User Research, Service Design
Dec 2008
School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Client: Efficiency Unit, Government of the Hong Kong SAR
Team: Lin Gao, Michelle Li
Role: User research, concept development, UI and information design, presenter at design competition jury
Silver Award for the One-Stop Shop Design Competition
The One-Stop Shop project aims to combine the Hong Kong Labour Department’s various employment services into one shared location in order to enhance the user experience of services for job seekers in Hong Kong and to improve the operational efficiency for government staff.
Our design solution addresses the current job seeking process through a system of shared and accessible information to aid job seekers to find a job, obtain skill training, and receive career or psychological counselling by enhancing communication, services, and efficiency.
We began our design process by examining the existing job seeking experience by conducting on-site user research. By interviewing current users and government staff and doing field observations at three different service centres, we were able to identify the current problems. We then used our research findings to inform the development of our design concepts from a system and service approach. In the execution of our design concepts we finally create a new job seeking experience that better meets the needs of job seekers and government staff.
Based on the common goal of information sharing we designed solutions across the spheres of technology, space, and information to be:
• visible, accessible, understandable
• user-friendly wtih clean digital interfaces
• centralized in a database system
• an enhancement in communication between job seekers, staff, and employers
We re-vitalized the brand of the Labour Department with visual boldness of icons and colours ranging from signage and maps to information and digital interfaces.
By designing with accessibility in mind for middle-aged users with poor eyesight and who are less technologically inclined, our designs help make information easier to see and read with larger type, big blocks of colour, and simple and recognizable icons. This gets message across simply, easily and quickly to all users.
Published in Designing Public Services by Hong Kong Design Centre.
