Digital Services Playbook • Client Project • 2026
Digital Services Playbook
Role
UX Researcher & Designer
Team
7 people
Timeline
Jan 2025 - Apr 2025
Skills
UX research
Service design
Information architecture
Prototyping
Figma Prototype
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Overview
The Region of Waterloo had a plan to improve its services, but it was too long and technical for the staff who needed it most.
Challenge
Guidance for delivering services was hard to find and harder to use. Staff juggled Excel, Teams, SharePoint, and email, and the Region's strategy was written in technical language most staff couldn't easily apply.
Approach
We started by reviewing six government playbooks, then ran a staff survey and interviewed our client. Those findings shaped a Figma prototype, which we tested with staff in 4 interviews and improved based on their feedback.
Result
A Digital Services Playbook for the staff intranet, with checklists, templates, and search, presented to the Region at our final presentation.
I reviewed British Columbia's playbook for our comparative analysis, contributed to the staff survey questions, and was also in charge of writing our milestone reports, turning our research into clear updates for the client. On the design side, I helped make sure the playbook screens reflected what staff told us they needed, bringing our research findings into the team's Figma designs.
Problem
The Region of Waterloo is growing, and so is the demand for its services. Its Services Transformation Strategy set out how services should improve, but it was long and technical, and hard for staff without a UX background to apply. Without clear, shared guidance, services were delivered inconsistently.
Research
Research Question
How might we create a service design playbook that is clear and easy to use, and helps employees understand their digital tools, work across teams, and find the right resources while delivering services?
13
6
1
Comparative Analysis
Staff Survey
We surveyed 13 employees. I helped author the survey questions, which asked about the tools they use, the difficulties they run into, and what they'd want from a playbook. For requests that span departments, the most common roadblock was not knowing who to contact (5 of 13). When asked to pick their top formats, 11 chose checklists, 8 visual examples, and 7 templates.
Client Interview
2 of my teammates conducted the client interview, which set the direction. The Region had never had a playbook before, so it needed to reflect Waterloo's own needs, and its language had to work for both technical and non-technical staff.
01
Checklists were the top pick for a future guide (11 of 13), followed by visual examples (8) and templates (7).
02
For requests that span departments, not knowing who to contact was the biggest roadblock (5 of 13). In their own words, staff described waiting on approvals, emails, and finding the right person.
03
Web-based playbooks were easier to navigate, scan, and keep updated. The PDFs had long blocks of text and links that broke over time.
04
No one felt very confident their services were accessible and equitable. 7 of 13 were unsure or not confident at all.
Process
A web-based playbook, because the PDFs we reviewed were harder to navigate and their links broke over time.
Strong search, because staff said finding the right information or person was one of the most time-consuming parts of their work.
A sidebar table of contents with quick links to checklists and templates, since checklists were the top pick for a future guide (11 of 13).
Rough sketches
Low fidelity
How staff feedback reshaped the prototype.
After building our mid-fidelity prototype, we ran 4 interviews with Region staff and had them test it during each session. We noted where they got stuck and how long tasks took. Staff liked how simple and uncluttered the design was, and asked us to keep it that way.
IT Services: The playbook should be staff-only, and staff don't want another separate platform.
Integrating it into the staff intranet with a login
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Keep it simple, and how will modules be ordered?
Keeping the minimal layout and adding module grouping
Communications & web admin: Add a list view and stronger search.
A "switch to multi-page view" option, plus filter and sort tools
Accessibility Specialist: Search should work like Google.
Better search using metadata and spelling correction
The biggest change: at IT's request, the playbook became a staff-only tool inside the intranet.
Solution
A few high-fidelity screens
Problem to Solution
Research finding
In the playbook
11 of 13 staff picked checklists as their top format
A Templates module collects all templates and checklists in one place
7 of 13 were unsure or not confident their services were accessible
A "Delivering Inclusive and Accessible Services" module covers AODA and WCAG 2.1 AA standards
Guidance was spread across Excel, Teams, SharePoint, and email
Everything lives in one place on the intranet, with search
Not knowing who to contact was the top roadblock (5 of 13)
Guidance and step-by-step guides in one place, to reduce confusion over roles
Deliverables to the Client
Interactive Prototype
A clickable Figma prototype of the playbook.
Project Summary
Our research and the reasoning behind each design decision.
Modular Structure
Built to grow, so the Region can add new modules without starting over.
We presented this to the Region at our final presentation.
Reflection
The open-ended questions told us the most
Asking what tools staff use didn't tell us much new, since all 13 use email. The real problems showed up when people answered in their own words. Staff kept describing waiting: on approvals, on back-and-forth emails, and on finding the right person. One respondent pointed out that "client" means different things across the Region, since for some staff it's a partner organization. Multiple-choice questions alone would have missed that.
Using BC's playbook showed me what to fix
Reviewing British Columbia's playbook meant actually using it, and running into its problems myself. That made the issues feel real in a way a checklist wouldn't have. Those frustrations backed up two of our decisions: making the playbook web-based, and adding a sidebar table of contents with quick links to checklists and templates.