Louise Ferguson, over at City of Bits, uses a Demos publication about generalists versus specialists in the public sector to spark a mini-rant about the lack of people in public agencies interested in user-centred design/user experience/usability. The publication by Ed Straw had been blogged by Sophia Parker who suggests:
"Perhaps then what we need are civil servants who are specialists in systems and process design. In other words, people who are able to craft a process that is designed to include as many people as possible to participate in the creation of value."
As Louise points out, this is an approach recognised for decades in participatory design: "Users, front-line workers, citizens etc. can contribute enormously to the framing and delivery of services. And their absence can severely handicap initiatives. Or make them pointless.
"Such approaches are now widely recognised as valid by academia, blue chips and so on (the bottom line really does concentrate the mind)"
The issue is something that exercises me a lot because I work with public sector agencies on processes variously called community involvement, participation, or engagement, and my experience very much supports Louise. I've ranted a bit myself in a few items here - particularly on How to start an unsatisfactory engagement.
There are plenty of Government guidelines and requirements about how residents, citizens, marginalised groups and others of us should be involved in decisions about public services, planning decisions and the future of town and country. There are officials with titles including participation, capacity building, partnership and so on - and many are dedicated to the cause. Unfortunately they can end up being the token user-facing element of the agency, without the clout to get colleague to take us-out-there seriously. I think there are three fundamental problems. First, there is seldom a 'bottom line' that pushes agencies to deliver more effective (use-focussed) services. There is much talk of personalisation, but the feedback loop is pretty slack. Second, even when agencies do involve people in decisions it is usually too partial. Delivery of the service usually involves another partner agency as well. They may not be in tune with the proposals, so they can't deliver. Thirdly, there's a often a culture that is fearful of looking outside, losing control.
But even as I write this I reflect on the wonderful care my 88-year-old mother received recently in hospital - certainly very patient-centred - and the not too bad service I experience from scores of front-line public servants. Maybe it's a case of good people triumphing over bad systems.
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