Principles and Standards
Our Digital Experience Design Principles detail an approach to project design that makes sure your project meets user needs.
Our Principles
If you’re committed to useful and usable services, a human-centred approach is essential.
The Digital Experience Design Principles are a set of nine values that should underpin every digital project that we do.
They focus on two aspects of design:
- the process by which a digital product or service is developed
- the nature of the output produced
Design phases and Standards
Three of the nine principles are overarching tenets that underpin the way that you should approach projects.
The other six can be specifically assessed at three points in the design process, as you establish user needs, then move on to design and develop a solution, testing along the way.
The Standards map directly to the Principles at these key points, and allow you to assess how your project is performing against the Principles.
Addressing the requirements of the Standards means you deliver a digital service which demonstrably meets user needs.
How we designed the Principles and Standards
To come up with these principles and standards, we followed as user-centred methodology in line with the principles themselves. We developed them based on other public sector organisations, including the UK Government’s, building on principles prioritised by the University’s digital development community.
Case study – Evolving prototype digital design standards
Digital Service Standards Government Digital Service
How well the University manages to involve users’ needs, to integrate and align them together with business needs and technical constraints, and then deliver a digital service or product, will ultimately determine the success of a digital experience.