The idea of these storyboards is to show typical user activity before and after the Knowledge Hub. To get an accurate picture of what this could look like, we worked with a number of local authority colleagues, drawing on their experiences to communicate the Knowledge Hub experience and benefits, in language that those working within public services could relate to.

1. Task
TOBY MESSENGER
Toby is asked to cut costs
by 20% for the
Department for
Environmental Health of
which he’s the deputy head,
while maintaining current
levels of service quality
and effectiveness..

2. 1. LEADS MEETING
WITH DEPARTMENT
Toby gets his team together for
an internal meeting and sets out
the challenge. He pulls together
relevant budget and operational
procedures and circulates them
by email.
A PLACE TO SHARE DOCUMENT RATINGS
DOCUMENTS WITHIN AND COMMENTARY
A TEAM, WITH DIFFERENT
LEVELS OF ACCESS

3. 2. CONTACTS
NETWORK OF PEERS
Toby phones his
personal network of peers.
A SPACE WHERE EXPERT
NETWORK CONNECTIONS
ARE MADE &
CONTACTS STORED

4. 3. SEARCHES FOR
INFORMATION & ADVICE
They suggest the IDeA CoP
platform to search for relevant
discussions. He also looks at the
Efficiency Exchange for efficiency
tips and benchmarking data. He is
frustrated at the search on the
CoP platform and the terms used
throughout differ greatly.
REAL LIFE
CASE STUDIES
ARE SUGGESTED

5. 4. REVIEWS LOCAL
STATISTICS & RESEARCH
A Council budget task force meeting
is convened. Toby does preparatory
research by trying to compare local
statistics but finds it hard to find the
right information and gets frustrated
by the time wasted.
LESSONS-LEARNED ALONG MORE POWERFUL SEARCH ENGINE
A TIMELINE & PERCEPTIONS ACROSS A VARIETY OF SUGGESTED
OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES SOURCES. SEARCHING IN PLAIN
ENGLISH OR EXPERT TERMS

6. 5. ATTENDS TASK
FORCE MEETING
Toby attends the task force
meeting and is keen to share
some of his ideas (but not too
much), but mainly to see what
others offer. During the
meeting another member
has a great idea for getting
together with other councils
and sharing service provision.
He’s keen to use it and make
it his own.
COLLABORATION GETTING ACCESS TO
ENCOURAGED THROUGH PEERS QUICKER & IN A
RECIPROCAL SHARING WIDER NETWORK

7. 6. MEETINGS WITH
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
There are lots of face-to-face
meetings within his local authority,
particularly within AGMA. He talks
to peers in a monthly meeting,
but finds others’ varying level
of knowledge and support
frustrating. It’s taking too
long to get ideas agreed.
VIRTUAL WEBMEETINGS. USE OF NETWORK
ABILITY TO SHARE IDEAS AHEAD DECISION-MAKING
OF MEETINGS & TO SEE WHO TOOLS
IS ATTENDING

8. 7. OUTLINES A PLAN
FOR GREATEST GAIN
Toby takes his work home and
begins to make a list of information
he needs to back up his case, the
different service options he might
investigate and the different
councils he might work with. He’s
looking for the easiest option with
the greatest gain.
TEMPLATE PLANNING
CHECKLISTS & BUSINESS
EFFICIENCY
BOOKMARKING

9. 8. FIRMS UP PLANS BY
BENCHMARKING
The following weeks are spent
benchmarking his department
using CIPFA and collating reference
material that he can cut and paste
into his work. He gets frustrated
with some data being public,
others are private; that some
resources have multiple logins; and
that they are organised in different
ways. He’d prefer to have some
control on how information is
organised and displayed.
EASILY ORGANISED & CUSTOMISED WAYS TO MAP
INFORMATION & DOCUMENTS RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
BASED ON YOUR STORED INFORMATION
PROFILE & PREVIOUS INTERESTS

10. 9. PERFORMS SWAT
ANALYSIS ON TWO STRATEGIES
He decides to create two strategies,
one higher risk option and a second
safer option. A SWOT analysis is
performed on each option to add to
the slide deck he is preparing.
TRUSTED EXPERTS CAN LINKS TO SOURCE DATA
CRITIQUE & SUPPORT USED IN PRESENTATIONS
SWOT & MODELLING TOOLS

11. 10. PREPARES PRESENTATION
FOR MEETING
Toby presents both solutions to a
portfolio holder. Before the
meeting he looks for a
presentation that generally
explains the work carried out by
environmental health, as he’s been
frustrated by meetings in the past.
EASY CATALOGUING
& RETRIEVAL OF
PRESENTATIONS

12. 11. PRESENTS TO
PORTFOLIO HOLDER
A big proportion of his time is
often spent educating people
about the work his team
undertakes, rather than the
specific issue he has to raise.
The portfolio holder gives him
permission to turn the solutions
into a detailed business case.
A TOOL TO MAKE
FIT-TO-PURPOSE
PRESENTATIONS

13. 12. SHARES PLANS
WITH COUNCILS
His thoughts start to get
shared with other councils, but
getting the complete picture of
different services in different
areas isn’t easy.
DATA COMPARISON TOOLS
& COMMON DATA FORMATS

14. 13. PRODUCES A TONED DOWN
REPORT & SHARES THIS
WITH FULL COUNCILS
Toby produces a toned down
report with his recommendations
and research and shares this with
the full council and his peers
across other councils for review.
ABILITY TO SHARE COMMENTS & RATINGS
INFORMATION & DATA
AS RESPONSES

15. A presentation bought
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