Citizens Advice Innovation Lab
I was a founding member of the Citizens Advice Innovation Lab, working as a service designer and community manager. I worked on over 50 experiments over 5 years.
Co-designing a video to support people applying for Personal Independence Payments
Our data showed that a small proportion of clients needed the most time during advice appointments and often delayed starting their application. We worked with local service managers and advisers to design and create a prototype video. The video aimed to create the experience of speaking to an adviser, providing support, reassurance and practical advice for how to approach the application to help them prepare for their advice session. Testing the video with people who were in the process of applying for PIP showed it helped provide reassurance, meeting emotional as well as practical needs and made it more likely people would start their application. The prototype was then used to develop a business case for investment in video advice.
Designing a more supportive online experience to help people seeking private renting advice
As part of a wider goal to meet more demand, we looked at how we could support people who contacted Citizens Advice for more reassurance after viewing online advice content. We collaborated with a content designer to design a prototype page that provided more reassurance for people seeking advice on a specific private renting issue. Initial usability testing of the pages suggested that people were confident on their next steps. We then A/B tested the new content, with the new reassuring content actually increasing the number of people clicking through to contact us to a statistically significant level. The findings were used to inform different approaches to improving the ability for clients to ‘self-serve’ online.
Co-creating a strategy for scaling innovation
A core part of the lab’s purpose is to ensure innovation can be scaled. Innovation Labs can fail if they are unable to scale new ideas and interventions. We had a clear process for designing and running experiments, but we didn’t have one for scaling. I facilitated a series of workshops for the team to better define the pathways for scaling so we could increase our impact. This helped us uncover a series of problem areas to inform our strategy for the next phase of the lab:
moving from linear, narrow scope roadmaps to flexible, strategic roadmaps that supports scaling from unknown, risker assumptions to more certainty as insight is gathered
prototyping business cases to fund missions-based innovation, supporting the network to collaborate on key strategic challenges
developing more participatory approaches to how the lab works and removing barriers for participation
