Good Service scores

Use the Good Services scale to help you and your team to understand where your service needs to be improved, and plan ways to make that happen with tangible actions.   

Score the ability of your service to deliver each of the 15 principles of Good Service Design on a scale of 0-4:

0 points - It is not possible for users to do this

1 point - A small minority of users can do this with extreme difficulty or effort

2 points - Some users can do this, but it still requires difficulty or effort for most

3 points - Most users can do this, but it requires difficulty or effort for some

4 points - All users can do this easily and consistently

Example

Principle 1. Be easy to find

The service must be able to be found by a user with no prior knowledge of the task they set out to do. For example, someone who wants to ‘learn to drive’ must be able to find their way to ‘get a driving licence’ as part of that service unaided. You’ve achieved good when your users can find your service unaided by looking to complete the task they set out to do

The A.S.H.E.E.P service:

“The name of the service contains an acronym (A.S.H.E.E.P) that some users will find hard to understand unless they're already familiar with it”

Score: 1 point (A small minority of users can do this with extreme difficulty or effort)

Good Service levels

Your total score will add up to a number between 0-60 and will give you a corresponding level of quality that your service is currently operating at

Level 5 - Good (50-60 points)

Your service is easily findable and usable by anyone who needs to use it, enabling all users to consistently achieve the goal they set out to achieve. Your service is likely to encourage behaviours that benefit not just your user and staff, but society and the planet as a whole

Level 4 - Moderate (40-50 points)

Most users are able to find and use your service successfully, although some users may still be excluded. A user’s ability to achieve the goal they set out to achieve, in one seamless service is still likely to be made more difficult by organisational silos or more inconsistencies in the service

Level 3 - Unsatisfactory (30-40 points)

Though some users will be able to use your service to reach their desired goal, the service is still difficult to use for the majority of users, and is likely to favour those with time and previous experience. Your users may face delays in the use of your service due to organisational silos or unnecessary bureaucracy, and may still become confused by inconsistencies in the service or ways of working that are unfamiliar

Level 2 - Poor (20-30 points)

Though a minority of users might be able to complete your service it is unlikely to get them to the goal they need to achieve. The majority of your users are likely to struggle to find or use your service, either because it is not inclusive, or it is designed for expert use

Level 1 - Bad (0-10 points)

Only the most expert and determined users can find and use this service, it is impossible for most. It may pose significant risks to those users who are able to use it by encouraging unsafe behaviours, and may make it extremely difficult for users to understand and resolve issues when they arise