Case studies : Kent County Council

Kent County Council: Improving the Online Care Directory

Enabling employees to use Service Design tools and techniques to improve their Online Care Directory for users and providers.

In order to explore the potential of Service Design techniques within local government the Cabinet Office chose live|work to run a pilot scheme with Kent County Council (KCC). Through working with a cross section of employees involved in KCC’s Online Care Directory, we were able to equip them with Service Design tools and techniques to improve their current and future services.

Usability and awareness

The purpose of the Online Care Directory is to provide a “one-stop-destination” for users and providers of care services in the region to access and exchange care information on services such as care homes, nursing and respite care. The website however was difficult to use and many people were unaware that it existed. Live|work trained and mentored a mixed team of care service representatives to understand and identify issues with the directory and to create ideas to address them.

Engaging with care users and providers

Livework helped the KCC team to gather a great number of insights on un-met needs through interviews with stakeholders and users of the directory. Some of these insights went beyond the website itself; feedback from the Women’s Institute highlighted a lack of awareness of the directory and their varied levels of computer experience. Together with live|work the team identified over 100 needs. These were then grouped into six areas that needed addressing: Access, Awareness, Comparison, Guidance & Advice, and Quality & Trust. The KCC team responded to the user needs with over 50 ideas for not only improving the website but also improving access and awareness of the Directory.

Prototyping ideas; quickly, cheaply and often

The live|work team supported the care representatives in the development of these ideas into a number of ‘experience prototypes’, ranging from a ‘faked’ Google search showing a new web address and page description for the directory, to a possible relative feedback form which would enable care home visitors to feedback to the website. These prototypes were tested with customers to determine their value and help refine the ideas. The output of the project, including the selected ideas and their feasibility, was presented to the KCC senior management team who praised the quality of output and gave the green light to the next phase.

October 2007 – March 2008

Contact: Sean Miller or Rory Hamilton on 020 7377 9620

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