Digital agency Liquid Interactive has designed an award winning digital solution to improve workplace culture in partnership with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC).

The Ripple app asks government employees to answer one question at the beginning of the day about their workplace culture and practices. After answering, they are shown data from how others in their department and across the Australian Public Service have responded to the same question.

As a result, employees are encouraged to reflect on their work and discuss the questions posed by Ripple, which contributed to positive cultural change.

Liquid Interactive managing director Michael Burke said the APSC had approached the team with a tough challenge – asking them to help create a high-performance culture across more than 31 Federal Government departments with 160,000 employees.

“With an elegant digital design solution, employees answered a simple question while making a coffee or travelling to work, and then they discussed the results with their co-workers,” Mr Burke said.

“More than 70 per cent of participants engaged with the app nearly every day and 50 per cent credited Ripple with creating noticeable changes in their workplace behaviour.”

He said the feedback was extremely positive, with the majority of participants reporting they would recommend it to others.

“It’s an innovative way to connect the Australian Public Service Commission and grow current reflections on leadership and the way we work,” according to one participant.

Mr Burke said the high number of daily participants using the app proved that its simple interface and seamless integration into a daily routine had been the key to its success.

“We knew that as soon as the app started to feel like a chore, it would have lost its effectiveness,” Mr Burke said.

In recognition of its outstanding design and innovation, the Ripple app has won the 2018 Good Design Gold Award in Digital Design.

According to the Good Design Awards Jury, Ripple’s “simple, elegant, efficient interface” provided impressive accessibility, creating the “real potential for improving team performance”.

“This is a great example of pushing design forward in the context of government workplace and workplace technology,” the Good Design Awards Jury said.

APSC group manager of Strategic Projects Caroline Walsh said Ripple’s success could be credited to the close collaboration between Liquid Interactive and the APSC during the two-year development process.

She said the partnership with Liquid Interactive had ensured one app produced big results.

“Ripple was based on the idea that productive dialogue begins with a good question and this philosophy drove the entire process,” Ms Walsh said.

Ms Walsh said users made observable improvements in seven of thirteen identified indicators of performance, such as improved motivation and engagement.