EmailAt Barnet Council we are looking to develop new and innovative ways of delivering services, at a time when community need is growing in scale and complexity, but resources for this are increasingly limited. We wanted to test a radically different approach and involve residents in designing and delivering local solutions.
To do this, we asked the social design agency thinkpublic, to help us develop our prototyping capacity within the council and community.
What is Prototyping?
The design technique of prototyping takes ideas rapidly into action for the purpose of testing, while managing the risk by starting small and designing out problems early before significant public finances need to be committed. It is both a process and a mindset.
In its simplest form most of us prototype different things everyday, for example when we are cooking we experiment with different versions of a recipe until we find the one we like, or when we are trying to find the fastest and easiest route to work. Prototyping can be applied to testing and developing anything from new products, services, IT systems and methods of communication.
"What's been great is the ability to experience a new approach, take calculated risks and to use all the experience and talents available to make decisions at an early stage," says Lesley Holland, change manager in major projects at Barnet. "It really brought partnership working and sharing resources alive."
The benefits of prototyping for the public sector include:
- Turning ideas into real and tangible things.
- Involving citizens and frontline staff in a meaningful way.
- Saving time, effort and money.
- Managing risk by rapidly testing and developing ideas.
- Producing better results as outputs are improved by ongoing feedback.
- Encouraging citizens and staff to be sustainably involved with the creation and delivery of new ideas.
Prototyping in action
At Barnet we have applied prototyping to help us radically rethink how we look at the challenges surrounding families with the greatest needs. Previous research highlighted that out of 35 meetings one family had with the state in a single year, only five of these meetings asked for any new information. We co-designed, with a range of stakeholders, a community-led service called Community Coaches (BCC).
The service aims to help families develop and become more resilient, reach their goals and reduce their dependence on the state. This is now been being rapidly tested with volunteers and families within the Grahame Park estate in Barnet. This rapid live testing will last for six weeks to help us learn quickly what works and what doesn't, before we invest in a pilot.
Over this period we are measuring a number of factors, including the increase in wellbeing of the families and coaches, along with measuring the cost of running the service.
"A few weeks ago Community Coaching sounded like a fairy tale magic genie that might transform the lives of families," says Cephas Akuklu, a lead volunteer community coach. "Many of the people I shared the prototype with were sceptical. Now some of these people are asking me lots of questions and I feel honoured to be part of a process that is going to get families to explore more options and bring out their potential."
Alongside this we have been exploring different social business models for how the BCC service should be developed, funded and run. We are currently looking at the franchise model where key people in the community will be responsible for running the service, with information and support from the council.
What we have learnt so far
Prototyping has been a good way to test new ideas that aim to solve challenging problems quickly and cheaply. It has provided a safe space to fail and adapt. It has helped us secure early buy-in from all the key stakeholders needed for success, we have generated a range of innovative service options and learnt quickly what does and doesn't work. The prototyping process has helped open up the redesign of local services and involve local people.
Gavin Lambeth is assistant director for strategy at Barnet Council and Deborah Szebeko is the founding director at social design agency thinkpublic
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