Category: DesignGov posts

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] We have discussed how DesignGov has been an ‘extreme user’ for the public service. But might we also consider how DesignGov has acted in some ways as a sensor, as a test of how the public service might operate in the future? A… Continue reading DesignGov as prototype of the future public service?

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] One of the notions used in design is to look to the extreme, to the users who have atypical needs and who interact with a product or service in ways that the majority don’t. Such users can signify emerging needs, identify work-arounds… Continue reading DesignGov as an ‘extreme user’ of the Australian Public Service

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] Recently Jane Treadwell and I were invited by the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Centre for Public Service Excellence to participate in a “Consultation on the Co-Design of Public Policy and Services”. It was a gathering of people from a wide range of countries… Continue reading Design and public sector innovation – sharing perspectives from different countries

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] DesignGov was established as an experimental initiative to test new design-led innovation approaches to resolving cross-agency problems. It was set up as an 18 month pilot, running from July 2012 until December 2013. Now that the pilot is ending and as we continue to… Continue reading The DesignGov experiment – what did it test?

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] Design/design thinking is an impressively powerful approach for reframing problems in ways that can be more easily dealt with or responded to. It can be the means to the end – the disciplined set of actions that lead you to a desired… Continue reading Design is a powerful approach – so why isn’t everyone doing it?

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] On Wednesday 6 November I was fortunate enough to attend an event in Sydney featuring renowned innovation thinker Professor Clayton Christensen and hear him speak about disruptive innovation. Disruptive Innovation Professor Christensen began by outlining just what he means by the term ‘disruptive innovation’. These are… Continue reading Clayton Christensen and Disruptive Innovation

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] “If you were giving advice about setting up a group like DesignGov, what would you recommend?” In our time at DesignGov we have had the opportunity to speak with a number of groups around the world (and in Australia) about what’s involved… Continue reading So you’re thinking of setting up a cross-agency design-led innovation capability…

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] How can you ensure consistent and good service across multiple organisations with different agendas and differing ways of engaging with stakeholders? How can you set the preconditions for good service when there are very different expectations of what the ‘service’ is? According… Continue reading Business and government interactions – prototyping a way to ensure better service

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] Can you really understand a problem if you have no experience with it? And can you really fix a problem if you don’t understand it? The public sector plays a key role in the business environment, and sometimes that includes the generation… Continue reading Business and government interactions – prototyping a way to better work with business in fixing problems

[Originally published on Australian Government DesignGov under a Creative Commons 3.0 BY AU licence] How do you best access the experiences and the expertise that exists in the Australian community on any one issue? The public sector has to engage with stakeholders and consult on a huge range of issues, some of which are significantly different… Continue reading Business and government interactions – prototyping a way to better engage with businesses