, Engage NSW, a system design for citizen engagement,
was born. Nomad developed an early prototype and we worked with Engage2
to populate the system model and develop an implementation plan.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Engage a broader, more
representative segment
of the NSW community
WHO WHAT WHY
with more meaningful
engagement opportunities
to enable a deeper understanding of the real
needs of NSW citizens, and accurately inform
policies and services that better meet them
to make the state a better place
Problem
A significant proportion of citizens feel disengaged with
government and aren’t particularly inclined to involve
themselves in the current government consultation pro-
cess. Our conversations with citizens helped us to group
the reasons along a ‘pain points’ continuum.
Broadly, citizens felt they 1. weren’t made aware of
issues that might impact or interest them, 2. didn’t
know what issues were important to their peers or
communities, 3. didn’t know how to engage with gov-
ernment, and 4. if they did engage, found the process
time consuming, cumbersome and murky. Most impor-
tantly, they didn’t believe their views would be heard,
and couldn’t see how their inputs made a difference.
For government agencies, there were serious inefficien-
cies around both gathering and reporting on citizen
submissions, and concerns that large segments of the
population were being excluded from sharing their
opinions. They were concerned about the risk that their
policies and services would not reflect the views and
needs of the majority of citizens.
Solution
Involving both government agency representatives
and members of the community, we designed a whole
of government Engagement Ecosystem to reach and
involve citizens in decisionmaking. With a Community of
Practice bringing together representatives from govern-
ment’s engagement hot spots, we proposed to build a
sandbox-type environment to share best practices and
develop and test digital tools. From this nub, a digital
toolkit to facilitate, deliver, track and report on engage-
ments would be built up and made available to agencies.

13. 13
The toolkit would include data aggregation and real-
time, dashboard-style reporting mechanisms to make
insights gathering, reporting and sharing more stream-
lined. This resource would be supported by a lean team
of engagement specialists who could plan engagement
projects, advise on configuration and deployment of
tools, and co-ordinate all aspects of the engagement
process.
What happened
The system design for Engage NSW has been moved
into the Innovation Team within DFSI.
ENGAGE NSW
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT PORTAL – EARLY PROTOTYPE
OUTCOMES ENGAGE NSW
01
More informed and
better quality feedback
and inputs to agencies
A collective repository
of community data
across a wide range of
issues and that can track
and measure efficiencies,
engagement and SROI
Increased
citizen
satisfaction
scores with
government
An increased number
and a broader range of
citizens engage
02 03 04
Efficiencies for agencies
/ policmakers in gather-
ing and reporting citizen
inputs to decision mak-
ers about issues, impacts
and reactions
05
DIGITAL TOOLKIT
MAY INCLUDE:
• Profile Creation (inform /
gameify)
• Register for Updates
• Maps / Search by location
• Social Media listening
• Interactive document
publishing
• SEO Guidelines
• Community Management
guidelines & resources
DATA AGGREGATION DASHBOARD STYLE
REAL-TIME REPORTING
Synthesise & derive
quant and qual
insights
from engagement
Aggregate
highly-engaged
audiences
Automate
copy changes
from agencies
ENGAGEMENT
COMMUNITY OF
PRACTICE
Real world
/ digital
experience
SEO / SEM
Non-Gov
sites
e.g.
change.org
Social
Media
Agency
sites
New hub
site
(future
release)
NSW.GOV
Have
Your Say
ENGAGEMENT AS A WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE

14. 14
Problem
Although NSW Government was producing a consider-
able amount of work in the digital space, the initiatives
and case studies were largely buried in various ‘siloed’
agency properties. This made it hard to find, difficult
to appreciate and evaluate as a ‘body’, and challenging
to surface and share inspiration and learnings across
government.
Solution
A period of Discovery identified a number of digital
and innovation hotspots in government agencies,
and a variety of initiatives worthy of showcasing.
A content-driven website was conceived to bring
together these projects in a dynamic structure that
could grow and change based on the nature of
the content.
MANY ONGOING
DIGITAL PROJETS
PROJECT PROCESS
MISSION: CREATE A CENTRALISED
LOCATION FOR DIGITAL BEST PRACTICE
SOLUTION: CONTENT DRIVEN
WEBSITE CONCEIVED
DIGITAL NSW
Service Reform was by no means the only team of digital delivery experts within
NSW Government. Many government agencies have also been making waves in
the digital realm, producing digitised transactions, apps and sites to fulfil a broad
variety of user needs. Digital NSW — a showcase of digital best practice from around
government — was an opportunity to bring together this work in a centralised location,
make it more visible and discoverable, and share insights with citizens and Adelphi
assisted with product delivery.

