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Build a service that can be iterated and improved on a frequent basis and make sure that you have the capability, resources and technical flexibility.

How point 8 improves the service

They need to build a service which they can iterate and keep improving so that they can:

  • easily respond to changes in policy which affect the service
  • make sure their service keeps meeting user needs

How they’ll be assessed

Their assessment and the questions assessors ask them will vary depending on their service and what it does.

In the discovery assessment

To pass, the service team usually need to:

  • an understanding of what they are planning to build in alpha
  • that what is built in alpha will meet prioritised user needs identified in discovery
  • understand any risks or problems associated with the technology chosen for alpha and have a plan in place for how they’ll solve them

In the alpha and beta assessments

To pass, the service team usually need to:

  • explain what they’ve built in that phase and why they built it
  • describe the lifecycle of a user story from user research to production
  • show they understand how their service is built to meet user needs
  • explain their process for identifying and prioritising insights from user research
  • show they can move user stories quickly and smoothly between user research and production
  • show they are assessing the technology they chose, minimising risk
  • prove they have the ability to deploy software frequently with minimal disruption to users
  • show they’re analysing user research and using it to improve their service
  • show they’re solving any technical problems they’ve found

At the beta assessment, they also need to explain:

  • how long they expect their service to be in beta and why
  • their way of deploying software, i.e. how they can deploy frequently with minimum impact on users
  • how they plan to practice zero downtime deployments in a way that doesn’t stop users using the service when in live
  • how they plan to have enough staff to keep improving the service when in live