User needs and digital skills

What support do your users need?

If your service users aren't confident digitally, or if they don't have much experience with the devices you can offer, you can help them make the most of the devices by providing skills support where possible. If you want to do a deeper dive on your user needs you can do the Essential Digital Skills for Life check-up with the people you support.

Offering one-to-one or group training can make a big difference to how well your service users get on with their devices and will work differently for each person. Govan Housing Association's digital lending library project found that offering an introductory session showing people round the device and then follow-up sessions every 2 weeks really helped. It allowed people to follow up with questions or explain any issues they'd had with the device, and provided a specific time for them to bring these up. It also allows you to check on the condition of the device and make sure it's the right one for their needs.

You can also provide onboarding guides or starter packs for your users, which explain the step-by-step set-up of their device, its basic functionality and tips for getting started. Users who are not very confident may be at a bit of a loss initially, so some ideas grouped around interests or tasks can be helpful in overcoming this. For example, include tips on how to find videos on YouTube or how to use a search engine to research a specific topic.

Finally, clarity and transparency in your communication and loan agreement will help to reassure potential borrowers who may worry about damaging or losing a device. Be clear about what happens in each case and consider carefully how you will manage liability (read more in 'Managing risks'). It is likely that the people who will benefit the most from a loaned device are on a low income and may be put off by possible fees or fines.

What digital skills do your staff have?

Your staff are one of the most vital resources that you have, in any organisation. When you're considering your lending library and how it will be run, it's good to know about the level of digital skills your staff have and how they might be expected to use them.

A quick way to look at your staff skills is to have them go through the Essential Digital Skills checkups for both life and work. These will take them through the most common digital skills that we use daily whether at home or in the office. If your staff are confident with what they know, what they don't know, and their ability to look for assistance online, then they're more likely to be able to help your service users get to grips with any issues they might have with using their borrowed devices.

You don't have to be technically adept with every single digital skill to set up and run a lending library - a working knowledge of how to problem solve, a good bank of resources and a willingness to learn alongside a service user will get you almost anywhere you need in the majority of situations. Relying on just one or two people or your own IT staff will mean longer wait times for assistance and increase the workload of a small number of staff.