A design on saving money by investing

20 October, 2011 | By Pauline Shakespeare

The logic of investing to save may be a compelling idea but, faced with the political risk and financial uncertainty, many focus instead on the bread and butter of cutting costs.

However, as the Public Services by Design programme from the Design Council has shown in Lewisham LBC, a relatively small investment in a fresh approach to long-standing problems can bring significant rewards.

The council invested £7,000 in the programme in 2010, realised efficiency savings of £368,000, and made significant improvements to a frontline service for vulnerable people.

Lewisham recognised that its existing Housing Options service wasn’t working. The service was too inconsistent, with few users reporting the same experience twice when visiting the Housing Options Centre. Many were left waiting for hours before being directed to the right services. It needed a drastic overhaul, with a greater focus on the needs and experiences of the people using the services.

Lewisham saw the Public Services by Design programme as an oportunity to bring fresh thinking to a long-standing problem. The mentoring programme pairs public service providers with a design associate - an adviser with experience of mentoring in both the public and private sectors.

Lewisham’s associate worked with a cross-section of staff including senior managers from the policy and strategy team and frontline staff from the Housing Options Centre. He helped them use design techniques to identify the types of people who require emergency housing in the borough.

By videoing conversations with service users and monitoring people’s movements in the Centre, the team could see where the current system failed to identify their real needs.

Armed with this research, Lewisham identified four ideas to improve the service:

a project to train staff what to ask and say during their first interaction with customers in the Centre
a document to explain to customers what happens after their first interview
a factsheet outlining the key details of the housing options service
a series of cartoon storyboards to illustrate various scenarios and the outcomes of each

All of these ideas were firmly focused on Lewisham’s original objectives – to improve the service by making it more user-centred. The four projects were prototyped and then implemented.

Lewisham has since received excellent feedback from customers, who have commented on services that effectively identify both their individual needs and the services required to meet them. Lewisham’s Housing Options Centre has undergone something of a cultural change through participation in the programme. Staff now use design techniques across the organisation to improve service delivery and respond better to customer needs. Public service providers can benefit from similar changes to the way they work.

Places are still available for this year’s programme, with applications accepted until 28 October.

More information on the programme can be found on the Design Council website: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/support/public-services-by-design/

Pauline Shakespeare, programme manager, Public Services by Design