Designing for Public Sector: More Than Just a Charm
Five Designers, Researchers, and Writers Share Their Thoughts on Meaningful Design at GovTech Edu
Designing for the public sector might not be something that was commonly talked about in Indonesia five years ago. What does it mean to design in the public sector? Is it really that different from designing in other industries? We sat down with GovTech Edu’s Design and Research Team and discussed how design plays a role in improving education in Indonesia. We learned that design goes beyond designing intuitive interfaces. At GovTech Edu, the focus of design was on understanding contexts so that opportunities could be uncovered for millions of users across the archipelago.
We started with Lody Andrian, the Design Manager at the School Resource Management Tribe. Lody, who has over seven years of experience, stated just how different designing for the public can be in GovTech Edu. “The anchor of GovTech Edu isn’t about making money. Instead, we’re on a mission to build technology products that will support at-scale education transformation in our country. This may sound idealistic, but the reality is much more complex,” he said.
Lody also emphasizes how these purpose-driven goals influence how the GovTech Edu team navigates the product development process. Design goes beyond crafting a delightful and intuitive platform experience; it’s also about the art of influencing the organization so that decisions are made with user sensibilities in mind. It is about driving a vision forward while also remaining realistic enough to deliver products that meet our users’ immediate needs.
GovTech Edu’s Head of Design, Kautsar Anggakara (Angga), couldn’t agree more. “It is true that the problems are more complex because there are so many dependencies and interconnections. As a result, when a problem arises, designers must map it out and situate it within the larger ecosystem before developing a solution.”
Kalista Cendani, Design Manager at Guru Tribe, approaches her work through the art of sequencing. “Here’s what we do: We solve the problems sequentially. As designers, we need to be able to map the gap between existing reality and the vision that we want to push. Designers must understand the current context from the perspective of the users, while also providing sensibility to the organization regarding the sequence of transformation, in order to strike a balance between driving the long-term vision forward and building something immediately useful for our users.”
Finding that balance is only natural given the designer’s role in bridging the gap between the needs of its users and the organization. GovTech Edu’s UX Writer Atika Sulistiyan explained, “Our users are now central to the Ministry’s grand plan, and designers help the vision owners to translate their vision into bite-sized milestones that can provide immediate benefits to the users. It is essential to maintain users’ expectations while also pursuing our long-term vision, which may take generational shifts to really take effect.”
Design that embraces everyone
GovTech Edu works with a diverse set of stakeholders, and meeting all of their needs may necessitate a different approach. Sania Saraswati, the Higher Education Tribe’s Research Manager, discussed how the team overcame this challenge. According to Sania, both public and private universities have many different parts and structures, making it difficult for GovTech’s researchers and designers to keep up. “Thanks to a great collaboration between the Kampus Merdeka team, Datin Dikti, and GovTech Edu’s Policy & Transformation team, we’re able to consistently see the forest for the trees and understand things from multiple perspectives.”
In their daily tasks, these mission-driven designers follow Design Principles that guide the team in developing user-oriented technology products. These guidelines firmly ground the design in the realities of our users and the collaborative design process.
“It is critical that designers understand the user’s readiness for change because not all users are technologically savvy. Even if they are willing to change, designers must determine how far users are willing to go outside of their comfort zone. We must take this into account and determine when to implement such a change at their convenience,” she explained. “Then we can consider other aspects, such as its delight and inclusivity.”
In terms of inclusivity, Sania added that GovTech Edu’s designers consider the users’ cultural aspects as well as local norms. “The question is always which design direction would be universal enough for most of our users, but it’s often the users who know what’s best for them.”
“Inclusive design is important, but often tricky,” Angga said. “In general, we won’t have the full understanding and context to build something that is universally relevant for everyone.” So, when we talk about being inclusive, it’s important to include our users not only in the process of making the product, but also in contributing to enriching the product. For many of our products, we give teachers and other education practitioners the ability to contribute so they can define the context that is most relevant and practical for them.”
A case for Irreversibility
Lody also said, “The value of co-designing and co-contributing with users goes beyond inclusive design. It also warrants irreversibility — which is an important but often overlooked concept in the context of design for the public sector.” Irreversibility is essentially about ensuring the sustainability of our initiatives. It’s about making a lasting impact on what we build, regardless of the change in the government system.
The Guru Tribe team knows this very well. “When we encourage contribution from our users, instead of trying to build everything ourselves, we build a self-sustained ecosystem that can continue regardless of whether we are still here or not,” added Kalista. Beyond that, we believe when we build something that truly adds value to our users, it will eventually become an integral part of their daily lives and no change in the system can take that benefit away from them.
Quality talents for the nation
During the discussion, the team shared some tips on how to be great talents who aspire to make impacts in our nations.
“We always admire those who are willing to constantly learn and try out new things. We’d love to see more people who can adapt quickly to various circumstances, and who can embrace challenges that are unfamiliar and unprecedented,” said Sania and Kalista.
“This job will give you a lot of opportunities to collaborate with each other, as it takes a village to solve really wicked problems. That’s why everyone in GovTech needs to be able to work well with others and have a good attitude about it. It is important for someone to have a strong sense of Gotong Royong,” Tika added.
“Ultimately, we need mission-driven talents who want to be a part of the solution. Those who are giving it their all despite not being in the spotlight. Those with the patience to sow the seeds without necessarily expecting to get credit for the harvest, ” Angga concluded.
