SERVICE STANDARD · POINT 6
Have a multidisciplinary team
A service is not a website built by developers alone. You need the people who understand users, policy, content, technology, and operations working together with the authority to make decisions.
Bring together the skills needed to design, build, and run the service: user research, design, content, engineering, and policy at minimum. The team should be empowered to make decisions without constant escalation.
Multidisciplinary teams include at least user research, design, content design, engineering, and policy — often plus delivery management and operations. The team should be stable enough to build shared context rather than rotating specialists in and out for tickets.
Empowerment matters as much as composition. If every decision requires committee approval, the team cannot respond to research at the pace users need.
How teams usually demonstrate this
- Named roles covering research, design, content, engineering, and policy
- Evidence of collaborative decision-making, not hand-offs between silos
- Team capacity to continue through Beta and into Live
- Access to subject matter experts without excessive escalation
Phases where this often matters
See also delivery phase guides and how frameworks fit together.
Related standard points
- Point 7: Use agile ways of working
- Point 8: Iterate and improve frequently
- Point 14: Operate a reliable service
Point 6 of the Service Standard is published by the Government Digital Service on GOV.UK. Content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. UCD Services explains the standard in its own words and is not affiliated with GOV.UK or the Government Digital Service.