- What is design thinking and how does it work in public agencies? What are some of the key challenges to address and key principles to follow in design thinking based innovation? What are some of the benefits of citizen involvement and how does it help in co-creation and co-production?
Design thinking uses essentials from the designer’s toolkit such as empathy and experimentation to arrive at innovative solutions (Bason, 2010). Through using design thinking, it is easier to make decisions centered on what imminent customers really want other than relying on historical information or making risky decisions. It is useful in making processes within the government more inclusive. Through designing thinking, public officials may therefore be equipped with a sequence of tools necessary for the exploration of the user perspective in their daily work. In addition, it infuses creativity within the decision-making process and also provides a constructive interface between the government and the citizens. While design is perceived more like creation of new things, today it is more often creation of services. Design thinking process includes knowing, analyzing, synthesizing, and creating. It is based on movement from abstract to concrete. Particularly, it is the movement from knowing to analyzing, and further to synthesizing and creating.
Design thinking principles are four credos. The first one is to see everything as an experiment. It is always not known for sure how a new policy will affect people and government. The second credo is to challenge a status quo. This means that there is a need to be ready for unknown future, which can be totally different from the present-day situation (Bason, 2010). The third one is to value the citizens. This means that the people’s wishes, and practical situations must be placed in the center of the creative process. The fourth and the last principle of innovation design is to be concrete. Designers can easily visualize the problem that needs to be solved or the situation that needs to be changed. For example, in seeing everything as an experiment, civil servants should take risks, and whenever they encounter obstacles, or when their plans are not effective, they should forge forward and not look back.
The first challenge of innovators is to start considering themselves not only as civil servant, but as design thinkers. Another challenge of manager- designer is to shift from the more familiar role of being the solver of problems to be the one who empowers others to do solving (Bason, 2010). Finally, there is a need to remember that the wicked problems are not eventually solved. For instance, a manager who is very authoritative, is supposed to change the way he approaches the employees, through encouraging them to focus on the strategies, hence allowing them to feel at ease while working. On the other hand, innovators should perceive themselves as the main drivers of the public office, hence working hard in coming up with good results.
Citizens and their practical needs are the first concern for government. Therefore, when designing innovation, there is a need to have needs and expectations of citizens at the center of a design process. It is important to learn experiences and feedback of citizens to improve the situation. People are a heart of social networks, and this makes them the most important (Bason, 2010). Private businesses may be especially helpful in designing the innovation because they have the influence in the society and are usually aware of what aspects of government administration need to be changed. In addition, public interventions help citizens to feel that their needs are addressed properly. Citizens can help decision makers to find suitable regulations, programs and interventions. When included to co-creation, citizens help public servants to explore urgent issues and find practical solutions for them.
Reference
Bason, C., 2010. Leading public sector innovation: Co-creating for a better society. 2nd ed. Bristol: Policy Press.
