December summary
Trying to recall what happened last month (or should I say last year!) feels a bit foggy. I’m sure you know that pre-festive break feeling where emails and Teams messages start to reduce, and out-of-office replies outnumber actual work-related updates…I certainly welcomed the opportunity to switch off.
However, what will stick in my mind was a key milestone being achieved, moving from planning into practice by launching our LocalGov Drupal (LGD) public preview! We have started with Council Tax and Benefits, two key service areas that we know from data and insight that residents value and engage with.
We invited staff, Councillors, residents to experience the new website via a pre‑live UAT and put the analytics and communications plumbing in place to learn from real resident feedback. Below I’ll go through what we shipped, what we learned, and what’s next…
🚀 What happened
Pre‑live UAT (1 – 9 December)
- UAT covered navigation, template behaviour (e.g., header/footer), and mobile‑first interactions, reflecting that c.70% of traffic is mobile
- Feedback captured in a logbook helped us tweak copy, surface the feedback CTA more prominently, and confirm there were no P1 blockers to launch
- We ran an All-Councillor Members workshop to preview the direction and answer questions
Public preview launch (10 December)
- Established a virtual war room with key stakeholders to four-eyes check before launch
- We published comms highlighting why the public preview matters and how to give feedback
- We had a delay in procuring our CMP solution and to avoid delaying the public preview, we accepted the risk of proceeding without any analytics initially
Post-live UAT (10 – 12 December)
- Set up lightweight monitoring and analytics so we can learn and respond quickly
- Review and triage LGD feedback form submissions
- Continue comms to gain traction during a busy time of year for residents
🧪 What we learned
- Templates signed off and details refined. Desktop page templates for public preview were approved; early feedback focused on strengthening CTA prominence and refining contextual link text within “guide”
- Resident feedback mechanism works. The separate feedback form (linked from each new page) balanced performance and simplicity, with a return CTA back to the page to minimise drop‑off
- Governance and support are clear. The content governance, RFC, and CAB processes captured go‑live risks and support routes, keeping triage fast in the first week
🔭 What’s next…
- Made for you, by you. Adjust content migration sprint plan to onboard other services on public preview in January and February
- Content type sign off. Sign off technical and design for key content types to unblock mid-priority service areas to meet content migration sprint plans
- Design system v1.0. Collating bits and pieces of information to have a draft (content) design system playbook that will be shared internally and externally on how we create consistent and user-friendly experiences across all digital products
👏🏽Thank you
One recurring topic that always came up during my time in the private sector was carving out the time to share success. Taking a conscious effort to stop what you are doing day-to-day and enabling time/space to celebrate this milestone was vital for me.
I say start small, nothing big or flashy, sharing a box of chocolates, getting someone a hot drink or sending Praises in MS Teams can impact a person’s mood, day, week.
A huge thanks to my colleagues across DDaT, Council Tax and Benefits Team, Customer Services, Communications, and our partners at Annertech for pushing hard to deliver public preview for the Luton community.
💯 Digital legends of the month:
- who: co‑inventor of the TCP/IP protocols enabling the Internet.
- fun fact: co‑founded the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI).
- who: created the Linux kernel and Git, catalysing open‑source software.
- fun fact: Linux’s penguin mascot ‘Tux’ was inspired by a penguin encounter.
- who: Danish computer scientist who created C++.
- fun fact: originally called ‘C with Classes’ before being named C++.
Photo by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash November summary One guidance that I’ve leaned into more last month was saying “no”. It’s been difficult at first as it’s not in my nature, however with a vital deadline approaching, drive and appetite building internally, it’s been a key factor in steering the project with various stakeholders. On…
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash October summary Right, so October seems to have flown right over me! Through the half-term juggling, being under the weather and general life admin, it has been a month of momentum and collaboration, just look my communication breakdown below: If you use Microsoft 365 at work and want know…
September summary Hey everyone, I’m back and this time, I’ve set myself a challenge! As we embark on a transformation to enhance our digital experience for residents, I thought I’d share some insight in the hope that someone finds what I’m writing about useful. Therefore, every month, I’m going to reflect back and share a…
Continue Reading From the Digital desk: building Luton online