15. 15
What we made
Digital NSW was built out to a functioning prototype,
taken through User Acceptance Testing, and made
ready to deploy live.
What happened
The planned go-live date for the site coincided with
the early development of the government’s Innovation
Strategy, which would need its own digital presence.
It was decided to repurpose Digital NSW’s design,
content, initiatives and materials in order to support
the creation of a new site dedicated to accelerating
innovation more broadly across NSW. A new site was
launched to consult with the innovation community
and gather inputs into the new strategy.
Agencies consulted:
Office of Environment and Heritage
– NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
NSW Rural Fire Service
Planning and Environment
Family and Community Services
NSW State Library
NSW Ministry of Health
Electorial Commission NSW
Destination NSW
NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
Service NSW
Department of Premier and Cabinet
NSW Department of Industry
DIGITAL NSW
GATHER TOGETHER OUR
DIGITAL PROJECTS FOR
easy access
sharing
inspiration
digital learning
MILESTONES
SEPAUG NOV
Vendor chosen. Design/
look and feel of Digital NSW
created and agreed upon.
Digital NSW prototype
built out with all agreed
upon functionality
UAT for prototype as
well as content entry
and approvals.
GO LIVE
3 DEC
DECOCT
Discovery phase. Liaised with
multiple departments to source
content and build relationships.
2015

16. 16
Problem
There is a recognition across government that solutions
to policy and service challenges can come from outside
the public service. Service Reform was asked to review an
early example of an open innovation program – apps4nsw
– which has been running for over five years. apps4nsw
was a hackathon-based event intended to encourage
the use of government data.
Solution
Service Reform designed an updated innovation program
called aNSWers, designed to enable startups and other
organisations to solve practical service delivery problems.
Interviews and workshops with previous participants of
apps4nsw events and the wider developer community
showed a high level of interest in helping government
where the focus is on solving real problems.
MILESTONES
PROCESS DEVELOPED
AUG
PROJECT STARTED
SEP
ANALYSED RESULTS OF PREVIOUS EVENTS
IDEATION CUSTOMER
NEEDS
ANALYSIS
ROOT
CAUSE
ANALYSIS
PROBLEM
DEFINITION
BROADCAST
CALLOUT
INNOVATION
MEETUP
APPLICATIONS
CLOSE
OCT
USER RESEARCH
aNSWers, a program to enable startups and SMEs to help government
solve practical service delivery problems, originated as a hackathon and
has now become part of the NSW Government’s open innovation approach.
“We want to build a business not an app.” “‘There’s an app for that’ mentality is
disappearing. The program is going
to need to look at… solving a broader
problem where technology is one
element of the solution.”
“It needs to solve problems. Give us access
to people in Government who we can talk
to about the problems they have.”
2015
— Stakeholders

17. 17
aNSWers
What we made
The design of the aNSWers program included a new
brand, purpose, and process. This reflected feedback
from our research and how innovators might most use-
fully help deliver better public services. The new purpose
is to solve practical service delivery problems or oppor-
tunities. The process involves three stages; broadcasting
a call-out to innovators and holding meet-ups to discuss
the opportunity, an application process and pitch event
at which up to 3 winners could be selected, and then an
incubation stage during which the winners would work
with government to build and pilot a minimum viable
product, and then roll-out it out more widely if
successful.
What happened
The aNSWers program is ready to launch. An initial
test of the process will come through the Learner
Logbook innovation challenge described on page
10 in the playbook.
PANEL FILTER
APPLICATIONS
FINALISTS
ANNOUNCED
FINALIST
REFINE
PITCHES
PITCH
EVENT
WINNERS
ANNOUNCED
INCUBATOR
PROGRAM
SCALEAGENCY
PILOT
FEB
NEW PURPOSE, PROCESS AND BRAND DEVELOPED
MAR
READY FOR LAUNCH2016
4-STAGE RESEARCH
PROCESS:
Review
10 min online survey with past participants
n=51
Industry learnings
Best practice review of other co-design programs
6 x industry expert in-depth interviews
Exploration and idea generation
5 x 2 hour ideation sessions with potential audiences
Plus interactive co-creation lab with the
Department and potential audiences interviews
Quantify
12-minute online survey with potential audiences
n=100
OUR RESEARCH SHOWED THAT THE ABILITY TO MAKE A REAL CONTRIBUTION
TO SOCIAL ISSUES IN AUSTRALIA WOULD BE A KEY DRIVER OF PARTICIPATION
54%
22%
12%
6%
2%
Social and
community change
Personal challenge
and development
Financial gain
To be part of a
community/collaborate
To be part of
something big
To solve real social challenges
To help create real change
To add value to Australian society
To challenge yourself
To find an idea I can make money out of
To learn new skills
To be part of a community
To progress in my career
To win the prize money
To work with people with
different skills to myself
To be part of the next big thing
To take some risks
25
17
12
10
12
7
4
2
2
2
2
1

