Digital Services Style Guide

Write content for residents

Focus on the public and their needs

To successfully build digital services, we must explore the needs of the people who will use the service. Think about the basic human needs:

  • Food (mmmm tacos)
  • Shelter (like bungalows)
  • Safety (there’s a reason those Moontowers exist)
  • Belonging and love (There’s something for everyone here, even the weird)
  • Aspiration and actualization (flying high like the bats under the Congress bridge)

Our job is to provide digital services that fit into every aspect of their life. The needs of the public we serve, not our organizational or departmental structure, should inform our digital services.

Here are some key questions to ask when building digital services:

  • Who are your users?
  • What do users need from this service?
  • How will the service address this need?
  • What users find this service most difficult to use?
  • How often are we testing with everyday users?
  • How are you using these findings to address changes to the service?
  • Is all of the information on this page necessary to make residents read? Would it be better as internal communications instead of external content, for example?