Digital Services Playbook
Thirteen plays from the US Digital Service for building effective government digital services, drawing on best practices from both public and private sectors.
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Understand what people need
Begin by exploring the needs of real users. Let people’s needs—not government structures—inform technical and design decisions.
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Address the whole experience, from start to finish
Understand all the ways people interact with the service, online and offline. Every encounter should move users closer to their goal.
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Make it simple and intuitive
Using a government service shouldn’t be stressful or confusing. Build services simple enough that users succeed the first time, unaided.
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Build the service using agile and iterative practices
Use incremental development to reduce risk. Get working software into users’ hands early and adjust based on feedback.
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Structure budgets and contracts to support delivery
Work with experienced budgeting officers. Contracts should allow for prototyping, frequent milestones, and flexibility.
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Assign one leader and hold that person accountable
A single product owner must have authority to make decisions and be accountable for whether the service meets user needs.
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Bring in experienced teams
Assemble teams with proven experience building digital services. Include designers, developers, and product managers who’ve done this before.
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Choose a modern technology stack
Select flexible, commonly-used technologies that allow the team to work efficiently and adapt as needs change.
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Deploy in a flexible hosting environment
Use infrastructure that can scale with demand and allows rapid deployment of changes without lengthy procurement.
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Automate testing and deployments
Build automated tests and deployment pipelines so new features can be added frequently and released with confidence.
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Manage security and privacy through reusable processes
Integrate security and privacy from the start using repeatable processes rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
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Use data to drive decisions
Collect and analyse data on how the service is performing. Let evidence guide improvements rather than assumptions.
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Default to open
Work in the open, publish code openly, and use open standards. Transparency improves quality and builds trust.