Creating a service design ecosystem in UK planning
Laura Smith & Tom Gayler | Nov 25
In service design, we often use the three principles of desirability, feasibility and viability to assess whether a solution is likely to meet the needs of the people that use it. In our work with UK local planning authorities (LPAs), we’ve found that the last of these - viability - is the hardest to achieve in a complex, public service environment.
A viable service doesn’t just function. It develops, grows and flourishes. Over the last 5 years, we’ve addressed this challenge by developing a ‘service design ecosystem’ which sets the conditions for long-term success.
How we’ve helped to transform UK planning
Over the last few years, Unboxed have been developing a back office planning system (BOPS) for local planning authorities in England. This is part of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)’s Open Digital Planning (ODP) programme. ODP is all about bringing councils together with digital and data specialists to transform the UK planning system. We’ve worked with planners across the country to research, design and build a data-driven system that allows planners to validate, assess and make decisions about planning applications up to 50% faster than their current and outdated legacy systems.
To achieve this, we’ve put codesign at the heart of our approach. From the start, we wanted to design with planners for planners, using open data and participatory methodology to bring planners into the development process.
But planners are not designers or developers. They are highly trained specialists in what they do - planning. Designing software was new to them. They are also working in a complex ecosystem of multiple related services, often using legacy technology that makes their job more difficult and is hard to replace.
To create truly viable services, we needed to work with not just planners, but also the people who make decisions about how software is procured, how data is managed and shared and who can help build a culture of innovation. So we set about doing two things:
creating a team that can build
creating an environment where good services can flourish
How we created a team that can build
At Unboxed, we advocate for an agile, iterative approach to solving knotty problems. The values set out in the Agile Manifesto emphasise that long-term viability comes from empowering teams—not just delivering artefacts. Here are those values:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
“While there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”
These four Agile values provide a simple structure for understanding what viability looks like in practice.
Desirable, Feasible and Viable
1. Individuals and interactions
Before
‘Digital’ work lived inside dedicated digital teams
Planners had little ability to influence tools
Relationships with suppliers were transactional
After
Planners became Digital Product Owners
Open dialogue emerged across councils and suppliers
Teams contributed daily to shaping the service
This shift created the capacity for continuous improvement—one of the strongest indicators of long-term viability.
2. Working software (and working services)
Before
Planners had lost hope for better tools
Data was locked-in and inaccessible
Change felt threatening
After
Planners sketched, built and tested prototypes
Standard data sets enabled shared language
Collaboration led to consistent processes
This moves teams away from “someone else will fix it” and towards shared responsibility for improvement.
3. Customer collaboration
Before
Planners relied on individual workarounds
Procurement decided what users needed
Improvements rarely went anywhere
After
Planners hosted their own testing sessions
Users saw their feedback become real changes
Teams developed shared design principles
This is customer collaboration in its most empowering form: users shaping the tools they rely on.
4. Responding to change
Before
Teams stayed tightly scoped
Service designers focused only on the service
Innovation was siloed
After
Planners actively built services
Service designers led business model conversations
New teams emerged to innovate in related services
The measurable impact? Up to 50% reduction in the time to process a planning application.
How we created an environment where the service can flourish
Viability isn’t just about the team - it’s about the conditions around the service.
Based on our collaborative approach, we’ve found 12 ‘signals of success’ that indicate whether a service is truly set up to thrive.
Users create and improve services
Users sketching and exploring their own ideas
Users hosting their own testing sessions
Users seeing their input lead to improvements
Daily user contribution to service design
Users become strategic decision-makers
Users acting as Product Owners
Users discussing shared design principles
Teams collaborate across boundaries
Open dialogue across suppliers, councils and planners
“The PlanX and BOPS projects helped to coalesce a coalition of the willing that has organically developed into a community for change.”
A viable service doesn’t just succeed on its own. It creates lasting capability around it.
At Unboxed, we believe that service designers must play a role in shaping long-term viability. Through building trusting relationships, coaching people in design and agile methodology and giving people ownership over the products they use every day, we can:
build empowered teams
create collaborative environments
set foundations for continuous improvement
reduce dependency on suppliers
develop organisational maturity
nurture communities of practice
and connect user needs to business models
Viability is not a handover. It is a practice, a relationship, and a shared capability.
Service designers have the skills, tools and mindset to build those conditions. And when they do, services don’t just work. They grow, evolve and flourish.