18. 18
PREMIER’S INNOVATION
INITIATIVE
PROCESS
SCOPING
PRE-LAUNCH
ESTABLISHMENT
(4-6 WEEKS)
IDEATION 1
(AGENCY ONLY)
IDEATION 2
(PRIVATE SECTOR)
LIVING LAB
FINALISTS
SELECTION
LIVING LAB PILOT
PHASE 1
LAUNCH
PRIORITY AREA
ANNOUNCED
OPPORTUNITY
SELECTION
PITCH
EVENT AGENCY LED
FOR HANDOVER
TO PILOT
PHASE 2
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
+ PITCH (8 WEEKS)
PHASE 3
EVALUATION
(2 WEEKS)
PHASE 4
PROTOTYPE
(16 WEEKS)
FINALISTS
SELECTED
PILOT
CHECKPOINT
The Premier’s Innovation Initiative (PII) is an open innovation program
with the purpose of solving policy problems using innovative private
sector solutions. Service Reform was asked by the Department of Premier
and Cabinet to review Round One of the Premier’s Innovation Initiative and
design and run Round Two.
Problem
While Round One was successful at attracting a large
number of proposals, there was a need to review the
timeliness and effectiveness of the process to maxi-
mise the likelihood of successful innovations.
Solution
A new innovation program and process was designed
based on three principles:
Policy problems to be specific but not overly narrow
Process to be aligned with how innovators and entre-
preneurs actually work, and Governance to be stream-
lined to support a faster and more evidence-based
process.“We need a process aligned to
innovation rather than procurement”
“Focus on real problems,
and problems that matter”
— Stakeholders

19. 19
PREMIER’S INNOVATION INITIATIVE
OUTPUTS: ACTIVITIES DEFINED
PROBLEM DEFINITION
• Identify defined set of
focus areas
• Prioritised clear problem
definition statements in
‘must solve’ and ‘nice to solve’
category areas
• Formal applications for ideas
to solve defined problems from
non-government sector
LIVING LAB
• Select concepts to move forward
• Problem definitions validated
by customers
• First set of deliverables
and roadmap presented
• Identify business model of
solution
• Pitch deck of each concept
for formal pitch process and
finalist selection
SELECTION
• Finalists selected
• Seed funding made
available (subject to
criteria)
LIVING LAB
• Meet with selected participants
• Prototype design + testing
• Agency testing, cost-benefit
analysis, implementation planning
• Delivery into implementation
+ rollout to users/citizens
• Post program review and
report on KPI’s, success
against measures and learnings
The new design was based on feedback from inno-
vators, incubators, and public servants involved in
Round 1. It was also to be supported by small amounts
of seed funding for innovators with no alternative
source of funding.
What we made
The new program and process comprised four stages;
launch, concept development and pitch, evaluation
at the end of which finalists would be selected, and
prototype.
The intention was that ideas and potential solutions
would be progressively tested and iterated, with a view
to taking forward those for which there was evidence
they worked, i.e. passed tests of technical feasibility,
commercial viability, and likelihood of use by the target
audience. The intention was that the policy problems
that were taken through the process be selected from
the Premier’s and State Priorities.
What happened
The new program and process was shared with and
approved by key stakeholders including Department
of Premier and Cabinet, DFSI, Treasury, and the Minister
for Innovation’s office. The process was also supported
by an implementation plan. The launch of the process
has yet to be finalised.
The core principle for the new innovation process is
to test for the three elements of successful innovation.
aNSWers and the Premier’s Innovation Initiative programs
have been redesigned from the ground up to ensure
alignment of the three elements.
PRINCIPLE FOR SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION
VIABILITY
(Commercial)FEASIBILITY
(Technical)
DESIRABILITY
(Usability)
PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
SEED FUNDING SUPPORT MODEL
Successful finalists will
have a seed investment
available (up to a specified
cap) subject to the criteria.
Any seed funding provided
will be offset if a solution
is implemented with a
Government Agency.
The participant
is classified as a
Small to Medium
Enterprise
Funding is
required to bring
the product to
market and no
other funding
resources are
available
+Seed Investment
Availability

