Oxford Insights
The Human-Centred Public Services Index ranks 30 countries around the world in terms of their performance in creating public services that work well for the people using them. The Index defines human-centred services as those that are designed with users in mind, are easy to use, easy to access, reliable and deliver upon their promised outcomes.
Rankings are drawn from a combination of secondary data and primary research, including a new survey which asked residents in each country about their perceptions of public services, reaching just under 10,000 respondents worldwide.
Our five pillars
1) TECHNICAL FOUNDATIONS
The Technical foundations pillar measures how well countries perform in establishing the technical foundations for HCD, including having strong cybersecurity measures, core government systems, data protection legislation and integrated service platforms. The pillar’s scores are based on secondary indicators and desk research.
Key concepts: systems best practices, service integration, data protection
As a user of government services, I need services which are supported by a robust technical and legal infrastructure, so that my personal data is protected and online public services work well and consistently for me.
2) GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS
The Effectiveness pillar evaluates whether residents of a country feel they get the outcomes they need from public services. It broadly evaluates the extent to which public services in a country follow the fourth principle of good service design, to ‘enable each user to complete the outcome they set out to do’. It is made up of secondary data and survey responses.
Key concepts: service outcome delivery, overall government effectiveness
As a user of government services, I need services which deliver upon the outcomes that they promise effectively, so that I can get the results that I need.
3) PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
The Public Engagement pillar seeks to offer some insight into the extent to which HCD practices are evident in the behind the scenes functionings of government through practices of public participation. It consists of secondary data, and primary data from desk research and survey responses.
Key concepts: feedback, codesign, e-participation
As a user of government services, I need my government to engage with residents when designing and delivering services, so that the services are designed with my needs taken into account.
4) ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION
The Accessibility and Inclusion pillar seeks to measure the extent to which public services in a country are accessible for everyone. This pillar consists of scores taken from desk research and online webtests.
Key concepts: finding a service, accessibility requirements, multiple access channels
As a user of government services, I need services that are easy to access and use for everyone, so that I can easily find services and access them in the way that works best for me.
5) SERVICE EXPERIENCE
The Service Experience pillar looks to measure how users themselves experience services, through a combination of survey indicators and desk research based on a sample of services from each country.
Key concepts: user experience, satisfaction, speed, ease of use
As a user of government services, I need services that are quick and easy to use, so that I can get what I need in the least amount of time possible, and have the best experience possible whilst doing so.
