This is lesson 3 in the boot camp 'Continue being digital in the Canadian public service: Digital process lifecycle', created in collaboration with the Ontario Digital Service.

How to complete this lesson

Each activity you complete beyond the required reading or activity is worth points. The more points you collect, the higher the level you reach. When you reach the end of the lesson, tally how many points you’ve earned, and download the correct badge. Your certificate of completion for this 'Digital process lifecycle' course will indicate which level you achieved.

Required

Video: 17 minutes

Watch this video to learn about usability testing and pulling out insights. (17 min)

Suggested

Additional reading: 5 points each

How to: 7 tips for effective user research (6 min) Here’s how to put your services to the test (6 min)

Homework activity: 10 points

Mini Service Design Project pt 3: Optimize a portion of your day.

Now that you have mapped out your daily activities, and dissected parts of your day, your next task is to draft and frame your “problem statement” and examine the insights and opportunities your research has uncovered.

As you identify and sum up the issue that you think you will solve, here are some guidelines and thoughts to ponder upon:

  • What is your broad long term goal? If everything went as planned what would that look like? This is your “desired outcome”. Word your desired outcome like this: (User… (describe user)) needs (need … (verb)) because (insight… (compelling)). Example: School kids need to have focus so they can learn at school.
  • Edit the desired outcome so it doesn’t suppose any possible solutions.
  • Review now: Who are your users? Are there groups with different needs?
  • If you haven’t already, talk to others involved in your day, show them your map and ask them to add information to it, expand on what you have or draw their own map.
  • Adding to your map will help you to gather and identify insights.
  • Add any more pain points you find by looking at the map.
  • Then add a bottom row to your map for opportunities and frame them as 'how might we’s'.
  • Looking at your map, write down as many “how might we’s” (HMW), focusing on your desired outcome: 'How might we (action) so that the (target user) can (goal).
  • Read more about the 'How might we' method here.

Homework video: 5 points

Watch this video for an in-depth explanation on how to complete this week’s hands-on activity. (4 mins)

Further reading: 5 points each

The following links are great resources that dive into the importance of continuous discovery:

Need help? Feel free to use the Apolitical channel in Slack to ask questions, or reach out at digital.training@ontario.ca.

Congratulations! You’ve completed this lesson of the boot camp. Count up how many points you’ve earned, and click to download your badge. You can share your badge on social media, and tag @apoliticalco to show off your progress.

Digital Process Lifecycle Seeker (Required Activity)

Digital Process Lifecycle Explorer (5 Points)

Digital Process Lifecycle Adventurer (10 Points)

Digital Process Lifecycle Intrepid (15 Points)

Digital Process Lifecycle Heroic (20-30 Points)

Picture credit: Unsplash

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