Screenshot of a government website on “Collecting usage data: analysing data and applying the insights gained”

Screenshot of a government website on “Collecting usage data: Defining key metrics”

Screenshot of a government website on “Collect usage data: Select suitable data sources”

💥

3 new pieces of guidance for the German #ServiceStandard ’s handbook on measurement and measuring service success:

• On analysing data and applying the insights gained
• On defining key metrics
• On selecting suitable data sources

servicestandard.gov.de/handbuch

We are rolling!

Week #201 at the Digital Service: Notes for 2–6 March Martin kicked off several initiatives during his week #201 at Digital Service, including new guidance, new websites, a support hotline, a blog post, and a white paper. He participated in another Servi...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

I attended various kick-offs, including for new guidance, new websites, a support hotline, a blog post, and a white paper.

I participated in another #ServiceStandard intro workshop and attended events on AI and digitalisation.

From a civil servant, hesitant to do #userResearch and follow the #ServiceStandard:

“We are all human beings, after all, and we try to examine whether someone, who is not a civil servant, could also manage to do it.”

Very slowly, we are putting things in order in Germany.

After moving the updated #ServiceStandard to servicestandard.gov.de, the cross-government #designSystem KERN is now available via designsystem.gov.de.

It’s the slow but steady progress I’ve been hoping for, dealing with government’s long slog

Partial screenshot of a website offering Service Standard posters for download – in German; a big A2 poster with 13 points, and 13 smaller A3 posters for each individual point

People have been asking for it:

There are now posters for the German #ServiceStandard that everyone can download and print – a larger overview poster of all 13 points and smaller ones for each individual point.

👇🏻
servicestandard.gov.de/poster/

Week #197 at the Digital Service: Notes for 2–6 February Service Standard work continued in Martin’s week 197, with more guidance published, more interaction design and content support arriving, and service quality work soon involving citizen workshops. Mar...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

#ServiceStandard work continued in my week 197, with more guidance published, more interaction #design and content support arriving, and #serviceQuality work soon involving big citizen workshops.

(👋🏻 @weeknotes-bot.bsky.social)

A tabled computer on a walnut wooden stool showing a guide on good forms design with examples for ‘Translating conditions into questions’, illustrated by 3 simplified service interface

#FixTheForms, as @cjforms.bsky.social puts it.

In the absence of universal standards within German government for what constitutes good #formDesign, we published 3 new pieces of guidance to address this void.

You find them in the handbook section of the German #ServiceStandard website.

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Original post on mastodon.scot

As a service designer, I was initially wary of service assessments.

I feared they might be burdensome and bureaucratic when we needed to move fast.

In reality, the opposite was true.

Make the service standard work for you

#ServiceDesign #ServiceStandard […]

It’s always insightful to hear others talk about the work you’re involved in

In January, a brown bag meeting at digital government competence network NEGZ discussed the German #ServiceStandard & #DINSPEC66336 – in German 🇩🇪

Some 200+ people joined, and it’s been recorded and is available on YouTube

Week #196 at the Digital Service: Notes for 26–30 January Martin spoke with representatives from several states and larger municipalities who were curious about the Service Standard. He also participated in 3 separate 2026 planning and roadmapping sessions –...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

I spoke with representatives from several states and larger municipalities curious about the #ServiceStandard.

I also participated in 3 separate 2026 planning & roadmapping sessions—with teams and our discipline leadership team

Screenshot from the Government of Cyprus’ Digital Service Factory displaying a list of Service Standard Verified Services, awarded the verified seal; the list displays the first 10 of 28 entries – all with service name, service owner, service team, date and service link

Who got taxpayers’ money?

The Government of Cyprus is doing an excellent job at increasing transparency for service design and development.

For the 28 services that are compliant with their #ServiceStandard so far, you can see who made them – PWC, EY, in-house:

dsf.dmrid.gov.cy/service-stan...

A grid with a total of 9 screenshots and pictures each with a short description, 3 per column: First column: Domain policy, spend controls, assessments Second column: Design system, Service Standard, Technology Code of Practice Third column: Training, Service Manual, calls and meetups; Overimposed on the first column is the emoji of a stick; over the third column, it’s the emoji of a carrot

Standards won’t do anything unless integrated into a larger system that includes carrots & sticks.

Today, we shaped our 2026 activities for the German #ServiceStandard. My product management colleague Robert asked for a short input on what worked in the UK.

I made that slide.

All remains relevant

How often do you engage in cross-silo exchange?

How often do you talk to colleagues and other teams doing similar work as you do, but in different organisations and contexts?

Today, our #ServiceStandard team spoke with @benaldo.bsky.social , and it was worth every one of the 60 minutes we had.

I love a good government #barcamp!

And #NEGZ is doing a great job at making it as open and inclusive as possible.

We’ll be running a #ServiceStandard workshop as part of tomorrow’s event.

Join us in the late morning – remotely!

