Having been involved with digital service inception, design and implementation across New Zealand’s public sector for the past few years, I thought I’d put together a list of some ‘top things’ to weave into any work you’re doing in this space.

Strategic alignment

We know by now that the outcomes we try to achieve have multiple dependancies - we cannot do this mahi (work) alone, and succeed. We must build partnerships across agencies by tying initiatives to overarching government objectives. This fosters buy-in and extends impact. The first thing we do at inception is identify key partners that we can work with, to garner commitment (financial or otherwise).

Data-driven decision making

I’ve learned that many organisations talk about ‘data-driven decision making’, yet very few actually do it. Do not confuse data and dashboard saturation with informed decision making. Leverage the data you collect (responsibly) to inform choices, demonstrate value, and track progress against your objectives. Use data to educate stakeholders and optimise resource allocation.

‘Open and often’ communication

A common characteristic of any high performing team is their ability to craft concise, engaging, reactive and preemptive communications. Develop a unified messaging strategy, testing and refining communications constantly to increase engagement. Align messaging with broader commitments that we make. Think international partnership goals, national standards rollouts and iterations, organisational strategic aspirations.

Proactive engagement

Plan coordinated outreach before, during, and after initiatives. Government can be complex, so in order to maximise impact, engagement is a key requisite throughout your mahi, not just at the start or at the ’end’. Initiate communities of practice where there may be gaps, but ‘piggyback’ on existing ones where there is not. Loop back to your user research contributors after implementation to continue the line of communication and demonstrate ongoing acknowledgement.

Embrace the ‘Nothing about us without us’ philosophy by actively involving user communities throughout the design process. This approach favours smaller release paths, the MVP approach.

User-informed service design

These are the types of approaches as we prioritise people-focused investments and improvements across government. Our goal is to create scalable, inclusive services built on standards that align with broader government digital strategy.