If your current approach is no longer suited for a changed context or you want to initiate a change but do not know where to start, you may need to design a new strategy. Deciding how and where to start is more difficult when working in an uncertain environment or when dealing with an unrecognised type of problem. In such circumstances, you must quickly make sense, build understanding and contextualise your situation as well as...
Toolkit Navigator
Topics and actions to guide public servants and unlock creativity and innovation
New approaches and methodologies open up possibilities for the public sector to address the challenges of today and tomorrow. However, just because you have a toolkit or a process does not mean that innovation will happen. As with many other things, you also need to apply human skills and competencies to bring about a change. Expertise navigating novel situations and managing innovation often only comes with practice. Additionally, acquiring and managing expertise looks very different...
Traditional planning tools and methods rely on the past and current factors, whereas futures and foresight methods embrace uncertainty and encourage the analysis and consideration or a range of future possibilities to inform decision-making and public policy The future is not a fully formed, knowable entity which exists objectively somewhere else. It is an emergent, socially constructed entity which always and only partially exists subjectively in the here-and-now. There is no absolute future,…
Product design focuses on creating tangible interaction points, such as a physical object or an app, that solves a functional problem or addresses a user need. It covers all the traditional fields of design; from fashion, to furniture, industrial machinery, electronics and also digital products like apps, websites, and online services. By Brian Frandsen, Danish Design Centre Even though most talk about design today is about services, strategies and experiences, the role of product…
Process Facilitation and Co-design is an integrated part of many disciplines and practices but is also a practice and expertise in itself. Co-design, especially when it crosses disciplines, involves blending different perspectives, expert languages, and cognitive preferences. Thus, the role of the process facilitator is to create the space for inclusive and creative participation as well as the sequence of activities in an overall process so participants can contribute to a common goal. …
While “developed” and “developing” world are somewhat ambiguous constructs, international development typically refers to infrastructure and capacity building in nations with relatively weaker economies. From a Western perspective, the practice can also refer to building of political economies that are more democratic and inclusive. The recent United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have defined international goals for both developing and developed societies. There has been a…
Systems thinking is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how different parts of the systems relate to each other, how systems work and evolve over time and what outcomes they produce. Systems change is an application of that thinking to real world situations. At its core systems thinking requires a shift in mindset from linear thinking to embracing complexity and interconnectedness. Systems change requires working across organisational boundaries and scales. By applying a systems lens…
Behavioural insights (BI) is an inductive approach to policy making that combines insights from psychology, cognitive science, and social science with empirically-tested results to discover how humans actually make choices. Driven by experimentation and piloting, BI challenges established assumptions of what is thought to be rational behaviour of citizens and businesses, informing decision makers of the “actual” behaviours driving economic or societal outcomes. Behavioral economics, a…
Organisational design in the public sector is the practice of arranging resources and supporting people in creating value or delivering on a public purpose or commitment. An organisation may be a small as a project team or as large as an entire civil service. By Sune Knudsen, Danish Design Centre Organisational design as a discipline has been well established for many years. Only in recent years, however, has this field begun to truly merge...
While traditional perspectives of design often focus on solutions products, services, visual content, etc.), the practice of strategic design involves developing a deep understanding of context and relationships to make decisions. It is sometimes referred to as 4th-order design, beyond communications, objects and artefacts, and interactions. It is an integrative and holistic practice, respective of the interconnected and fluid nature of relationships between people, things, and organisations.…