Week #195 at the Digital Service: Notes for 19–23 January Kicking off 2026 for the user research sub-discipline, Martin participated in a half-day onsite to look back and ahead. In week #195, he also co-facilitated a 2-day workshop on a substantial Service S...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

Kicking off 2026 for the #userResearch sub-discipline, I participated in a half-day onsite to look ahead.

I also helped facilitate a 2-day workshop on a substantial extension to a #ServiceStandard.

👋🏻 @weeknotes-bot.bsky.social

Working with many familiar faces who provided input on last year’s iteration of the #ServiceStandard from across the country, we started collaborating on a significant extension.

Colleagues from the local, state & federal levels joined us, bringing many different and vital perspectives to the table

A group of 5 people in a workshop setup, standing in front of filled movable walls covered with dozens of sticky notes; they seem focussed, reading and writing

Our #ServiceStandard work doesn’t end just because we have a standard that’s baked into a formal regulation.

We are acutely aware of gaps in guidance, training offerings and the wider service support system.

That is why we went into workshop mode again for the last 2 days to address existing gaps.

A partial screenshot of a website with a graphic and 2 subheadings, which read: “The Assessment” and “The Assessment Panel”; the graphic shows 2 lanes on top of each other. The top lane says “Stages“: Learning and making. The bottom lane is labelled “Phases” and says Discover, Design, Build, and Live Running. A sentence inside the red-framed box on top of the graphic says: “The Assurance Process is a mandatory pre-requisite for a Service to Go Live.“

What a terrific exchange with our Cyprian 🇨🇾 colleagues today!

They are doing fantastic work in the #ServiceStandard assurance space, and their approaches have evolved much since GDS supported them.

The best thing: They work entirely in the open. All tools, checklists and reports are public.

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Blog: Gute User Experience steuern statt gestalten: Warum UX zum Qualitätsmerkmal wird Blogartikel zu: Die DIN SPEC 66336 und der neue Servicestandard machen User Experience in der öffentlichen Verwaltung messbar und verbindlich. Durch systematische Nutzerforschung, klare Zieldefinition...

🔹 Digitale #Verwaltungsservices sollen nicht nur funktionieren, sondern genutzt werden. Lesen Sie hier mehr dazu, wie #UX zur Managementaufgabe wird: www.publicplan.de/blog/gute-ux...

Mit der DIN SPEC 66336 und dem neuen #Servicestandard wird UX verbindlich, messbar und steuerbar.

#publicplan

I said it before:

Friday is my international exchange day.

Today, I was in touch with #GovDesign colleagues:

• in Cyprus 🇨🇾 government on #ServiceStandard procurement and assurance

• at NHS 🇬🇧 about accessing advanced #userResearch training

• at the UN University 🇺🇳 on quality assurance

Taking the next steps:

2 common components need to be developed along the #ServiceStandard & its #DinSpec66336, the German IT Planning Council decided.

The National Feedback Component (NKF) and Central Statistical Component (ZSK) are vital for meeting point 12 of the Service Standard.

👇🏻

A timeline with 4 stops: June 2024 Federal Council approves OZG act amendment following agreement in mediation committee March 2025 DIN SPEC 66336, developed by a consortium of 42 organisations, is published June 2025 All federal states and the federal government unanimously agree to the standard regulation September 2025 Minister Wildberger signs the standard regulation, which comes into force on 1 October

Nerding out in the middle of the night, I made an authoritative slide to illustrate how many government bodies approved the German #ServiceStandard, the related #DinSpec66336 and the standards regulation in the past 15 months.

It’s been quite an unpredictable ride.

But a successful one.

Week #186 at the Digital Service: Notes for 17–21 November Introducing the Service Standard to service owners and designers in the city-state of Hamburg in more detail, Martin travelled there on Tuesday. He also opened service design roles and had conversatio...

As a public servant, I write weekly notes to let people see what I do.

Introducing the #ServiceStandard to service owners and designers in the city-state of Hamburg in detail, I travelled there.

I also opened #serviceDesign roles and had chats with colleagues at the European Commission & the OECD.

Schaubild OZSV und Servicestandard ALT: Ein Schaubild verdeutlicht die Zusammenhänge zwischen der Standardverordnung Onlinezugang (OZSV), der DIN SPEC 66336 und dem Servicestandard: Der Servicestandard unterstützt die Umsetzung der DIN...

Things are not super straightforward with the German #ServiceStandard.

We have a DIN SPEC, and we have an online access standards regulation (abbreviated OZSV).

To better communicate how the 3 parts relate, we created a graphic. I tested it in Hamburg this week.

It’s on Flickr for download now ⬇️

A group of people sitting around a long table in a workshop, they are focused and writing sticky notes, a large projected slide says: “Make yourself familiar with the Service Standard!”

A poster of the Service Standard on a wall during a workshop, 2 people are out of focus, they look look concentrated

A poster on a wall, headlined “2 Describe problems and define goals” with a table with questions, 2 people stand in front of it, a man points with his finger at a subheading that says “What are we already doing?”, various green and yellow sticky notes are put onto the poster

2 people, a woman and a man, standing in front of a mobile wall with a poster with various sticky notes in green, yellow and orange, headlined “12, measuring impact and working with results”, the woman is speaking, holding a pen and note pad, a person in the foreground seems to be listening

Yesterday, I co-ran the second local #ServiceStandard workshop.

