I joined Dorset Council last July in my first official role as a Service Designer. I am a keen bean with lots to learn, and my interest in working at Dorset started when I was looking at how to formally sidestep into service design. I knew that Dorset was building their user-centred design (UCD) capability, and I was keen to do this kind of work “in-house”. I knew a couple of lovely people working in the Digital team through the wider local government community, and I had a hunch that there would be a warm welcome for me at Dorset. I hoped there would be lots of opportunities to contribute and learn.
And, well, I wasn’t wrong!
A small bit about Dorset’s journey
It is an interesting time to join the growing design team. For local government it is a good size team, as Dorset is one of the early adopters of UCD in this context. Change is in the lovely Dorset air, one of the biggest shifts was the creation of a unitary authority from 6 district councils in 2019. And as UCD usually comes with change, this is an interesting context to working in.
There is a mandate to do things differently, partly because it is not possible to do everything as has always been done! It also means approaching work with colleagues with humility and awareness that the organisation has gone through a lot of changes in recent years.
Lisa Trickey, Service Manager for Digital Strategy & Design wrote more about Dorset’s journey sharing how the council has been working to grow and embed a user-centered design culture. What with bringing a whole bunch of councils together and working on the transformation of public services. There is a lot to get stuck into!
Building design maturity
We are currently writing down what different roles and teams do, this is to make it clear to us, and to other parts of the council what to expect when we work together. It is an interesting way to build understanding of UCD – rather than just being presented with a completed framework, I am helping to create it. As someone who really benefits from “learning by doing”, it is helping me to build skills and broaden my knowledge.
It is also a challenge to build one’s own design maturity alongside the organisation doing so. Sometimes I struggle to work out if the challenge comes from my level of experience, or the organisation’s! To help with this, I am really encouraged to participate in skills development and training through my work and established communities of practice.
The unsung heroes of design in government are the design communities – in my team, and across local and central government. The commitment to working in the open, the structures which enable that, and folks’ generosity and willingness to support across those communities, has really helped me turn challenges into opportunities to learn. It makes this environment so much more enriching to work in.
There are processes in place for me to ask for strength-based feedback from colleagues, which I do at the end of each piece of work. I have had to push myself to do that, but I have found that it has been beneficial to put myself out there. Things have usually gone better than I thought!
The work our design team is doing is varied and continues to expand. From the very hands-on, practical stuff like redesigning parking services, or how people report mould and damp, to whole strategic pieces looking at how the council works with the community and voluntary sector. And more!
This means that even though our roles are specialised, we often wear many hats. We might do some user research or interaction design, some content design, and a bit of project management. This has been another great way for me to quickly build up experience and stretch my skillset.
Shout-out to local gov
It is almost a cliché of working in local government. But it is true – you are asked to do a lot with the resources that you have. And the stuff you are doing really matters. There is a direct accountability in this kind of work that is humbling and keeps me focused on what I think design should be used for – making people’s lives better and putting those most impacted by services at the heart of how they are designed and delivered.
We are asked to get stuck in to gnarly, knotty problems, very quickly! This is the kind of stuff I really enjoy. And it is made so much easier by working with the kinds of people who are drawn to local government roles. Often those with a strong commitment to people and place. And who get job satisfaction by providing high quality public services.
What was is it like joining remotely?
It is not easy! As I am sure most of us have found with remote working, building relationships takes longer and requires active nurturing and prioritising. A series of virtual meetups was arranged for me, so I could meet colleagues that I won’t bump into in the corridor, which I really appreciated.
Building relationships is impacted by the structure of the teams and nature of the work. We often use a buddy system, but if you are on your own on a piece of work it can feel isolating. Now the restrictions of the pandemic have lifted we are aiming to have more in person meetups. Last year we managed to have an in-person team day, and it was so important to help get to know people.
I have had a wiggly path into service design. Rather than this being seen as a weakness, it feels like it is understood as an asset to the team. I enjoy getting stuck into the work and being in a team that is keen to make use of my transferable skills and supports me to develop my practice as a service designer.
Caitlin, Service Designer Dorset Council
