Service Design at MACBIS

When product teams are only focused on designing their own products, they are doing product-driven design and development. This siloed way of working can lead to duplication of efforts, a poor end-user experience, and a lack of cohesive processes in an organization.

Product-driven Design and Development. A hand-drawn illustration of five groups of people, each holding a different shape. They represent different product teams, each focused on designing and developing their own product.

Image credit: HCDU

There is so much value in product teams collaborating across the organization to create a cohesive service for end users. This is why we argue for integrated product and service design, which is when:

In the front stage, products are orchestrated in harmony to serve a larger user journey, and
In the back stage, products are connected through back-end systems and an integrated data ecosystem.

A hand-drawn illustration representing integrated product and service design. Product teams and their products are on a path, representing a larger user journey. Dashed lines connect the products to shared backend systems and data.

Image credit: HCDU

Based on this idea of integrated product and service design, the MACBIS HCD Unification (HCDU) team takes the following service design approach at MACBIS:

Partner with teams and CMS towards a shared vision to inform roadmaps for all product teams, MACBIS, and DSG
Identify and measure pain points that CMCS groups and divisions face with current MACBIS and non-MACBIS processes, tools, and IT systems
Document and map cross-product user journeys for a high-level overview of MACBIS to supplement teams’ product work
Explore opportunities for cross-product connection and integration to reduce user burden, as well as tools and automation not currently in the MACBIS ecosystem (for example, verification plans and performance indicator data)
Align planning, design, and development across MACBIS with program and policy needs and requirements

Applying Service Design to Your Project

A hand-drawn illustration representing the users of MACBIS products. CMS users include CMCS leadership, DSG leadership and staff, CMCS policy and operations groups, and CMS policy and operations groups. Non-CMS users include state staff, state IT and data vendors, and researchers and advocacy groups.

An overview of different users related to MACBIS products. Image credit: HCDU