10 Apr 2016

Digital design principles

In our quest to become more user centric and digital, we’ve been inspired by the design principles published by GOV.UK.

We're a membership society and we work in the context of a community that includes our creators, music publishers and businesses that use music around the world. We bring together a community with a common interest to ensure that music thrives and creators are fairly remunerated. This requires us to be open, trusted and reliable. Like the government, the contexts we operate in can be complex and involve creating solutions that work for the many, not just the few.

Becoming PRS Digital is a journey and our design principles guide us on this journey.

Focus on user needs
Start small
Fight for simple
Build services
Be consistent
Remain open and flexible

1. Focus on user needs

We start with users. Finding out what they need is the first step to building the right thing. We want to provide services that help enable creators and music publishers to protect and track the use of their music around the world. We also want businesses to be able to use our members’ music in ways that respect copyright and the value of music. We research user needs to help us understand how to change and what to develop.

2. Start small

We're using data to underpin our design decisions in every way possible, but our designs will still need to be adapted based on usage and feedback. We believe the best way to allow for this is to start small and iterate. We still need to ensure our solutions are fit for purpose in the long term so these incremental changes will be built on new technologies and services. Once these technologies and services have been established, we will release viable products to users and then continually develop. Releasing services in this way enables us to reduce risk and understand what works for our users. If something isn’t working, we'll learn from it and make further changes.

3. Fight for simple

We appreciate that rights management is inherently complex. Our job is to strive to make the complicated as simple as possible, avoiding jargon and tailoring content as far as possible to the user.

4. Build services

We want to design services. We believe that our role is to enable music creators and music users to interact and do business. This means integrating as far as possible the means for enabling these transaction using quick and efficient services.

5. Be consistent

We have a reputation for reliability. This means using the same language and design patterns to make it easier and quicker for users to become familiar with a new service or to understand information. We will do the work to provide a cohesive experience to users.

6. Remain open and flexible

We work in a fast changing industry. Our members and customers value our approach because we have a track record of being transparent and responsive. We will remain open, providing access to information, open to new ideas and change.