Making ourselves redundant:

Delivering impact by building design capabilities

We are FutureGov The digital and design company for public services.

Aren’t we designers running the risk of making ourselves redundant?

Which skills

Part 1

Discover

• Developing a research plan

• Doing ethnographic research

• Doing guerrilla research

• Gaining empathy • Creating and

sharing insights

Define

• Identifying problems based on user needs

• Prioritising and focusing on a problem

• Writing design briefs

Develop ideas • Developing good

ideas • Facilitating Co-

creating • Visualising ideas • Gathering

inspiration

Deliver

• Prototyping • Planning and

managing projects in an agile way

• Developing and implementing minimum viable services

Sharing skills along the design process

Discover

The difference

Market research What people say

What people will buy

Large sample sizes

Broad insights

Design research What people do

How people use a service

Small sample sizes

Deep, focused insight

Sharing skills along the design process

Define

Sharing skills along the design process

Develop ideas

Imagine…

… a country, where getting married is a long and winded process.

Imagine… a wedding robot.

Writing stuff on a post it doesn’t make it a good idea.

Sharing skills along the design process

Deliver

The difference

Piloting At the end of a process, as part of implementation

Large investment

Feedback to do small tweaks

Entire service

Prototyping Early in the process, as part of the design process

Small investment

Feedback to iterate and overhaul

Single aspects

WORKS

uae prototype

Discover Define Deliver Develop ideas

100% transferability

50%

0%

HowPart 2

Give them a toolkit and templates.

Our tip

DON’T EVERgive them a toolkit and templates.

Our tip

Service Design is not a toolkit. It’s a mindset.

Thinking like a designer

Empathy over data

Curiosity over knowledge

Experimentation over planning

Doing over thinking

Instinct over certainty

Chaos over order

4 lessons

Stuff I’ve learned

Don’t facilitate.

1

Do the work.

Don’t create an innovation Ghetto.

2

Invite everyone interested.

Don’t only focus on frontline staff.

3

but include everyone.

Include middle management.

Don’t be dogmatic.

4

Do whatever works.

Things to take away

Conclusion

Sharing skills and building capabilities

Success is when you are not needed anymore.

Mindset first - toolkit later.

Do the work - together.

Bring in others - especially middle managers.

People won’t become a designer in a day.

Are we designers running the risk of making ourselves redundant?

Are we designers running the risk of making ourselves redundant?

No.

WhyPart 3

Include skills transfer in any service design project. (Even if it you haven’t been asked to do so)

Stuff we learned

… because our work is less likely to end up in a drawer.

Thank you!

@FutureGov  @SimoneCarrier