The SDS blog

Many changes have taken place over the last few years and so the aim of this project is to explore whether current processes are still fit for purpose, whether they can be digitised or indeed whether they are still needed.

Kent Housing Group recently won a bid from Kent County Council to support landlords who are suffering rent arrears problems that have built up as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both Waverley Borough Council and Tandridge District Council required some user testing on their waste forms. Whilst the more common usability testing was carried out, checking for functionality and looking at the technical aspects, SDS also user tested for digital...

Many of our partner organisations have been working hard to create a culture of accessibility throughout their organisations. Sevenoaks, Central Bedfordshire and Tonbridge and Malling have all asked us to help with this by delivering several virtual, live and interactive...

SDS have been delivering live and interactive training courses to Project Managers across Ashford Borough Council introducing them to agile ways of working.

SDS have reviewed the East Sussex Building Control Partnership’s business processes, to explore ways to enhance customer experience and improve efficiency.

Waverley Borough Council approached Smarter Digital Services (SDS) to assist them with conducting user testing on their new website.

When Southern Building Control Partnership (SBCP) decided to build a new website, they took advantage of a variety of services offered by Smarter Digital Services, to create and build a website that would cater for their customers’ needs and allow...

Kent Homechoice commissioned SDS to develop a new and updated version of the Kent Homechoice Homelessness Triage Tool.

SDS have developed an e-learning course on how to create accessible Word and PDF documents for online publication.

SDS recently delivered two live and interactive courses on user research and customer journey mapping for Wealden District Council staff via MS Teams.

SDS outline ways to tailor your text messages to make them more effective.

Our Voice Discovery Research explores the current uses of smart speakers and the potential benefits of using smart speakers to access council services.

SDS has compiled a list of useful applications for SMS notifications in local government.

Website accessibility regulations came into force on 23 September 2018. This means that public sector bodies have a legal obligation to meet accessibility requirements for their websites.

We have been busy converting our workshops and training sessions into bitesize videos. These videos are freely available to all our partners and can be tailored to meet your specific training needs.

Three local authorities share with us some of their digital responses to COVID-19 followed by a discussion of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

We have researched the key market leaders in payment solutions and found that GOV.UK pay meets many of the user needs we have identified.

SDS are exploring the viability of voice technology within local government. The first phase of the project focused on discovery research, outlining current market trends, uses and demographics.

SDS have completed a book and pay project on behalf on the London Borough of Bexley. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, SDS used a new online tool to enable the team to facilitate process capture workshops virtually. Using this tool,...