10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data

Work out what success looks like for your service and identify metrics which will tell you what’s working and what can be improved, combined with user research.

Collect and use performance data from all channels, online and offline.

Iterate and improve your metrics and data collection practices as you learn more about user needs.

Why it’s important

Defining what good looks like and identifying appropriate metrics means that you’ll know whether the service is solving the problem it’s meant to solve.

Collecting the right performance data means you’ll be alerted to potential problems with your service. And when you make a change to the service, you’ll be able to tell whether it had the effect you expected.

Publishing performance data means that you’re being transparent about the success of services funded by public money. And people can make comparisons between different government services.

What it means

Service teams should:

• identify metrics which will indicate how well the service is solving the problem it’s meant to solve, and track performance against them
• use performance data to make decisions about how to fix problems and improve the service

Central government services must also publish data on the mandatory key performance indicators.