General design principles

This Government Lens lists high level design principles that government customers expect to be applied to services being developed with and for them. A version of these principles is found in most governments today and in some jurisdictions. Services can be audited to verify that they comply with service standards. Each principle has one or more questions to consider that support the pillar assessment. The principles outlined in this whitepaper draw from the Australian Digital Service Standard, the Canadian Digital Standards, the New Zealand Digital Service Standard, the UK Government Service Standard, and the US Government Digital Services Playbook. It’s important that builders are aware of the standards for their jurisdiction. It is also worth being aware of the Digital Nations Charter, first signed in 2014 by the Digital Nations cohort, including leading digital government from around the world.