Service design resources

Service design in government:
Comprehensive guides and tools

Get started by reading the Ontario Digital Service’s Service Design Playbook.

Other great resources:

• Read The Service Design Playbook (PDF) by British Columbia’s Government Communication and Public Engagement team.
• From 18F (the US government’s digital service experts) – A collection of tools and information to help other organizations adopt human-centered design.
• Public Design Vault – “500+ design tools for public good, all in one place.”
• From the New York City government – Civic Service Design Tools + Tactics – designed to “provide specific, tangible tools of the trade, tailored to complement and support the expertise of the people who develop and deliver New York City government programs.”

User research

• Our user research guide has a ton of practical information including:
  • building the case for user research
  • recruiting strategies
  • building prototypes
  • researching techniques
  • turning research into actionable insights

Evaluation tools

• Read the Measuring success section of the Ontario Government’s digital plan.
• Read the British Columbia government’s guide to service analysis and outline for holding a metrics workshop.

Getting buy-in from leadership

Some tools and ideas to help you build support from your leadership:

• send leaders ODS’s blog post on leading in a digital age to get them ready for a conversation about service design
• direct leaders to the Ontario Government’s digital plan to get them up-to-date on our strategy to simpler, faster, better government services
• invite someone from the Ontario Digital Service or the Service Design Guild to speak at an upcoming branch, division or ministry event

Training and other resources

• Check out these method guides from Gamestorming
• Take an online course from Ideo or Practical Service Design
• Contact the Service Design Guild about coaching opportunities

Case studies

Read case studies from:

• Ontario Digital Service
• Service Design Network
• This is Design Thinking

Reading and watching

• Recommended reading from Service Design Books
• Inspirational and informative videos from the global Service Design Network

Support in the Ontario Public Service

Lots of support is available right here in the OPS. Reach out to:

• members of the Service Design Guild
• Ontario Digital Service
• research labs in Toronto and Kitchener
• policy Innovation Hub

Suggest a resource

If you know of a great service design resource that you think should be added to this page, please email the Service Design Guild executive team.