30 March 2009

Centrelink conducts experiments on Tuggeranong Clientele

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A concept lab is where you try out new ideas and see if they work as you expect. The Centrelink Concept Lab is next door to the Tuggeranong Centrelink Office in Tuggeranong Square.

Whatever can they be trialling?

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its a Usability lab – so Centrelink (DHS) can test websites with end-users – it has a one-way glass mirror so APS staff can observe (and possibly toss off) while watching them. I have been there as an ‘observer’ and also as an ‘end-user’ (I was asked to come in to review a Child Support form in a focus group)

bd84 said :

TP 3000 said :

The Centrelink Tuggeranong is different as the colours inside set out like the 2 Houses of Parliament. With 1 side being all red & the other being all green. It does also have a coffee shop in it, which I think is useless as most people are broke by the time they are lodging their dole forms.

But it is better then Centrelink Gungahlin which has lots of tables, etc & 2 staff members.

Yeah, I think it would be more successful if they installed a bar and some pokies instead of the coffee shop. One stop shop..

Lest we forget that a lot of gainfully employed folks use centrelink services for processing childcare benefits etc…

One point to add is when I pointed out the colour scheme to the workers there, they didn’t realize that.

TP 3000 said :

The Centrelink Tuggeranong is different as the colours inside set out like the 2 Houses of Parliament. With 1 side being all red & the other being all green. It does also have a coffee shop in it, which I think is useless as most people are broke by the time they are lodging their dole forms.

But it is better then Centrelink Gungahlin which has lots of tables, etc & 2 staff members.

Yeah, I think it would be more successful if they installed a bar and some pokies instead of the coffee shop. One stop shop..

The Centrelink Tuggeranong is different as the colours inside set out like the 2 Houses of Parliament. With 1 side being all red & the other being all green. It does also have a coffee shop in it, which I think is useless as most people are broke by the time they are lodging their dole forms.

But it is better then Centrelink Gungahlin which has lots of tables, etc & 2 staff members.

Responding to a great conspiracy theory with a truckload of FACTS? That’s just wrong.

The Tuggeranong Governmnet Shopfront seems to be using the same Customer Service model. It’s a nice change.

Although I’m really enjoying the ideas thrown around by this discussion, I can tell you, as someone who has been in that door that there is only 6 desks and a small kitchenette out the back.

The Centrelink shopfront next door is known as a “concept office” – go in there if you like (you paid for it), it’s the very model of customer service.

As soon as you walk in the door someone will approach you and if it is something simple (e.g. change of address) they will perform that straight away on their handheld terminals, or if your business is a little more complicated, they’ll ask you to take a seat until you are called – you can even have a coffee while you wait. There are also internet terminals for online banking or writing up your resume.

The concept lab which has stirred all this discussion is just a place for the project teams to work from when new technologies are being trialled.

Shouldn’t that sign read: “Centrelink Contraception Lab”?

I have often thought that Centrelink could save money in the long run if then offered 20% extra in your fortnightly payment if you take compulsory contraception.

Someone would start whinging about ethics though.

AngryHenry said :

Testing facility for Zombie vaccine.

well, that is a FAIL.

Shouldn’t that sign read: “Centrelink Contraception Lab”?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:15 am 30 Mar 09

It’s kinda cute how they refer to some of the drug-farked dole bludgers that go in there as ‘clients’.

Testing facility for Zombie vaccine.

A number of fast food franchises) do this in Canberra pretty regularly – try out new concepts (food, but also service methods and the rest) and see how everything goes. Best to trial new ideas in practice before going national with them.

Makes sense to me.

It might be a trial where the staff are allowed to entertain the idea that the customers aren’t all there to rip the system off and should therefore don’t need to be treated like the enemy from the start of the conversation until the end.

A googling of the tuggeranong centrelink concept lab revealed the following:

According to this (page 13-14), the whole Tuggeranong office is a “concept office”, offering a “friendlier and more relaxed” atmosphere for collecting your handouts. You get to wait in a “virtual waiting room” while you “do business”!

There is also a reference to the Tuggeranong Experiment here, saying that “the Concept Office Laboratory provides Centrelink with a test facility embedded in the service delivery network, allowing trials and evaluation of service delivery initiatives”.

Sounds like a public service box-ticking exercise to me…

Maybe they’re trialling a program for turning bikies into bankers or some such… Tuggeranong seems to be the place to find the subjects…

Just be suspicious if they want to implant a chip under your skin…

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster9:05 am 30 Mar 09

“Concept lab”?? Is this anything like a “wellness centre”?

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