Design for Public Good
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Design Council Angel Building 407 St John Street London EC1V 4AB United Kingdom Tel +44(0)20 7420 5200 Fax +44(0)20 7420 5300 [email protected] www.designcouncil.org.uk Registered charity number 272099 © Design Council, May 2013 Design for Public Good Supported by the European Commission Design for Public Good Author country profiles Author country profiles Denmark Finland UK Wales Danish design rests on a long-standing The Finnish organisation for design The UK design industry is the largest in Europe In 2008, design represented the largest democratic and human-centred tradition that promotion is the Design Forum Finland. and one of the strongest globally. NESTA proportion of the Welsh creative industries both addresses systems, processes and products Design has been on the national agenda since estimates £23bn is spent on design in the UK in employment and gross value added.1 The from the bottom up. SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund, was annually, while Imperial College put the figure Welsh Government has provided design support founded 1967. at £33.5bn for 2011. Design Council research to companies in Wales through the Design Design has the highest turnover growth shows that, despite the recession, the industry Advisory Service since 1994. Design Wales, part among Danish creative sector industries In 2008, design was written into the definition grew by 29% between 2005 and 2010. of the National Centre for Product Design and (2003-2010). The government launched the of innovation in the National Innovation Development Research at Cardiff Metropolitan world’s first national design policy in 1997 and Strategy and made an essential part of the The Design Council was founded in 1944, University, was established in 1994. recently launched a comprehensive growth National Innovation System. The National then under the name the Council of Industrial plan for creative industries and design. This Innovation Policy will soon include user- Design. Today, design plays an important role In 2010, the “Design for Innovation in Wales” continues support for design as a key driver driven innovation. in UK innovation and competitiveness. In manifesto was adopted unanimously by the of innovation. 2011 the Innovation and Research Strategy for National Assembly for Wales. This resulted Helsinki was World Design Capital for 2012 Growth (2011), published by the Department for in design forming part of Wales’s 2010 The Danish Design Centre was established in and ran Open Helsinki – Embedded Design in Business, Innovation and Skills, put innovation innovation policy and the 2013 Innovation 1978, and has from the beginning focused on Life. The National Innovation Policy action- at the heart of the UK government strategy for Strategy for Wales. Two new programmes promoting design and the value of design for plan used this as an opportunity to pilot public economic growth and rebalancing, with design resulted: the Service Design Programme Danish industry. It has played a key part in the service design. The learning from the world given a central role. Design is also recognised in (training designers in service design and creation of design policy from 1997. In 2013, it design capital experience was written into the UK National Planning Policy Framework creating demand for it in manufacturing) launched a radical new strategy of cooperation the renewed national design policy “Design (2011) as a vital part of sustainable development and SPIDER (piloting service design projects with the design field, business, industry, Finland”. The new design policy specifies four and the Independent Review of Competitiveness in Cardiff City Council and training public research and education. visions of wider-scale strategic design use (2012) is informed by the considerable potential officials in service design methods). and learning, aiming to increase investment for design to support both government and in design capabilities and learning over the business and bolster UK competitiveness. period to 2020. At both local and central government level in the UK, design is playing an increasingly important role in service development and delivery and there is growing interest in its use for policymaking. 2/3 Contents Foreword 4 Executive summary 6 Summary of recommendations 10 Introduction and overview of design process 14 Introduction 16 Overview of design process 18 A designer’s toolbox 24 The Public Sector Design Ladder and case studies 28 The Public Sector Design Ladder 30 Recommendation 1: Developing the ladder 31 Step 1 Case studies: Design for public services 33 1. Young people’s use of the tax system 34 2. The Good Kitchen 36 Case studies: Humanising technology 39 3. Designing Faces 40 4. Big data 42 Case studies: Systemic change 43 5. Reducing violence and aggression in A&E 44 6. Make it Work 48 Step 2 Case studies: Embedding design process 51 7. Lewisham Housing Options Service 52 8. Government Digital Service 56 Step 3 Case studies: Strategic design 60 9. Helsinki Design Lab 62 10. Mindlab 64 11. Behavioural Insights Team 68 12. Design thinking for the civil service 72 Recommendation 2: Embedding design in government 76 Build your own public sector design-led innovation industry 78 Recommendation 3: Building a design sector 79 Evaluation: Measuring the impact 80 Evaluation overview 81 Evaluation case studies 82 Evaluation literature 88 Recommendation 4: Building the evidence base 89 Endnotes and credits 90 Design for Public Good 4/5 Foreword We are moving into a global economy based not just on knowledge but Design is a key source of innovation and therefore part of the solution to ingenuity. Increasingly success depends less on what material resources we the growth challenge Europe is facing. Every day we see start-up businesses have and more on what we make of them. This is true even in the field of inspired by design and creative thinking, and leading global enterprises using mass-produced consumer goods, where the global harmonisation of labour it as a means to boost business development and gain competitive advantage. costs will come to impede emerging economies’ ability to compete on price. Quality will be the great differentiator. As those concerned with innovation Worldwide there is also an increasing focus on how design and other creative now widely understand, design is key to this, not as an add-on, skills can contribute to a green transition. A major part of a product’s but as a way of structuring development. environmental footprint is defined through the early design phase, so many environmental issues can be solved by focusing on reducing environmental The UK government fully appreciates the role of design as a driver of impact early in the development process. economic growth. Successive governments have supported design for over 60 years since the Government set up the Council for Industrial Design in 1944 to Rapid urbanisation is another example. The rise of megacities with millions aid post-war economic recovery. Design is a source of competitive advantage Rt Hon David Willets MP, Annette Vilhelmsen, of inhabitants is increasing the need for design solutions both technical and and can help organisations transform their performance. That is why design Minister for Universities Minister for Business social that can meet the challenge of creating sustainable urban environments forms an integral part of the Government’s plans for innovation and growth. and Science, Department and Growth, Denmark on a huge scale. for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK Design and innovation play a particularly crucial role in services. With a Design and creativity also brings value to the public sector by contributing certain symmetry, as manufacturing moved to Asia, digital technology has to the development of more user-friendly services and humanising allowed principally European and American businesses to create value technology. To promote design-driven innovation in the public sector, through increasingly sophisticated service offerings. This has given rise to the Danish Government supports MindLab, a cross-ministerial innovation vital new design disciplines focused not on objects but services and systems. unit that involves citizens and businesses in creating new solutions for This is almost entirely about what we do, not what we have. It is about society. Entrepreneurship, climate change, digital self-service, education, reorganising what we do around an understanding of the needs of the end employment services and workplace safety are some of the areas the user, ensuring that we do not waste time and money on anything extraneous. unit addresses. This capability grew from the private sector, but provides vital cues for Denmark is highly aware of the value of design and was one of the first the public sector. It is the capability to do more for citizens with less, or do countries in the world to launch a national design policy. Recently the Danish less with greater effect. It has the potential to meet the pressing needs of government has made design and creative industries a specific focus area in the present, but also to help governments achieve wider long-term aims of the national policy for business and growth. Design thinking and creativity growth and quality of life for its citizens. With governments around the world can contribute to innovation and economic growth and has a lot to offer in beginning to recognise it, it is a capability Europe cannot afford to ignore. developing sustainable solutions for a better society. Design for Public Good 6/7 Executive summary A brief and simplified description of design as a three-step process begins to show how this works. Designers: Executive summary Research Visualise Prototype 1 user needs 2 solutions 3 and improve In this publication, members of SEE No longer just an add-on, design has This is the spine of the design-led innovation The right team for the right system (Sharing Experience Europe), a network evolved into a fully joined-up innovation process.