After visiting the State of Brandenburg and 2 of its services recently, we checked in for 3 hours with members of various service teams in Hamburg.

We looked at ID card renewal, social services, and notifying of a change of address.

Original post on mastodon.scot

A couple of years ago, I signed up for a Scottish government course on applying the service standard.

In the run-up to it, they sent all the participants an email with links to some pre-course reading. One of them was to this blog post.

#serviceDesign #serviceStandard […]

Make the service standard work for you The way service assessments work is changing. As a service designer, I was initially wary of service assessments. I feared they might be burdensome and bureaucratic when we needed to move fast. In reality, the opposite was true. When we were developing findbusinesssupport.gov.scot, we were the first team in Scottish Enterprise to be subject to an assessment. We treated the guidance as a methodology to apply to our research and development. We recorded everything we found and every decision we took, and published everything we did, as we did it. Designing in the open. It’s all on our Github pages. ## Don’t prepare. Be prepared All our research went on the wall, or a whiteboard. Everything visible to everyone, Now we can point at things, and talk about them. I recalled a conversation with our agile coach, back when we were doing our digital transformation pilot. We were talking about Show and Tells, and he said “You should never have to prepare for a show and tell.” And he was right. In that environment, everything we needed literally surrounded us. All our research, results from experiments testing our hypotheses, analytics and metrics – all of it was on the wall. If anyone had a question, we could say, “Ah, come over here. Let’s look at this.” I replied, “Don’t prepare. Be prepared.” So we took that approach, but extended it. As well as putting stuff on our walls (well, windows by then), we published everything that was publishable. We just made it part of our workflow. Personas, data, and propaganda on our windows at Atlantic Quay When you’re done with a piece of work, publish the results. It’s part of the definition of Done. Have you written up the results? Has that been published? No? Then it’s not done. ## Use the service standard to build quality, inclusive services Anyway, the real value in service assessments is we can engage with the business on our terms. We **have** to consider #a11y, we _must_ think about how we included under-represented groups. You think you need a website? No, you’re designing a service, and these are the things you’ve never thought about that you need to think about. * What about people with a poor (or no) grasp of English? * What about people who don’t have great internet access? * What about people who just want to pick up the phone and talk to someone? * What about people who can’t see your video, can’t hear your podcast? And there is a standard for this, set by people who can kill your project tomorrow. That is the way you should think about the service standard. It’s not a hurdle to overcome. It’s a platform to build on. Use it to build high quality services that work for everyone. Embrace it. #DesignInTheOpen Oh, our assessors absolutely loved our research timeline. (That was down to my user research colleague, not me.) It made their jobs so much easier. And ours. Nobody had to curate or corral anything. We just sent them a couple of links, invited them to the office. Talked them through stuff. And that was that. [Editorial note: this post is based on a Twitter thread I posted back in February. I’ve tried to add a bit more detail and context here.] David O'Brien Website | + postsBio I'm a service designer in Scottish Enterprise's unsurprisingly-named service design team. I've been a content designer, editor, UX designer and giant haystacks developer on the web for (gulp) over 25 years. * David O'Brien https://design.scotentblog.co.uk/author/davidobrien/ __No more cookies for you * David O'Brien https://design.scotentblog.co.uk/author/davidobrien/ __I cycled to work * David O'Brien https://design.scotentblog.co.uk/author/davidobrien/ __The disability myth * David O'Brien https://design.scotentblog.co.uk/author/davidobrien/ __Who are we willing to exclude? ## Possibly related * Accessibility - Sharing knowledge between organisations * How we provided evidence for the Digital First Assessment * "Getting Connected" with our Customers * Good services scale * How many people does it take to design and build a service? * Invisible Disabilities

"As a service designer, I was initially wary of service assessments.

I feared they might be burdensome and bureaucratic when we needed to move fast.

In reality, the opposite was true."

#serviceDesign #serviceStandard

design.scotentblog.co.uk/make-the-service-standar...

Hopefully, my #ServiceStandard work gets me to many places eventually.

2 weeks ago, we ran a workshop in the state of Brandenburg.

Last week, I was in the state of Hesse.

Today, I will give a talk about the Service Standard and then conduct a workshop with Hamburg service teams in the afternoon.

A printed poster on the floor with a leather shoe nearby, its big headline says ‘Hamburg Service Standard’ and then lists 14 standard points' below is a URL: service.hamburg.de/standard

It’s been 7 years since I ran a workshop on the #ServiceStandard in Hamburg.

Today, I return to pick things up where I left off.

Back then, there was no Service Standard at all in Germany. Not for another 2 years.

We created a first version in Hamburg.

It’s so close to what we have now.

👀

In German 🇩🇪

How the German #ServiceStandard vastly helps improve public services, what role the unified cross-government identity and design system plays, and how to get started with small steps—@simonecarrier.bsky.social, Katrin Dribbisch and I gave a joint keynote last Friday at our annual event: