This article is part of the 2025 Report: GovCX Trailblazers Case Studies, published by the International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government. The report aims to advance the global dialogue on Customer Experience (CX) in the public sector by highlighting innovative practices from around the world and setting benchmarks to help governments strengthen their CX initiatives.
Turning Standards into Practice
Martin Jordan is the Head of Design & User Research at the German government’s Digital Service in Berlin, where he leads efforts to embed inclusive, user-centered approaches across the public sector. His work spans over a decade of transforming how governments in both Germany and the United Kingdom approach public service delivery, particularly during moments that matter most in people’s lives.
At the core of his work lies a powerful insight: government services are only as good as the standards, systems, and communities that uphold them. Martin has led the development and implementation of national service quality standards in both countries, helping embed modern design methods, consistent expectations, and professional capabilities across institutions.
“Without binding standards, people using government services have very mixed experiences. They don’t know what to expect after the next click on a government website or when dealing with other touchpoints.”
From 2020 to 2022, Martin served as service owner for the UK government’s Service Standard and GOV.UK Service Manual. From 2022 to 2025, he spearheaded the fundamental redevelopment of the German federal Service Standard, bringing together over 40 public and private sector organizations and culminating in a law-introduced statutory instrument that now guides how public services are delivered nationwide.
How It Works
Service standards in both countries are more than policy documents, they are practical frameworks that guide multidisciplinary teams through designing, testing, and improving public services.
Martin’s work emphasized embedding these standards into day-to-day delivery by creating an ecosystem of support, capability-building, and shared accountability. His teams launched a suite of tools and programs that helped make the standards actionable, accessible, and sustainable, including:
- The UK’s first public sector service design training program, equipping over 2,000 public servants to build and redesign services based on user needs.
- Services Week in the UK, an annual event series since 2019, where 3,000+ public servants from 35+ government organizations come together for workshops, talks, and collaborative sessions on service design.
- A peer review scheme in Germany, launched in 2023, where in-house multidisciplinary experts from across public agencies evaluate services during development; sharing best practices and creating cross-agency learning.
- Service Thursday, a remote international learning format that collected over 300 case studies of service design practices to support tens of thousands of civil servants across borders.
“Government standards can only ever be as impactful as the networks of civil servants that carry them forward.”
His approach centers on empowering civil servants not just to use the standards, but to own them, fostering a living, evolving culture of service quality.
Transformative Impact
The impact of Martin’s work can be measured not just in service improvements, but in system-wide shifts in how governments approach public delivery.
In the UK, the adoption of the Service Standard and GOV.UK Manual helped establish clear, consistent expectations for digital services, building trust and transparency. The accompanying training and Services Week programming significantly increased service literacy and cross-government collaboration.
In Germany, the introduction of a legally binding federal standard marked a new level of maturity in public service reform, one that bridges policy, practice, and people. The peer review model created a sustainable loop of improvement, where agencies now learn from one another during delivery, rather than waiting until services are launched.
“Work on service quality standards takes a lot of time and effort. But when implemented well and iterated, they can vastly improve people’s experience of interacting with government.”
What Made It Work?
Several enablers contributed to the success and sustainability of these efforts:
- Community-first strategy: Instead of pushing standards from the top down, Martin built networks of practice across government—training, connecting, and supporting service teams in applying them.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration: The standards are based on iterative, team-based design methods, bringing together policy, design, technology, and research to focus on real user needs.
- Long-term investment in capacity: His work emphasized not just writing standards, but supporting their implementation and evolution—a departure from typical short-term, project-based funding models.
Senior-level sponsorship: in both countries, high-level political backing played a critical role.
“Senior sponsorship is essential for standards and service quality to thrive.”
In Germany, the federal CIO at state secretary level backed the initiative; in the UK, the Head of the Civil Service endorsed Services Week.
Roadblocks & Breakthroughs
The journey has not been without challenges. Among the most persistent:
-
- Standards without governance:
“Standards need to be tied to governance and embedded in culture. Otherwise, they will be ignored or forgotten, and the quality of public service will decline quickly.”
In response, Martin emphasized linking standards to formal governance structures and shared accountability across departments. - Short-termism:
Governments often fund standards work as a project, not a system. But publishing a standard is just the beginning; implementation takes years. Martin’s model stresses long-term planning and iteration to ensure real uptake. - Siloed implementation:
In both countries, service teams sometimes applied standards inconsistently. Peer review, community events, and shared KPIs helped foster a culture of collaboration and continuous learning, reducing fragmentation.
- Standards without governance:
When viewed through the lens of the International CX Model, Martin’s work advances progress across multiple dimensions, most notably: Direction as the creation and institutionalization of service standards reflect a strong strategic vision for CX and public service transformation. Senior sponsorship, priority setting, and governance mechanisms were essential to embedding these standards across sectors and departments.
As for the Development dimension: Implementation was backed by training, peer learning, and community-based tools ensuring capacity building and iterative improvement. The peer review mechanism in Germany is a standout example of operationalizing service quality.
Key Takeaways
This cross-country case shows that raising service quality requires more than good intentions, it requires structure, support, and staying power. Martin Jordan’s work offers clear lessons for any government seeking to embed CX at scale:
-
- Standards alone are not enough. They must be supported by training, governance, and continuous community engagement to become real, lived practice.
- Service quality is a long game. To improve experiences across government, investment must go beyond one-off reforms and focus on evolution, not just publication.
- Senior sponsorship reduces friction. High-level political support helps overcome resistance and accelerate adoption across the system.
- Culture change happens through people.
Through a blend of policy design, human-centered practice, and community building, Martin Jordan is helping ensure that the next click, form, or call with the government is one citizens can trust.
”Government standards can only ever be as impactful as the networks of civil servants that carry them forward.
Explore Trailblazer Martin Jordan
“Without binding standards, people using government services have very mixed experiences. They don’t know what to expect after the next click on a government website or when dealing with other touchpoints.”
“Government standards can only ever be as impactful as the networks of civil servants that carry them forward.”
“Work on service quality standards takes a lot of time and effort. But when implemented well and iterated, they can vastly improve people’s experience of interacting with government.”
“Senior sponsorship is essential for standards and service quality to thrive.”.”
“Standards need to be tied to governance and embedded in culture. Otherwise, they will be ignored or forgotten, and the quality of public service will decline quickly.”