Design Standards
The standards are for people who create – design, develop, build and support – digital services for government. Whatever your role, the standards can guide how you and your teams work day-to-day. They’re also for executives and teams to help them promote customer-focused ways of working.
The standards outline the best practice you need to consider - whether you’re creating a new service or improving an existing one.
How to meet the standards
There are six design standards. Follow each standard below to know the minimum practical tasks you're expected to do, why they’re relevant and how to do them.
Create with purpose
Solve for the right thing. Focus your intent on using evidence, being strategic and setting up how you will measure success. A rigorous approach will lay the foundation for ensuring value for your customers.
Respect privacy and maintain security
Build your users' trust and confidence when they interact with you, in the way you collect and use their data.
Reuse and repurpose
Reuse what you can, build on what exists, and build for others to use.
Design with users, for users
Focus your team on the people who use our services to adopt a user-first approach. Avoid assumptions and test for the ongoing usability of our services.
Be open, accountable and collaborative
Drive transparency, enable clear decision-making and authority, and work together to achieve a common goal.
Monitor, manage, evolve
Sustain and adapt the service to achieve its purpose.
Project phase checklist
View the minimum you need to do in each standard by delivery phase.