Exploring Design Strategies for Public Sector Professionals

Learning & communicating design in public sector Dr Angela Fernandez-Orviz

EXPECTATIONS LEAP OF FAITH TURNING POINT AWARENESS CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION PRACTICAL APPLICATION ADOPTION? Reflecting on the overall experience and considering further engagement with design Preconceptions, expectations and procurement Understanding and assessing specific strategies and methods Walking the walk: putting methods and strategies into practice

Research question What shaped public sector professionals decisions on whether or not to apply design strategies and methods in the context of their projects?

Policy & Organisational Culture & Structure Wider Socio-political Context Design Type of Project & Context Communication & Artefacts Prior Experiences & Knowledge

Policy & Organisational Culture & Structure Wider Socio-political Context Design Type of Project & Context Communication & Artefacts Prior Experiences & Knowledge

a bit of context

Public sector professionals? Senior management Mid-management Service Providers

Design in public sector? Service Design Design Thinking User-centred Design Strategic Design Co-design Collaborative Design Participatory Design Design Innovation Transformation Design Co-creation

Design-led projects People Centred Makes things Tangible Holistic Participatory Iterative

Design-led projects Consultancy Design training P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6

Projects Triggers Project Area Organisations Changes in policy Social Services Central Government Funding cuts Education Local Government Employee insight Service Integration Improvement agencies Internal Services Charities & other public sector partners Organisational Change Digital services

Awareness & attitudes towards design LOW HIGH AWARENESS Design is for tangible things Exposure to methods Design champions ATTITUDES Appreciate the potential, but still need to be convinced Skeptical Enthusiastic

Communicating Design Learning & Decisions

the learning journey

EXPECTATIONS AWARENESS

LEAP OF FAITH AWARENESS CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION

EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS TURNING POINT AWARENESS CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION PRACTICAL APPLICATION

AWARENESS CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION PRACTICAL APPLICATION ADOPTION?

experiences & lessons

How preconceptions shape procurement Design s contribution How designers work AWARENESS

Expectations of designers contributions Associations design with the production of things Expecting design s contribution at late stages Being surprised that design or designers ask really difficult questions Believing that designers role should not be asking questions, but coming with the answers, producing the thing . Feeling of arriving too late AWARENESS

Expectations of designers approach [1] Designers will ask you what your users need and what you re trying to achieve. [2] Designers go away and sort of pilot it off, ideas of things. [3] And then you ll say I like that, I hate that, can t do that, and why not. [4] And then maybe designers come back with something totally different out of those things. AWARENESS

Diversity in approaches Expert approach Designers from a different agency in their extensive experience working with big organisations, they had learnt that designers, and not staff, had the expertise to devise design solutions that fitted their technical and organisational needs. Collaborative approach A service design agency distanced themselves from a traditional [design] firm, who would take a brief, go away, be creative and come back . Instead, they took organisations with them in the process . AWARENESS

COMMUNICATION EXPECTATIONS AWARENESS Understanding preconceptions to shape accurate expectations

Conceptualising design Learning through association with other (similar) methods in their field Knowledge of other methods can support or limit design comprehension Relevance of context in building comprehension and trust Language and exemplars from other contexts are dismissed CONCEPT

Risk management How design compares to other methods they trust Reverting to methods that are considered more reliable Getting buy-in from colleagues and senior management Lacking the tools to convince others of design s value CONCEPT

Using design Contradictory feelings Design feels similar but different to what they already do Design discovery & collaboration were not what they expected PRACTICE

Going backwards Frustrated of going backwards, expected to move faster into finding a solution Getting stuck, reframing the project beyond scope and needing buy-in Design Discovery: Public Sectors solution-driven approach: to have a problem, go in, and solve it VS finding the roots of the problem Potentially misleading claims about design: Governments often think in terms of problems while service designers prefer to think in terms of solutions . (Thoelen et al., 2016, SPIDER project) PRACTICE

Working with rather than against stakeholders BEFORE Consulting experts and stakeholders in isolation AFTER Bringing experts & stakeholders around the table to think together Complex collaborations with stakeholders feel like herding cats Involving everyone in the design process [ ] creates support of colleagues and removes internal barriers (Thoelen et al., 2016, SPIDER project) Designers seem to assume that everybody is willing to participate in a collaborative creative process (Bailey, 2016, Whitehall). PRACTICE

Challenges for design [1] lack of robust evidence behind design Case studies & successful projects are considered anecdotal evidence [2] lack of information to compare it to other methodologies The people providing the course might not be familiar with those other techniques and processes, and that s my job as somebody who s heard about these two things to figure out the differences. [3] struggling to identify opportunities to use design It would have been helpful to have had a bit of: these are the kinds of scenarios where design thinking approaches can be applied successfully , and made more explicit where it doesn t ADOPTION?

in summary

Ineffective strategies Omission of Context Generalistic claims of value Language and exemplars form other contexts Over-reliance on designers success stories / omission of public sector voices Omission of Complexity Omission of the complexities and challenges of using design in public sector Over-simplification of design to make it easier to understand

Communication Gaps lack of robust evidence behind design lack of information to compare it to other methodologies Lack of clarity on the types of projects where they can use design The need to set accurate expectations

The potential roles of design and designers https://www.aforviz.com/resources

CONTEXTUAL APPROPRIATENESS VALIDITY / RELIABILITY ORGANISATIONAL SUITABILITY COMPARABILITY

Validity / Reliability CONTEXTUAL APPROPRIATENESS Does it work? Is it going to work every time? ORGANISATIONAL SUITABILITY COMPARABILITY

Validity / Reliability Contextual appropriateness Does it work? Is it going to work every time? Is it suitable for this particular project and context? ORGANISATIONAL SUITABILITY COMPARABILITY

Validity / Reliability Contextual appropriateness Does it work? Is it going to work every time? Is it suitable for this particular project and context? Organisational suitability COMPARABILITY Does it fit the institutional culture, standards and constraints?

Validity / Reliability Contextual appropriateness Does it work? Is it going to work every time? Is it suitable for this particular project and context? Organisational suitability Comparability Does it fit the institutional culture, standards and constraints? Do we already use something similar that does the same or a better job?

thank you Aforviz.com @Artmadillo Angela Fernandez Orviz

@PractitionerSt1