After attending an event for both civil servants and designers, I pondered about the seemingly different worlds they operate in. One is driven by fixed rules and regulations, and the other focuses on people’s daily lives and doing experiments. But aren’t these worlds trying to achieve the same goal: to help citizens live meaningful, healthy, and happy lives? We need to bridge these seemingly different worlds to be able to work together on social issues of our time.
The event was titled ‘Van Stuurloos naar Stuurkracht’ (From Steerless to Steering Power) and took place on 12 September. It is one of the many events organised by PONT (De Publieke Ontwerppraktijk / Public Design Practice) about this topic. The urgency was made clear by Nynke Tromp, Head of Programs at PONT. She kicked off the event by making everyone aware that how we create and execute policy in the Netherlands is not ‘social’ enough. It is a fixed environment of rules and systems that needs fundamental changes to be able to deal with the complex issues in society today. Making and implementing policy today is not done with room to play, learn and fail but by fixing, controlling and solutioning.
The status quo is no longer working
And it is not working for us, the citizens. 80% of society does not have the privileges or the means to find their way within the system of the government when they find themselves in a difficult situation and in need of help. Nynke made a plea that the government should be there for people who can’t find their way alone in the political system. A social government is a government that offers an accessible safety net for everyone.
Designers are educated to embrace complexity and understand the daily lives of people and the environments they live in. That makes us a good partner in creating a more social system of policymaking. We as design researchers at Stby are very curious to understand the complexity of bringing both worlds together. And this understanding helps to connect the seemingly different worlds of government and citizens. Civil servants being aware of the competencies designers can bring is not enough. Designers also need room and a remit to experiment and learn, with civilians and civil servants together. How can we make and hold that space in the context of rigid government systems?
Inspiration for both designers and civil servants
During the event, the lecture of Kustaw Bessems (a Dutch journalist who has written several books about the state of government in the Netherlands and the need to change in participation with its citizens) and the presentation of four case studies gave me inspiration on some of the fundamentals of creating room and how designers and civil servants can do this together:
- Have mutual respect for each other’s expertise.
- Start small. Learn and share the lessons.
- Keep key stakeholders enthusiastic and involved.
- You need a long breath and ideally, you work together for the long term.
- Make sure roles and expectations are clear in the project.
- Ensure vulnerability in the process, in experiments and in the research process. It’s very important to ensure a safe space where everyone feels safe to experiment, to fail and to learn.
The lessons learned for designers
It also got me thinking about our practice. Some advice that I take to heart:
- As a designer, don’t lose your supporters in the process of working within government systems. Don’t assume that they are equally enthusiastic about pivoting.
- As a designer, take into account procedures and systems that exist. Get to know those fixed systems and ways of working in government. This makes us equal discussion partners.
- Develop a new language that makes a new perspective tangible/visible for both sides.
- Stay open to voices you don’t hear in the project, from stakeholders but also citizens. Those voices bring important perspectives and are often unheard in policymaking.
- Be sensitive to the fixed systems civil servants work in, talk about how to create space together, and think together strategically how you can achieve this.
- Find a guide in the civil service who knows the ways and people in government systems that can help you to do your work as a designer.
- Civil servants work for citizens. Actively find the real stories of citizens, tell those stories and reason from a citizen’s point of view why things should be done differently.
- Treath citizens with respect. We want to learn what they need but also make them aware of their own power and potential. What can they contribute to a more social society and government?
The biggest lesson for me was that we are eager to contribute to solving all societal issues. The optimistic basic attitude of designers brings energy and power but this should not to be taken at face value. We should be honest that we can’t solve it all. And we should take responsibility in making an effort to understand how politicians make decisions and how the system works. What are the boundaries within which we want to find space?
The role of Design Research
This space to play, learn and fail is not simply created with these lessons. There are still a lot of topics that we need to talk about together, like:
- The current Dutch government seems to have a rather short-term perspective. How do you make them understand the perspective of people’s everyday lives and also design a policy that reflects the future society we envision for ourselves and the younger generations? The responsibility and perspective are not equal but should both be taken into consideration.
- We know that a citizen’s perspective is different from a customer’s perspective. Many of the design tools and processes that are available are consumer-oriented. People have been working on adjustments to these tools to work from a citizen’s perspective too but we need tools, frameworks and processes that are built on public values from the ground up. Not for but with citizens. Our Streetlab method is a good example of this. Discuss with citizens what they experience in their everyday lives, to be able to design policy that fits those values.
- Who do you need in the civil service to create space for experiments, failure, learning, trying out and starting small? Who are you hiring? What are the sticks and carrots you put in place for civil servants?
Design Researchers love complexity. And difficult questions. But we can’t answer all the questions. We need other experts to bring in their experiences and their perspectives. We also need time to unpack, map, experiment and learn, to make it tangible without losing nuance. To create understanding and knowledge, and share this with stakeholders and others. Space for experimenting, learning and sharing is crucial to be able to contribute to fundamental changes to the status quo of fixing, controlling and solutioning.
Let’s build that space together. Experiment, reflect and learn. Step by step by step. Who’s with me?
Paulien
Want to learn more about our Streetlab method? Read https://www.stby.eu/2023/11/23/streetlabs-beyond-traditional-consultation/ Or listen to our podcast about deepening participant engagement