This document discusses how service designers can build capabilities in others and avoid making themselves redundant through skills transfer. It recommends including skills transfer in all service design projects by doing the work together, bringing in others like middle managers, and focusing on developing a design mindset over just providing toolkits. The goal is to ensure the work does not just end up in a drawer by enabling others to continue applying the design process.

1. Making ourselves redundant:
Delivering impact by
building design
capabilities

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

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

4. Which
skills
Part 1

5. 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

6. Sharing skills along the design process
Discover

7. 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

9. Sharing skills along the design process
Define

12. Sharing skills along the design process
Develop ideas

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

14. Imagine…
a wedding robot.

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

16. Sharing skills along the design process
Deliver

17. 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

19. WORKS
uae prototype

23. Discover Define DeliverDevelop
ideas
100% transferability
50%
0%

24. How
Part 2

25. Give them a toolkit
and templates.
Our tip

26. DON’T EVER
give them a toolkit
and templates.
Our tip

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

28. Thinking like a designer
Empathy over data
Curiosity over knowledge
Experimentation over planning
Doing over thinking
Instinct over certainty
Chaos over order

29. 4 lessons
Stuff I’ve learned

30. Don’t
facilitate.
1

31. Do the work.

32. Don’t create
an innovation
Ghetto.
2

33. Invite everyone
interested.

34. Don’t only
focus on
frontline staff.
3

35. but include everyone.
Include middle
management.

36. Don’t be
dogmatic.
4

37. Do whatever
works.

38. Things to take away
Conclusion

39. 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.

40. Are we designers
running the risk of
making ourselves
redundant?

41. Are we designers
running the risk of
making ourselves
redundant?
No.

42. Why
Part 3

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

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

45. Thank you!
@FutureGov
@SimoneCarrier