Firmstep Blog GDS looking for more consistency in online services

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is looking to create more consistency in service patterns as part of its campaign to build government as a platform and improve public services. A blog post on the GDS website says that the organisation is focusing on making services "unified, cross department journeys" as well as establishing standards for "what good looks like".By developing standards for repeated activities, the GDS hopes to encourage more co-operation between government departments as well as reducing the amount of time and effort required to build and redesign new services. This is not just about giving users a more consistent experience but also making internal processes more consistent and creating common standards for service delivery across the sector.As we have said before, channel shift works best when it is backed up by a unified and collaborative approach to service delivery, which generates greater efficiencies and puts organisations in better shape to deliver future channel shift. As well as creating consistent service patterns, this approach can be taken to other areas such as sharing data, technology and best practice.Firmstep's solutions can help public sector bodies to meet GDS standards for service delivery. Last year, the Department for Education used Firmstep's AchieveForms and Self products to automate its many forms as the department migrated to the GOV.UK platform. The deployment has driven efficiencies for the organisation while simplifying and streamlining services for its users. You can read more about our work with the DfE here.