The number of MSD products and services, the complex relationships between housing providers and partners, and the myriad of services, systems, processes, and staff that serve the needs of a diverse population concerned the service design team. To clarify the scale of the objective and strategise an appropriate approach to the resources available, the service design team identified the following key deliverables that would help the team achieve this:

• Client and staff personas

• Research report

• Internal literature reviews

• Stakeholder map/ecosystem map

• Stakeholder engagement tools

During this phase, I designed engagement tools that built genuine collaboration with stakeholder groups before, during, and after our initial engagement. I created and sent one-page summaries of our team's background, intentions, purpose, and desired outcomes before the initial meeting with individual stakeholder groups, presentation slides to reiterate our narrative during meetings, and survey feedback loops to encourage further input.

Displaying a genuine effort to collaborate as equals, especially among representatives of minority groups, Māori and Pacifika, proved effective; as their openness to sharing their data grew,  so did the value of our deliverables listed above.

During the exploration phase, we gathered valuable information; however, two key factors shaped our direction. These factors led us to narrow our focus primarily to collecting staff and client experiences related to MSD's two core services, Emergency Housing and Public Housing.

1. Focused prioritisation
   In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSD aimed to address the significant increase in Public Housing registrations and Emergency Housing applications. This urgent need prompted our team to concentrate on just two out of the ten services offered by MSD, enabling us to allocate resources more effectively and maximise our impact during this critical time.
   
   

2. Clear and focused workshop planning
   The challenges we encountered during this phase required us to adopt a more streamlined approach to our workshops. By concentrating on specific objectives and employing targeted strategies, we were able to develop an efficient workshop framework. This approach facilitated the collection of essential data from participants while ensuring that our sessions were both productive and meaningful.

Workshop Planning and Execution

To effectively capture and compare staff and client experiences in Public Housing and Emergency Housing services, we streamlined our workshop approach. Our goal was to establish a consistent data-gathering method across different regions, enabling us to investigate performance variances. 

Team Objectives: 

• Create a workshop agenda.

• Develop participant activities.

• Gather necessary materials.

• Contact participants and staff.

I led the design of the workshops, ensuring that by the end of each session, participants produced journey maps reflecting their Public Housing and Emergency Housing experiences. 

Workshop Methodology

• Comparative data capture
  I designed movable tiles representing steps in the Emergency  Housing and Public Housing processes. Staff and clients arranged these tiles in order, helping to identify missing steps and variations from standardised processes. 

• Experience mapping
  Participants adjusted tiles on the journey map to indicate positive or negative experiences during the process.

• Process Improvement Ideas
  Participants analysed their journey maps and suggested changes to better serve New Zealanders.

The workshop activities and agenda contributed to the service design teams' successful engagement with 152 staff and 28 clients across six regions. The design of the activities allowed the team to compare and contrast regional variance in processes.

Insights were gathered to produce reports and journey maps, then presented at agile demonstrations, allowing stakeholders and subject matter experts to refine information and incorporate insights into their work. The insights feed into five housing initiatives within the housing portfolio, but how many other teams outside the portfolio used our work is unknown.