Why use design in the public sector?

In our CoLab Exchange session on Monday we will be exploring creativity, collaboration and something called ‘design thinking’ (which might sound a bit slick, or perhaps even fluffy but is actually very realistically and helpfully rooted in the real life experiences of people). It therefore feels a good moment to share this great publication: Design for Public Good.

Produced by the Design Council, Design for Public Good presents “a series of case studies and tools to enhance the understanding of design for public sector innovation and facilitate the integration of its methods into mainstream practice”. The authors explain that:

“Societies today face common challenges in delivering the best possible quality of life in a way that is economically sustainable. Design thinking offers a highly effective methodology for squaring this circle and connecting with citizens — at all levels of the public sector, and from services to policy…

No longer just an add-on, design has evolved into a fully joined-up innovation methodology. There is increasing understanding in the private sector of the enormous value this adds, even in areas not traditionally seen as the preserve of design such as services. Likewise, and for similar reasons, it is increasingly clear in the public sector that design thinking is the way to overcome common structural flaws in service provision and policymaking.”

Design for Public Good introduces a Public Sector Design Ladder (see below) and brings it to life through 12 short and fascinating case studies. There are also some great provocations in the introduction, re-quoted below.

“Creativity is the generation of new ideas. Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. Design is what links creativity and innovation. It shapes ideas to become practical and attractive propositions for users or customers.” — Sir George Cox, former UK Design Council Chairman

“We genuinely believe that public sector leaders need to acquire design skills if they are to stand a reasonable chance of reshaping and refashioning the services for which they are responsible. Design offers a fresh approach to rethinking policy, redrawing professional practice and reshaping service delivery.” — Barry Quirk, Chief Executive of Lewisham Council, London

“Our challenge today lies in our ability to move into uncharted territory, rather than improve the existing. How else will our ageing society be able to meet growing service needs with a diminishing tax base? How will we meet our sustainability challenge within an energy and resource dependent economy? These are not efficiency challenges, but rather redesign challenges. We will have to clarify our attitude towards risk. Doing new things has an associated risk, but doing nothing is arguably much riskier.” — Marco Steinberg, Director of Internal Strategic Design, SITRA

“I think in the past there’s been an assumption that if it’s in the public sector it doesn’t have to be as good as in the private sector. That is ridiculous. As designers, we’re working to make people’s lives better; we’re working to save billions of pounds. The ambition should be sky high.” — Ben Terrett, Head of Design, UK Government Digital Service