Avoiding the need for advanced digital skills through the appropriate design of digital systems

By project DSBPGovernance

Published on 24 March 2025

Romania

Centru

Brasov

About this good practice

Any successful project starts with design and planning. In the case of digital skills training for civil servants, although the human resources department has a central role, the IT department can make it easier or harder to implement the training by number and complexity of software purchased and implemented. Choosing software programs based on some clear principles that take into account the ease of user experience will reduce training costs, mainly training duration, but also the number of users who will learn quicker and correctly use a digital application.
The use of minimalist design principles, the adoption of already widely known functionalities from email and social media applications will facilitate wider and faster adoption of public administration applications both by citizens and by public officials. The use of an application that has already known functionalities will increase confidence in use and, last but not least, will ease staff training.
User experience (UX) design can significantly reduce the need for advanced digital skills training for public servants by creating intuitive, efficient, and accessible digital tools that align with their workflows and minimize complexity.
On this, we follow some basic principles: Simplified Interfaces, Task-Oriented Design, Consistency Across Tools, Built-In Guidance, Accessibility and Inclusivity, Error Prevention and Recovery, Feedback Loops.

Resources needed

A clear methodology that includes principle for every biding requirement regarding new digital tools, that involve internal small number of staff.

Evidence of success

1) Economies of scale and number of training sessions for digital skills needed to operate institutional software on existing employees and future ones;
2) Costs savings: compared to trainings for many specific different digital platforms, costs are reduced by at least 20%;
3) Adoption rate increases in implementation time and number of users;
4) Standardized public procurements formats also limits the time for offers evaluation during procurement process.

Potential for learning or transfer

The example is just a model that can be developed by any company or public administration and it is intended to demonstrate the importance of few principles taking into account when a new application or an update of existing one are required. The practice is easily transferable, since the focus is on existing digital skills for citizens and public servants do not need high specialized training in IT domains.
The practice is clearly a time and cost saving for staff training in order to proper use digital tools used in everyday work, which is an objective of general interest.