20. 20
Problem
There was no central view of service delivery across the
NSW Government. While data was publically available,
it was difficult for anyone to find and interpret. The
ability for senior leaders to manage service delivery
was therefore limited.
Solution
A digital dashboard to visualize data capturing the ‘state
of play’ for whole-of-government service delivery at a
glance. The intent was for the dashboard to support a
cultural step-change across government towards a
focus on customer (citizen) needs. It would do this by
presenting a single, easy to understand and up-to-date
view of the performance of key services from a citizen
perspective.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
DASHBOARD
JUNE 2015
Prototype presented to Premier 20162015
MILESTONES
DECEMBER 2015
Dashboard launched by Customer
Services Commisioner (PC and TV)
FEBRUARY 2016
Mobile version of dashboard launched
MARCH 2016
White label ready for use by other Agencies including:
Premier’s Top 12 Dashboard, Premier’s State Priorities
Dashboard and Minister Dominello Portfolio Dashboard.
END 2016
Public Release
It’s all about scalability
The NSW Customer Service Dashboard was initiated by the Customer Services
Commissioner on request by the Premier in early 2015. Development of the dashboard
was undertaken by the Service Reform team in collaboration with government agencies
including Transport for NSW, Police, Health, Education, Office of State Revenue, Planning,
Industry, Family and Community Services and Service NSW.
The Dashboard provides the Premier, ministers and secretaries with instant visibility of the
performance of key indicators of NSW Government services from a customer perspective.
M.I.P. and Customer Experience Company assisted with product delivery.
The dashboard platform was built using
Tableau and Alteryx, which allows flexibility,
scalability and replicability.

21. 21
What we made
A user-friendly dashboard where performance can
be understood at a glance. Additional drill-down detail
is discoverable upon ‘click’ and can be filtered using
criteria such as location, type of service and timeframe.
What happened
The NSW Dashboard prototype was installed in the
Premier’s office to trial its usefulness. Feedback was
gathered and changes made before it was released
to ministers and secretaries. A round of user testing
is currently underway to gather citizen feedback and
make improvements.
The benefits of having a real-time dashboard were
quickly realised and other areas began requesting
dashboards, including the Premier’s Implementation
Unit, Minister Dominello’s office and the Department
of Justice.
PRINCIPLE 1 Intuitive and easy to understand
performance at a glance.
PRINCIPLE 2 Metrics are relevant to customers and
collectively representative of overall
government service delivery.
PRINCIPLE 3 Flexible and scalable platform to enable
ongoing iterations.
CUSTOMER SERVICE DASHBOARD
Industry
Transport for NSW
NSW Health
Planning
Service NSW
Agencies consulted:
NSW Police
Education
Finance, Service
and Innovation
PRINCIPLE 4 A ‘one NSW Government’ snapshot.
PRINCIPLE 5 Wherever possible, use real time data
to ensure daily relevance.
PRINCIPLE 6 Infrastructure to capture as much data as
possible via ‘straight through processing
without the need for manual uploading.
DASHBOARD DESIGN PRINCIPLES
INDUSTRY
EDUCATION
COMMUNITYSERVICE
TRANSPORT PLANNING
TOP LINE VIEW HEALTH
CRIMES

22. 22
Penny Webb-Smart
Executive Director
Service Reform Methodology,
all projects
Andrew Wolfson
Project Manager
aNSWers, Digital NSW,
Engage NSW, Customer
Service Dashboard
Simone Ellis
Service Designer
Aunty’s House,
Engage NSW
SERVICE REFORM TEAM
Stephanie Salter
Digital Director
Dispute Resolution,
Customer Service Dashboard,
Aunty’s House, Engage NSW,
aNSWers, Service Reform
Methodology
© State of New South Wales (Department of Finance, Services and Innovation) 2016. For current information go to
www.lsb.justice.nsw.gov.au/lsb/nswcopyright.html. This work (apart from Aunty’s House and any State arms, symbols or
trademarks) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
for details.

23. 23
James Canavan
Practice Manager
aNSWers, Customer
Service Dashboard,
team management
Melissa McLaren
Service Design Co-ordinator
Learner Logbook, Engage NSW,
Premier’s Innovation Initiative
Andrew Kim
Product Manager
Customer Service
Dashboard
Matt Pope
Program Manager
Premier’s Innovation Initiative,
aNSWers, Learner Logbook
Thank you to...
The work that we have done would not have been possible without the contributions
of many partners and collaborators, including the Digital Council (Michael Pratt,
William Murphy, Tim Hume, with Michael Talbot and Tony Braxton-Smith), a wide
range of helpful and insightful public servants, external partners and previous Service
Reform team members. We are grateful to you all for your assistance and input.

24. 24
DIGITAL, DESIGN AND INNOVATION ARE NOW
USED FREELY AND OFTEN INTERCHANGEABLY
IN THE GOVERNMENT REALM
The NSW Government’s Service Reform team, operational between
February 2015 and June 2016, brought together all three disciplines
in its citizen-centric approach to the design and delivery of better
public services.
How might we re-imagine civil justice disputes? How might we safely address
domestic violence in its early stages with community resources? These were
just two of the problems defined and addressed by the team in the course
of its work. Read more about these and other innovations in this playbook,
as well as the bespoke methodology we developed and practiced.