Service design maps

1. A numbered service stage with a representative icon

Describe the stage in detail. Capture any pain points and improvement ideas. "Include verbatim quotes from research."

Optional: include an emoji for how the person is feeling at this stage.

Backstage - a policy or legal factor (grey)

Backstage - a technical factor, such as a database (green)

Time-based process (blue)

Pain point or blocker (pink)

1. Something goes wrong and the tenant wants to tell the landlord.

Pain points: "I've never met my landlord, I don't know how to get hold of them."

Complaints are regulated by the Housing Ombudsman

Housing associations offer different contact methods - in person, phone and online

2. Search for contact information

The tenant searches for contact details for the landlord and complaints information

Channels can include:

• in person
• online
• by phone
• through chat/messenger
• by letter

The online experience might be poor or hard to navigate

3. Make a complaint

The tenant makes the complaint. If they don't speak to someone directly they need to wait for a response.

The landlord has up to five working days to reply to the complaint.

4. Response received

The tenant received a response from their landlord clarifying their understanding of the complaint and what will happen next.

5. Speak directly to an investigating staff member

The investigating staff member talks directly to the tenant to discover better what's gone wrong.

The landlord has up to ten working days from acknowledging the complaint to investigate.

Landlords need to be clear about how and when a tenant wants to be contacted. Consider texting them to confirm.

6. The landlord gives the tenant a written stage 1 complaint outcome

The Housing Officer defines the content.

The landlord speaks to the tenant to help improve the complaints process and improve any services that led to the complaint

7. The tenant escalates the complaint to stage 2

If the tenant's still unhappy they can escalate the complaint further.

A different member of staff takes on the complaint and writes to the tenant.

The landlord has up to five working days to acknowledge the escalation.

8. The investigating housing officer speaks to the tenant.

They then investigate the complaint.

The landlord has up to 20 working days from acknowledging the escalation to resolve the complaint.

9. The landlord sends the tenant the stage 2 complaint outcome.

They can use several channels to do this. They use content defined by the Housing Officer.

10. The landlord resolves the complaint.

They speak to the tenant to resolve any issues which led to the complaint and improve the complaints process.