7a. Design for well paced and successful user journeys
There are a number of approaches we can adopt to increase the likelihood that service journeys are resource efficient and that users achieve their goal at the first attempt.
When users fail to complete their tasks on a service, this creates ‘failure demand’. More resources are needed for follow up enquiries and providing user support.
Likely Lead Roles
Service designer, interaction designer, content designer
Sub-actions
7a. (i) Use established service and design patterns
7a. (ii) Use progessive enhancement
7a. (iii) Consider pace of service and response times
7a. (iv) Consider appropriate service signposting and search engine optimisation
(i) Use established service and design patterns
Patterns can work at two levels with services:
• A design pattern is a general solution to a common problem in software design
• A service pattern provides a solution to common service design problem or user task
Environmental benefit:
Common design and service patterns are familiar for users. They help users quickly navigate and complete tasks.
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(ii) Use progressive enhancement
Progressive enhancement is a way of building websites and pages where base functionality and content works in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) alone. Enhancements are then built on top of this base.
Environmental benefit:
Websites using progressive enhancement perform well across different devices and network conditions. This helps users complete their journeys successfully.
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(iii) Consider the pace of the service
The pace of a service is the speed or rate it is delivered at. This covers response time, processing time and task completion time. Faster services may require more resources to deliver.
Consider how soon users need a response or outcome and if the pace of the service could be reduced. For example, if users need a response the same day or this could be delivered the next day.
Environmental benefit:
Services with a slower pace often require fewer resources to deliver.
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(iv) Consider appropriate service signposting and search engine optimisation
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a key factor in helping users find the entry points for services they need. A page with good SEO is a webpage that is optimized and will ultimately rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs) when users search for related terms.
Once they are on a service, there may be times when users need to read external content, such as guidance or related services. Clear signposting to this content can help ensure that users do not become stuck.
Environmental benefit:
Good SEO helps users find the pages and services they need quickly, and content that is easy to understand helps users quickly achieve their goals, thereby reducing resource consumption.