Vision

Enabling design teams in the Department for Education to create good services through a framework of standards, tools and processes.

Objectives

Our objectives set out the work we do, how we'll do it, and measure success.

Objective 1

Design and implement an improved service assurance framework

We will work with assurance and service assessment colleagues to:

  • implement a new discovery peer review processes
  • improve the department's service assessment process for alpha, beta, and live service assessments
  • carry out a discovery for designing an ongoing service assessment process
  • design a new ongoing training process for becoming an assessor or lead assessor
  • improve the reporting process and outcomes and make use of data for service assessments
Objective 2

Designers to have access to, use, and iterate, common patterns, tools, and components

We will:

  • ensure all new design colleagues joining DfE get the right kit and access to tools they need from day 1
  • ensure everyone including contractors, who join DfE, get time with the Head of Profession to understand design standards and principles
  • work with designers to identify, document, and publish common components and patterns
  • reset the design communities of practice to support growing the maturity of design in DfE
  • design career pathways and skills development for people looking to join or change design professions
Objective 3

Enable anyone working in, or with, design professions, to understand the value of good design

We will:

  • make it easier for designers to talk about our work, in the open
  • encourage and support teams to hold more show and tells and invite people from outside their teams
  • develop and publish key design metrics which design can be consistely measured against
  • support designers in defining what good looks like for design
  • grow the understanding and value of design outsdide traditional design and digital teams
Objective 4

Ensure that all the services we provide to end users meet accessibility requirements

We will:

  • recruit a senior accessibility specialist into the DesignOps team to support and implement accessibility, usability, and inclusive design initiatives
  • publish and assure a DfE Accessibility Standard
  • design and implement an accessibility training process for all new starters along with profession-specific training
  • develop an ongoing service assurance process for the monitoring and compliance with accessibility regulations and standards
Objective 5

Support departmental objectives and missions

We will:

  • collaborate with operational and delivery teams to implement department objectives
  • support policy teams with user-centred principles and processes
  • deliver solutions which support maturing design professions in DfE and improving services for our users

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