The Challenge
A UK central government department was operating a critical citizen service entirely on paper:
- 45,000 applications annually, all paper-based
- Average processing time: 8 weeks
- 120 staff manually processing applications
- Citizen satisfaction: 52%
- Operating cost: £6.2M annually
- Political pressure to digitise
The complexity:
- Service couldn't stop during transformation
- Staff resistant to change (fear of job loss)
- Legacy IT systems couldn't handle digital workflows
- Regulatory requirements for audit trails
- Accessibility requirements for vulnerable citizens
Previous digital transformation attempt (2018) had failed after £2M spent.
Our Approach
We proposed service redesign, not just digitisation of existing process.
Phase 1: Service Discovery & Strategy (Months 1-3)
User research:
- Interviewed 60 citizens about their experience
- Shadowed 15 staff processing applications
- Mapped current process (32 steps, 14 handoffs)
- Analyzed failure demand (40% of applications required rework)
- Identified pain points and opportunities
Key insights:
- Current process designed for departmental convenience, not citizen needs
- 60% of processing time was unnecessary (checking already-checked information)
- Digital platform alone wouldn't solve underlying process problems
- Staff had valuable process knowledge being ignored
Strategy decisions:
- Redesign process first, then digitise
- Involve staff in redesign (they know the problems)
- Maintain paper channel for accessibility
- Focus on common use cases (80%) first
- Phased rollout, not big bang
Phase 2: Service Redesign (Months 4-6)
Co-design with staff:
- 25 staff involved in process redesign workshops
- Removed 18 unnecessary steps
- Reduced handoffs from 14 to 4
- Designed digital workflow
- Defined new roles and ways of working
Critical decision: Staff involvement created ownership and reduced resistance.
Technology strategy:
- Cloud-based case management platform
- Integration with existing systems (no rip-and-replace)
- API-first architecture for future flexibility
- Accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 AA)
Change strategy:
- Gradual transition (12-month plan)
- Training for all staff
- Job redesign (processing → case management)
- No redundancies (redeployment to higher-value work)
Phase 3: Implementation (Months 7-14)
Build phase (Months 7-10):
- Digital platform implementation
- Staff training (120 people, 3-day programme)
- Process documentation
- Testing with real applications
Pilot phase (Month 11):
- 10% of applications through new digital service
- Staff feedback and refinement
- Issue resolution
- Benefits measurement
Full rollout (Months 12-14):
- Phased migration to digital service
- Paper channel maintained for accessibility
- Ongoing staff support
- Performance monitoring
Change delivery:
- 3 Lumina change consultants working with 8 internal staff
- Stakeholder engagement across department
- Communications strategy and delivery
- Training and coaching throughout
The Outcomes
Service Performance
- ✅ Processing time: 8 weeks → 3 days (96% reduction)
- ✅ Citizen satisfaction: 52% → 87% (35 point increase)
- ✅ Application completion rate: 78% → 94%
- ✅ Digital take-up: 89% (vs 80% target)
- ✅ Service availability: 99.7% uptime
Financial Impact
- ✅ Operating costs: £6.2M → £4.0M annually (35% reduction)
- ✅ Savings over 5 years: £11M
- ✅ Investment: £3.8M
- ✅ ROI: 2.9x
- ✅ Payback period: 22 months
Staff Impact
- ✅ Zero redundancies (commitment honored)
- ✅ Staff satisfaction: 48% → 76%
- ✅ Training completion: 100%
- ✅ Staff now doing higher-value case management vs manual processing
- ✅ 8 staff promoted to senior case management roles
Capability Transfer
- ✅ Internal team leading Phase 2 enhancements independently
- ✅ Digital service standard practices embedded
- ✅ Service design capability established
- ✅ Change management skills built
- ✅ Zero ongoing Lumina involvement
Client Perspective
"The difference was involving staff in redesigning the service, not imposing digital on them. They became advocates, not resisters."
— Service Director
"Processing used to be repetitive and boring. Now I'm solving citizen problems and making decisions. The work is more interesting and I've been promoted."
— Case Manager (former processor)
What Made It Work
- Service redesign before digitisation - Fixed the process, then digitised it
- Staff involvement - They designed the new service with our facilitation
- No redundancies commitment - Redeployment to higher-value work
- Phased approach - Pilot before full rollout reduced risk
- Accessibility maintained - Paper channel for those who need it
The Citizen Experience
Before:
- Print 12-page form
- Post to department
- Wait 8 weeks
- Receive letter (often requesting more information)
- Wait another 4 weeks
- Total: 12 weeks average
After:
- Online form (15 minutes)
- Real-time validation (reduces errors)
- Receive decision in 3 days (email + letter)
- Total: 3 days average
Citizen quote: "I can't believe how quick it was. I was expecting months."
Services Delivered
Long-Term Impact
12 months post-launch:
- Service processing: 3.1 days average (target 3 days)
- Citizen satisfaction: 89% (trending up)
- Digital take-up: 92% (trending up)
- Cost savings: £2.1M annually (on track)
- Staff satisfaction: 79% (trending up)
Organisational learning:
- Department now using service design approach on other services
- Digital service standard adopted department-wide
- Internal change team managing 3 other transformations
- Department cited as exemplar by Cabinet Office
Lessons Learned
What we'd do again:
- Staff co-design created ownership and reduced resistance
- Pilot phase caught issues before full rollout
- Phased approach reduced risk significantly
- No redundancies commitment was critical for staff buy-in
What we'd do differently:
- Start benefits measurement even earlier
- More emphasis on manager capability (not just staff)
- Accessibility testing could have been more comprehensive
