The other day, I felt myself coming down with something. As I had some of the symptoms, I dutifully booked in for a drive-through NHS Covid test. Having just read Lou Downe's Good Services, I thought I would take the opportunity to see how my experience of the service measured up to the 15 principles espoused in the book. Because, you know, its lockdown and the test was actually something different I got up to recently.
Finding the service
Upon first noticing I had a headache and then a little cough, I headed straight to Google and searched for ‘Coronavirus NHS test’. The top result was titled ‘Get a free NHS test to check if you have Coronavirus’, which sounded perfect, so I clicked on it without reading any further. I didn't consider it at the time, but the service had already met the requirements of principle 1 of Good Services - that of ‘being easy to find’, as in clear, simple language its name clearly described the ‘task’ that I was trying to get done.
Booking the Test
After clicking I landed on a reassuringly familiar, functional, gov.uk page. It explained the purpose of the test (principle 2), as well as who could and couldn't get a test, thereby setting expectations and ticking the box of principle 3. Scrolling down the page, my attention was grabbed by a bright green button under the heading 'get a free test now'.
What followed was a form, with one question at a time, following the gov.uk principle of 'one thing per page'. However, with 17 separate questions, the process of completing it really felt like quite a lot of clicking, when I was really just anxious to get a test time booked. Nor was this sense helped by the fact that there was nothing in the way of progress indication, so I had no idea of how much more form was to come.
However, while this experience might not have seemed to best meet the requirements of a service having ‘the minimum possible steps to complete’ (principle 8), the questions were clearly important ones as they allowed it to adhere to some of the other key principles of a good service. For example, the question on whether the user has a mobile phone on which to receive test results obviously has big implications; placing this question before selecting the type of test (walk-in or drive-through) helped ensure that users don’t waste time filling out personal details for an online test if they are not eligible for it. If ‘no mobile phone’ is selected, then the user is told they cannot continue with online test booking, but instead provided a freephone number for a call centre to organise a test that way. Thus there are ‘no dead ends’, with no users left ‘stranded’ (principle 10), and if needed you can speak to someone (principle 15). Together these factors Covid testing service as a whole was usable ‘by everyone, equally’ (principle 11).
Once I had completed the form and selected a drive-through test, a confirmation email styled just like the gov.uk site (principle 9 - ‘be consistent throughout’) quickly arrived containing a QR code that would be my ‘pass to access the site’. I put my phone on charge and otherwise felt confident that I was ready for the time slot I had booked.
Getting the Test
When the time came, I set off for the testing site in my car. On arrival there was a bit of confusion with signage and I initially drove into the wrong entrance. However, I soon got myself to the right spot. There was a small queue of cars, and when my turn came I was waved forward by an attendant. ‘Signing in’ was easy: I simply held up my mobile phone with a QR code to the window, and this was scanned through the glass.
Next I was instructed to wind down my window enough to receive the testing kit, and then directed to park in a free parking space. I took a moment to understand what the contents of the testing kit were - the instructions were relatively straightforward though, enabling someone with not experience of this sort of thing to work it out (Principle 6 ‘require no prior knowledge to use’). I completed the throat and nose swab, placed them in the viral solution, and sealed them in the correct bag. Completing the procedure involved driving out toward the exit, having the QR code scanned once more and then handing over the completed kit through the car window once more. I was then free to return home - the whole thing had been quicker and more painless than I had expected!
I had to wait a bit longer than I was told to expect for the results to come through on my phone, but come through they did a bit more than 48 hours after my test. And on the off chance you've read this far and were wondering, the result was negative!
Scoring the Service
In the spirit of completeness and for extra funs, I have scored the online and drive-through testing experience on each fo the 15 principles. Though this is ultimately a little arbitrary...
Be easy to find (SCORE: 10/10)
Clearly explain the purpose of your service (SCORE: 8/10)
Set the expectations the user has of your service (SCORE: 9/10)
Enable each user to complete the outcome they set out to do (SCORE: 10/10)
Work in a way that is familiar (SCORE: 8/10)
Require no prior knowledge to use (SCORE: 7/10)
Be agnostic of organisational structures (SCORE: 10/10)
Require the minimum possible steps to complete (SCORE 7/10)
Be consistent throughout (SCORE 9/10)
Have no dead ends (SCORE 8/10)
Be usable by everyone, equally (SCORE: 10/10)
Encourage the right behaviours from users and service providers (SCORE: 10/10)
Respond to change quickly (SCORE: Not clear)
Clearly explain why a decision has been made (SCORE: Not clear)
Make it easy to get human assistance (SCORE: 7/10)
TOTAL: 113/130
Verdict: A genuinely good service!
Notes:
Government Design Principle - one thing per page: https://designnotes.blog.gov.uk/2015/07/03/one-thing-per-page/
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