Citizen-centered, digital communication process for NRW state funding programs

Workshop participants were often initially hesitant to design methods that were unfamiliar to them. The easy-to-perform, interactive tasks quickly made the reticence evaporate and led to a loosening up among the participants. As they began to enjoy questions and discussion, creative design took place.

In pure question-and-answer interviews, all attention is on what the respondent is saying. Often this leads to a high level of tension on the part of the interviewee. In the research interviews with citizens, the interactive design of the conversation, e.g. by creating a customer journey, created a relaxed conversational atmosphere. Opinions and experiences were openly shared and often explained using aids such as painted pictures. This gives the public administration or the project participants an authentic insight into the experiences of the citizens.

Identifying the stakeholders of the practical project and visualizing relationships between the components of the service performance under consideration proved helpful in understanding the overall construct. The creation of a stakeholder and system map helped in this regard. These provided orientation and a basis for discussions and design steps. Helping hands from employees from the direct subject area in public transport were indispensable. A quick familiarization with the complex structures of the public sector as well as the creation of the maps mentioned above could thus be made possible. In the project, even among experts in the field of public transport, different levels of information knowledge emerged. The early exchange offered the opportunity to build a common level of knowledge and understanding. This procedure reduces misunderstandings and wrong solutions in the project.