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The Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions is responsible for growing industries and regions to create jobs. Victorian local governments are responsible for regulatory permits for the state’s 556,000 small businesses, helping them to make their communities vibrant.
Small businesses face a major regulatory burden
Victorian small retail businesses face a regulatory burden estimated at $131 million per year for permits such as planning permission and food safety registration. Councils have been taking an average of 200 days to assess and approve some permits, with some businesses waiting up to 18 months. A lack of integration has meant users have had to deal with multiple departments, prompting frustration. The Victorian Government invited participation from councils who wanted to find ways to make it quick and easy to open a small business without compromising public safety.
Nous used human-centred design to improve processes
Nous developed an approach that helped councils research, design and put changes into practice in just eight weeks; drawing on our expertise in regulatory best practice, design, digital, implementation, change management and evaluation. We:
- worked as a team with council staff and state government using human-centred design to understand how the needs of small business users and council staff could be best met
- put council staff in the shoes of small business users, helping them co-design a solution that fitted customer needs
- gathered feedback from small business customers to further refine the design.
Changes delivered faster small business approvals
Nous reduced the time to approve permits by an average 77 per cent for the first four councils with which we worked, relieving small business users and empowering council staff to take a customer-centred approach to other improvement initiatives. So far more than a dozen Victorian councils have used Nous to help them introduce better approvals and regulators in other states have shown interest. The project was shortlisted for an Institute of Public Administration Australia award for human-centred design service delivery.
What you can learn from the Victorian Government and councils
Customer-centricity helps council staff see and feel their customers’ entire experience rather than just individual interactions.
Sharing high-level ideas with customers to gain further feedback is important to address pain points.
Applied value can be created quickly with the right tools, methodology and mindset.