Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 1

January 2017 // Canadian Government Executive / 13 by elanica Do not expect clients to know a lot about your organization to navigate. Bureaucratic language and ab- straction confuses. Use plain language: clear, concise and human. It also encourages pro- viders to tidy up muddled thinking. Do not make clients sign up for new accounts for every service and re-enter data each time. Some transactions are one-o�s with minor security implications. Leave accounts out. Unify records under a single, handy account. Clients opt into record sharing across services. Bundle together services across government according to the goals and logic of clients. Build an easy-to-�nd platform that other providers can build upon. Break down barriers: learn to think and talk about service using the clients’ mindset by inviting them into the design process. O�er maps, guides, and (human or virtual) concierge helpers to point the way. Groups of clients are neglected if a service is inconvenient, a poor �t, or unknown. Public services fail if they are blind to the under-served and missing-in-action. Who is in the client base? What do clients think? How do they act? Research to �nd out. Personify your client intelligence into pro�les that can guide service development. Designs that accommodate atypical clients have the potential to bene�t every- one. Clients have lost patience with convoluted processes that are full of unpredict- able delays. Streamline: weed out low-value tasks, hidden traps, and red-tape. Ideal service experiences are the core of good design. Systems and processes are built around.