What does it take to improve existing public services? Or create new ones which better address citizens’ needs? Which stakeholders need to be involved in order to have real impact? Which organisational set-up is required to create public value? After recently visiting the ‘Politics for Tomorrow’ conference and being deeply inspired, we invited to an evening on ‘Designing services for the public’. While we discussed the basics in a meet-up two years ago, we took it a step further this time. What can we learn from international government labs for Germany? What are the pressing issues which need to be addressed? How can we as service designers contribute to this change? Looking at examples from other parts of the world our very own Katrin Dribbisch and Martin Jordan pitched idea of running a ‘Public Service Lab’ in summer 2016 in Berlin. The event took place in the brand-new office of Fjord Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg.

1. Service
Design
Berlin
FJ O R D / O C TO B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 5
Designing Services
for the Public
Katrin Dribbisch
Martin Jordan

2. Where are we?

3. Who are we to talk about this topic?
Katrin
PhD Candidate,
University of
Potsdam
Martin
MBA Candidate,
Laurea University,
Espoo / Finland

4. Interview your neighbour
for 2 minutes
What was your last positive interaction
with a governmental service?

5. Public Services

6. What? EX A M P L E S E C TO R S
Law enforcement Fire service Education
Public libraries Public transit Waste managementPublic broadcasting
Urban planning Water supply Gas & electricity Social services
Health care
Icons: Jan Windisch, Jamie Hamilton, Luis Prado, Jayson Lim, Benjamin Brandt, Ofer Lehr / The Noun Project

7. What? D E F I N I T I O N
— W I K I P E D I A
‘Public Service’
“A public service is a service which is provided
by government to people living within its
jurisdiction, either directly (through the
public sector) or by financing private provision
of services.”

8. Politics for Tomorrow - a learning space for co-cre
Das 21. Jahrhundert verlangt nach neuen Denk- und Handlungs
plexität und beschleunigte Veränderungsdynamiken bringen He
VERANSTALTUNG
Innovative Approaches in Policy Making
P litics f r T m rr w° ° ° °°
Recap

9. Why? P U B L I C S E R V I C E D E S I G N
engaging citizens
saving money
meeting needs
humanising services
Icons: Brock Kenzler / The Noun Project

10. “We don’t only need politics for tomorrow,
but as well citizenship of tomorrow.”
— S A B I N E J U N G I N G E R
P ro fe s s o r, B u s i n e s s a n d D e s i g n

11. “The challenges we face:
People’s expectations go up,
while government’s budgets go down.”
— A DA M WA LT H E R
I n n ovat i o n Co n s u l t a n t , F u t u re G ov

12. Usage of digital offerings in Europe
0
25
50
75
100
Europeans
with Facebook
account
EU citizens using
e-gov offerings
Estonia’s
active
eID cards
94%
41%
35%
Source: European Commission (2014); McKinsey

13. “There is a global contest to lead
the next revolution in governance.”
— P H I L I P P E N A R VA L
M a n ag i n g D i r e c t o r, F o r u m A l p b ac h

14. Reasons for not using
e-government offerings
Low usability /
prefer personal touchpoint
Missing IT experience
Missing knowledge about offerings
Concerns about data security
0 20 40 60 80
11%
21%
24%
80%
Source: McKinsey & Company, “E-Government in Deutschland: Eine Bürgerperspektive”, 2015

16. Design in the
public sector
Examples

17. Denmark: MindLab
How can we better assist young jobseekers?

18. A look behind the scenes:
Example for User Research
Content: MindLab conducted a user study
for the Danish Employment Agency to
understand young unemployed people
Method: qualitative research methods &
ethnographic interviews
Output: a concept for a digital mentoring
programme

19. UK: Alzheimer 100 project
How can we improve the dementia patient
experience?
Source:Tan/Szebeko 2009

20. A look behind the scenes:
Example for Co-Design
Content: creative solutions to the
challenges presented by Alzheimer’s
Method: storytelling, personas, co-design
workshops
Output: working in co-design teams
including people with dementia, carers,
service providers

21. Singapore: Ministry of Manpower
How can we enhance the work visa application
process for foreign citizens?

22. A look behind the scenes:
Example for Prototyping and Testing
Content: Ministry of Manpower in Singapore
collaborated with IDEO to improve the
processing of work passes, including the
design of a new service centre
Methods: spatial prototypes, service walk-
throughs, user testing
Outcome: a new service centre

23. Methods along the design processProblem
Solution
ProblemDefinitionDesignBrief
Discover Define Develop Deliver

24. Artefact
Product
Interior
Fashion
Jewellery
Graphic
Web & New Media
Artefact &
Experience
Engineering
Interaction Design
Human Computer Interaction
User Experience
Anthropological Design
Human Centred Design
Systems &
Behaviour
Urban Planning
Service Design
Architecture
SMEs
Strategic Design
Culture
Large
Scale
Systems
Policy Design
Systems Design
Environment
Public Service Infrastructure
LevelofComplexity
M O D E L
Stratification of
Design (Thinking)
— S. Di Russo (2013): http://ithinkidesign.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/design-wars/

25. Environment & infrastructure for innovation

26. Training & skill development for public
servants

27. Exercise

28. Think & note
What was your last interaction
with a governmental service that
needs improvement?

29. Apply problem definition framework
A B
What is the
problem?
Why is it
important?
Who is the
problem
for? Who
are the
benefi-
ciaries?
Which are
the stake-
holders?
What are
the inte-
rests in
dispute?
What is
your vision
of success?
What is the
expected
impact /
outcome
for
citizens?
C D E
— Nicolás Rebolledo Bustamante, Laboratorio de Gobierno de Chile

30. Take-aways

31. Take-aways
Consider internal and external stakeholders
Take a holistic approach
–from policy to service delivery
Impact can range from small to big scale
Build capability within the organisation

32. To be continued at …

33. Reading recommendations
John Seddon
‘Systems
Thinking in
the Public
Sector’
Bryan Boyer,
Justin W. Cook
& Marco
Steinberg:
‘Recipes for
Systemic
Change’
Recipes
forSystemic
Change
In Studio:
Bryan Boyer,
Justin W. Cook &
Marco Steinberg
Sophia Parker
& Joe Heapy:
‘The Journey
to the
Interface’
Dan Hill:
‘Dark Matter
& Trojan
Horses’

34. What do
service designers
earn?
Take the survey:
http://svy.mk/1Mt1k9I

35. Thank you!
servicedesignberlin.de
@SD_Berlin
@katrin_thinking
@martin_jordan
fb.com/servicedesignberlin
Icons by Lil Squid, Edward Boatman, Gonzalo Bravo, Jeremy J Bristol, Attilio Baghino,
Lorena Salagre, DesignNex, Nicholas Menghini, Joe Richardson, Guvnor Co, Mourad
Mokrane, Hadi Davodpour, iconsmind.com, Luis Prado, Erwin Supriyatna, Jens Tärning