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Respect family structures

Be aware of and respect family structures and the dynamic and complex nature of Aboriginal kinship relations. Collaborate and co-design with Elders and other First Nations Australians throughout the Service Design and Delivery Process.

Recognise that some information may not exist:

Support users to complete their service by providing clear explanations and instructions up front. Advise the user on the documentation they will Ensure your information is easy to read and navigate by screenreaders by making the information architecture as simple as possible. Tag and code headline types appropriately to support those with vision impairment.

Use visual communication tools

Include visual ways of communicating as a supplement to wordy paragraphs and visual cues that are meaningful from a First Nations perspective.

Respect privacy

Only request information that is legislatively required and avoid unnecessary additions. Acknowledge that trust may be lacking and be transparent about what the information will be used for and who can access it.

Use culturally safe language

Consider how chatbots and staffed chat functions can use cultural appropriate language that is outside of everyday “western norms”. For example, “are you living with extended mob?”.

Use interpretation technologies 

Where available, consider how you can take advantage of best practice and leading technologies for Auslan interpretation (i.e. PiP solutions)

When to apply

Apply Criterion 10 during Beta and Live phases to test the effectiveness of your improvements with users. 

Consider this criterion across the Service Design and Delivery Process to ensure your service remains fit for purpose.

How to apply

Questions for consideration: 

• what is outdated or needs improving?
• what is and isn’t working?  
• what feedback has been received? 
• how will changes be communicated? 
• how do improvements align with the performance indicators set?  

Make improvements: Increase people’s use of the service by continuously optimising performance, enhancing security, introducing relevant feature, addressing bugs and increasing compatibility. Use metrics you identify in Criterion 9 (‘Monitor your service’) to reveal the biggest opportunities for impact and ground improvements in evidence. Provide adequate training and materials for staff to support change.

Undertake assessments: Define the goals and scope of your assessment then observe performance and experience over time. Performance metrics might include load times, responsiveness or bottlenecks. Experience metrics might include entry/exit points, dwell time or task abandonment. Ongoing monitoring should be part of your business-as-usual and a detailed review part of your regular service evaluation.

Communicate the change: Develop a communication plan for how, when and through which channels to share updates and findings with your users. When writing your content, show how your users’ feedback informed the actions you have taken. Highlight key achievements or milestones reached and use real-life stories to demonstrate how users shaped change.

Provide visibility of who has access

Consider providing users with a clear and easily accessible list of who can access the service and who will be notified of any changes (e.g.
change of address). Give users the choice of when and how they receive government communications and make it easy to change, in the event they need to do it quickly.

Make it easy to remove multiple users

Support survivor-victims to remove multiple users from accessing a shared government service or account. Consider how a user can do this
in a privacy enhancing way, so as not to unnecessarily trigger or notify other users.

Support ‘quick exit’

Consider the use of ‘quick exit’ buttons within your digital service to help re-direct users to other digital pages if they are in an unsafe environment.

Clearly communicate tasks and actions

Only request information that is legislatively required and avoid unnecessary Use simple steps and actions to clearly communicate what is required and limit the impacts on survivor-victims. Consider the use of checklists and easy to follow formats to avoid decision fatigue and to support the survivor-victims to complete the service.

Keep interfaces and interaction patterns predictable

Be clear on the expectations and next steps by letting users know exactly what will be required of them ahead of time. Consider using consistent designs and patterns to support a seamless transition within the service.

Make users feel welcome and accepted

Cater to different learning styles and preferences by offering supplementary options to text, such as audio and visual formats and through pictures or images. Allow users to customise their interface by changing scheme colours, etc.

Simplify the language and service

Simplify language to make it easy to understand and follow without being condescending or minimising the user. Break up tasks into manageable sections and allow forms to be saved and returned to at a later time.

Communicate status

Support users to track the status of their digital services and interactions by communicating status information. Proactively remind users to finish tasks, using alerts and notifications, if paused part-way through.

Clearly communicate tasks and actions

Use simple steps and actions to clearly communicate what is required. Consider the use of checklists and easy to follow formats to avoid decision fatigue and to support the user to complete the service.

Support users to move between service channels

Where appropriate, consider how you can support your users to move through your service channels using easy to gather information (e.g. offer downloadable content that they can print out and take into a shop front to complete the service).

Apply search engine optimisation

Consider how you can effectively apply search engine optimisation to support users access difficult to find information or services that may be buried within websites.

Use visual communication tools

Provide visual ways of communicating as a supplement to wordy paragraphs and visual cues that can be easily interpreted. Create repeatable
steps and actions to support users to complete tasks. Consider the use of videoconference and other software to help users understand the context through body language.

Offer language options

Identify the most common languages used across your service and offer language options on the front page of websites so it can be easily changed. Consider how you can offer your guidance materials and tools in other languages to support the user to complete the service.