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Digital Services Playbook

LAY 1 Understand what people need We must begin digital projects by exploring and pinpointing the needs of the people who will use the service, and the ways the service will fit into their lives. Whether the users are members of the public or government employees, policy makers must include real people in their design process from the beginning.

Ship a functioning “minimum viable product” (MVP) that solves a core user need as soon as possible, no longer than three months from the beginning of the project, using a “beta” or “test” period if needed Run usability tests frequently to see how well the service works and identify improvements that should be made Ensure the individuals building the service communicate closely using techniques such as launch meetings, strategy rooms, daily standups, and team chat tools Keep delivery teams small and focused; limit organizational layers that separate these teams from the business owners Release features and improvements multiple times each month Create a prioritized list of features and bugs, also known as the “feature backlog” and “bug backlog” Use a source code version control system Give the entire project team access to the issue tracker and version control system Use code reviews to ensure quality PLAY 10 Today, developers write automated scripts that can verify thousands of scenarios in minutes and then deploy updated code into production environments multiple times a day. The following checklist provides a starting point, but teams should work closely with their privacy specialist and security engineer to meet the needs of the specific service.

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