Digital services

How we’re helping people and businesses get help from APHA with sustainable design

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: Digital services, Digital transformation, User centred design
Eight people from the Customer Advice Team and Improving Customer Experience team stand together in an office workspace against an orange wall. Behind the group are filing cabinets, a large potted plant, a wall clock, and a wall-mounted monitor displaying a performance dashboard. The people are arranged in a row facing the camera, wearing a mix of casual and business-casual clothing.

Senior content designer Eleanor Shakeshaft and senior service designer Ibarieze Abani from the APHA improving customer experience team discuss how they’re improving the way customers get support when they can't find the answers they need online.

Services Week: What we are learning about introducing sustainability into service assessments

A man with a microphone addressing a room of people.

Sustainable Design Lead Ned Gartside looks ahead to Services Week 2026, where he will be leading a session to talk about Defra’s recent introduction of a 15th Service Standard point focused on sustainability.

Making every customer call count through more joined-up data

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra digital, Digital services, Digital transformation

Kieran Lewis reflects on a recent project to integrate multiple data sources into a single Customer Relationship Management interface, improving call centre efficiency and customer experience by saving time per call and allowing agents quicker access to relevant information, and with ongoing and further improvements still to come.

Using AI sustainably: how Defra’s Action Finder tool has shown a net positive impact is possible

Two Defra product managers talk about a recent project exploring sustainable AI development and its potential to reduce the impact our digital services have on the world around us.

Improving Customer Experience in APHA – Delivering Outcomes with commercial “off-the-shelf” products

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Defra digital, Defra Forms, Digital services
A headshot of Sam Brett

Sam Brett is a Project Manager in APHA’s transformation programme, Delivering Sustainable Futures. In this blog, he reflects on his experience of improving how customers contact the organisation when they need help or advice. At the Animal and Plant Health …