Creating and running digital services

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Learn User Research email course

Free 6 part email course offering basic and deeper introductions to user research. Learn at your own pace.

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The Charity Worker and the Digital Service Designer - a story

A quick, easy and entertaining way to learn the secrets of digital service design. 30 minute read.

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User research tools and tips from the Government Digital Service

User research: crowdsourcing tools and tips for remote research.

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How to spot a user need and make your digital service float like a boat

User needs are what make your digital service boat float. Fudge the needs and you’ll sink. Nail them to your mast and you’ll be cresting a wave of 'user value' from here to Charity Digital Bay.

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How to do user research using remote working tools

A full guide, including six techniques, their pros and cons, and when to use them.

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How to prioritise what to develop next in your digital service or website

Using user stories and a simple framework.

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User value: what Facebook and Mario Kart can teach charities about digital services

As charities we can be good at creating social value, and at solving social problems. But if you want people to use your digital service then you need to learn about user value too.

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User research: what it is and why it's so important

User research is not the sexiest of activities. And it can feel like putting the brakes on your new idea. But if you want to build a digital service that meets your users’ needs, it’s a must-do.

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7 pieces of advice for charities looking to build digital services for the first time

Pearls of wisdom from charity digital old timers who've been there and done it.

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DigiSafe: the step-by-step guide to digital safeguarding for charities

Digisafe is the best practice guide for charities designing new digital services or taking existing ones online. Funded by The Clothworkers' Foundation.

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An introduction to holistic design

User-centred design is at the heart of a lot of digital philosophy. But users don't exist in isolation, they're embedded in communities and systems. We explore what this means for good design. Holistic design.

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How to build online communities for your service users

Tips on bringing your service users together online.

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How to embed collaboration in the design process

How to approach a shared solution from alternative perspectives. Provide opportunities for reflection, synthesis and shared working.

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How to use the Good Services Scale to measure your service's user-centredness

A free and downloadable scale based on the principles of good service design. Use it to measure how well your services work for your users.

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Internet forums: how to take a safety first approach to connecting vulnerable people online

Building communities can be hard. If community members are in difficult situations it can be even harder. Sometimes independent internet forums are the solution.

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User interviews: why you must do them

Why user interviews are important for any digital project. How they are not about ‘getting feedback’. What your questions should focus on.

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Why design is more important than digital for charities

Why design is more important than digital, and how to start thinking ‘design first’ rather than ‘digital first’.

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What skateboards and motorbikes can teach us about designing digital services

You don’t have to be a designer to understand the principles of digital service design. And if you want to get digital funding it’s going to pay to understand them.

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How to manage the initiation phase of a new digital project

The project initiation phase is about starting your new project well. Too often it doesn't happen, or doesn't happen right. Bex Rae-Evans explains how to run a good one.

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How to run user interviews

How to prepare for an interview. Recruiting users. What questions to ask.

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Why accessibility matters on your charity's website

Why charity websites need to be accessible. How to make them accessible. how to deliver it.

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Design Hops online

Free online workshops, which offer the first step, or ‘hop’, into digital service design and good websites design for charities.

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How to do user research remotely

Making design research work remotely.

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40 tools for creating human connection through your digital services

Catalyst collaborator Deepr has launched an amazing resource that any charity can use to improve people’s wellbeing. Even (and especially) when delivering services online.

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3 steps to using NoCode well

Having interviewed three charities on their use of NoCode, we look at the themes that emerge.

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How to write user stories

Making your stories actionable using the INVEST six-step process.

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How NoCode can help your charity website and digital services

NoCode tools give you superpowers and make it easier and quicker to build and integrate software functions when designing.

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An introduction to relational wellbeing and human connection in online services

Online services are amazing but they can't provide all the things face-to-face services do. We're losing some of the empathy that comes from the flow of human connection - what we call relational wellbeing.

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From Service Design to Donald Duck design: what the jargon means

A charity guide to seven different types of design. All design disciplines are similar.

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Digital inclusion: a how to guide and slide deck

Slide deck and 'How to' pack from Good Things Foundation's June 2021 digital inclusion workshop.

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50 resources to help charities tackle digital exclusion

Resources from our panel event, held on 22nd June 2021

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Design tool: 'user need statements' and why charities should use them

Learn how to create user need statements. The bridge between user research and designing or updating your services.

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Five ways charities have reduced digital exclusion through their services

Learn what others have done and copy or take inspiration from them. Any charity can do at least one of these things.

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Learn: How to be an accessible facilitator

8 ways to make the online events you facilitate consistent and accessible for your colleagues, volunteers and beneficiaries.

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Digital Champions: one of the best approaches to creating digital inclusion

An introduction to a model that any charity can adopt and implement, with benefits for staff and users.

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How to risk assess your preferred third party platform for online service delivery

5 steps to minimising risk. Covering both safeguarding and data security.

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Service design: how to test what you think you know about your users

What fast food, fast drivers and hasty breakups can teach us about assumptions. Knowledge boards, assumption testing and more help.

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How to think about safeguarding when delivering services online

Make sure you're properly examining all of the risks.

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How to use content design to help people access your services more easily

The words you choose matter when it comes to helping people to use your services. Here's how to make sure you get your language right.

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Learn prototyping: how to use an experimentation mindset to create new digital things that work

New website, CRM or online service? Will you build it the old way? Or will you experiment with prototypes? A 27 minute micro-teach video session for charities.

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Planning a new website

What to do before you start a new website project. Building your own website or getting a specialist to do it. An NVCO guide.

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How to plan a new website for your charity

Your website as a supermarket. Key ingredients in your plan. 4 questions to ask yourself. 7 planning steps.