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Determine the type of users for your new digital service. 

Are they:

• individuals
• businesses
• providers
• or a combination of these.
   

Select the relevant decision-making framework based on the user type. 

• use the relevant framework based on the users of the new digital service (citizen, business or provider facing)
• apply the framework to assess if you can reuse an existing access point or if you need to create a new one 
• consider factors such as user needs, context, cost, feasibility, and compliance.
   

If you decide to reuse an existing access point, work closely with the delivery partners to establish a collaborative and trusted relationship. 

• engage with other agencies or delivery partners (criterion 5) that are responsible for or involved in these services, platforms, or capabilities 
• explore potential synergies or dependencies and explore the future pipeline of capabilities.

Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 4, to do this:

• make sure your proposal supports your decisions and shows how you have followed the decision-making framework to determine the best access point for your service offering
• use evidence such as user research, cost-benefit analysis, or risk assessments
• use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
• use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

• myGov decision-making framework
• Individuals (not suitable for myGov), business and providers decision-making framework
• myGov: myGov User Audit
• Federal Register of Legislation: Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022
• Benefits Management Policy
• Victorian Government: Design and develop a digital presence – digital guide
• gov.uk: Digital and data function’s strategic commitments
• NSW Government: Activities and Templates 

Identify your potential delivery partners by reviewing the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) and the digital landscape of government services. 

Delivery partners are other agencies or entities that provide relevant:

• existing platforms
• capabilities
• policies.

Contact your delivery partners as early as possible to establish a collaborative relationship and understand the scope of services, onboarding requirements and delivery timeframes. 

Involve them in discovery activities, such as:

• user research
• journey mapping
• problem definition.

Communicate with your delivery partners regularly throughout the Alpha and Beta phases. 

• consider including them in your agile ceremonies, user testing, and feedback loops 
• define the roles and responsibilities of each party to ensure that you have clear and agreed governance mechanisms, do this through a memorandum of understanding, service level agreement or contracts.

Work with your delivery partners to integrate your new service with their existing platforms and capabilities. 

• make sure you meet any applicable technical, security, accessibility, or data standards 
• test and validate the end-to-end user experience and service performance with your delivery partners and users.

Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 5, to do this:

• provide evidence to support your decisions and show how you have engaged delivery partners in your proposal or business case
• explain how engaging with your delivery partners has helped you to reuse existing access points, avoid duplication, reduce costs, and improve user satisfaction
• use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
• use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

• DISR: Guide to the right engagement 
• APSC: Engagement and Partnership
• WA Government: Guide to Best Practice Planning Engagement in Western Australia 
• Digital NSW: Design Standards 
• Victorian Government: Design and develop a digital presence – digital guide

Investigate diverse needs early and design for all users from the onset. Ensure inclusivity and usability for everyone by collaborating with users through co-design: 

• Co-design the digital service and its artifacts with users throughout the service design and delivery process to incorporate their perspectives needs and feedback. The Queensland Government’s Co-design accessible and inclusive digital services provides best practice and is a good starting point.
• Collect analytics and data and conduct interviews, surveys and observation on user needs, goals, expectations and behaviours. It is more effective to investigate diverse needs early and less costly to make changes during the Discovery phase. 
• Use existing research from other agencies or sources relevant to your service. Include relevant studies or research papers, from academic and industry journals. 
• Gather insights from existing internal research. This may include past research reports, journey maps, historical project summaries, internal databases, project archives or management systems.
• Collaborate with professional networks and engage with experts and practitioners across the APS to share research findings, reports and insights. 

Conduct usability testing with individuals from various backgrounds, including those with different abilities, ages and cultural contexts:

• Use inclusive prototyping techniques to simulate diverse user experiences and identify potential challenges.
• Encourage shared ownership by co-designing tutorials and guides using language that is meaningful to all.
• Tailor the digital service to meet the specific needs of user groups and promote inclusion by providing appropriate support.

Document your findings and recommendations to apply criterion 1: 

• Provide evidence to support your decisions.
• Show how you have considered user needs, considered vulnerable cohorts, and whole-of-government objectives.
• Use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.
• Make sure the data is collected and documented in a centralised knowledge repository. 

• Queenslanders with Disability Network: QDN’s Co-Design Principles 
• Victorian Government: Providing multilingual information online
• South Australian Government: Diversity in Australia
• Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts: Captioning Apps
• Research with visually impaired users
• First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Group
• UNESCO Digital Library: Digital inclusion for low-skilled and low-literate people
• Agency for Digital Government: Digital Inclusion
• OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes | OECD

• Demonstrate why going digital is worthwhile: Provide clear and comprehensive information about the purpose and benefits of digital services. Where possible, highlight time savings, convenience and emphasise how these enhance the overall user experience.
• Use inclusive language and imagery: Use inclusive language and imagery, avoiding stereotypes and biases when communicating with your audience. Consider diverse cultural perspectives and make sure content is simple, respectful, and welcoming for all.

• Understand motivational drivers: Use research and insights to understand the motivations of users and encourage them to remain engaged. This will help you understand if a service is too complicated or lacks support. To determine your current baseline of engagement, assess what proportion of your target audience engages online and work towards practices that encourage greater inclusion.

• Demonstrate ease of use: Consider demonstrating the service to new users. If possible, allow them to interact with the service and experience it firsthand. Prioritise interfaces that prioritise content that’s easy to find and make interactions as straightforward as possible.
• Provide supporting guides and materials: Craft user guides with step-by-step instructions and include visual aids to support deeper levels of understanding. Provide a tiered structure in your support documentation, such as basic content for beginners and advanced topics for more experienced users. Determine where a self-service approach, such as online forums, can help users through their challenges.
• Address barriers and concerns: Address challenges and make sure services are accessible so they allow for independence, empowerment and dignified access. Remove barriers that may force users to look to others for help. This is particularly important for services that detail financial or health-related information that users may prefer to keep private.
• Provide gradual transition options: Encourage users to take their first digital step by lowering the barriers to getting started. For instance, promote awareness of the service through a variety of channels and offer hybrid service options, where available, that allow users to start a process offline and complete it online, easing them into the digital option.
• Ask for information only once: Review internal and external data collection methods, and where possible, support users to provide information only once. Minimising duplication helps reduce frustrations for users.