Design Principle 7 – We Will Design from the Top Down and the Bottom Up
Studio Notes | Short Reads
This post is part of a series exploring the Design Principles for Government in Ireland. If you’d like to start from the beginning, check out our introductory post here.
Design Principle 07 highlights that the design approach in our public service cannot, and will not, work without full support at all levels and grades. The other design principles call for bravery in challenging assumptions, gathering new evidence, including service users and stakeholders, and rigorous testing and experimentation.This principle underlines that these new behaviours need support from leaders and management.
Designing, from the top down, means leaders need to understand and embrace the design approach. It’s not just a “check box” of doing things design process asks for… it’s understanding the value and meaning of the approach and tools. Through that understanding, leaders should be more confident endorsing research, co-design, and experimentation.
Designing, from the bottom up, means a fully empowered workforce, at all grades. It requires a culture in which putting a hand up to investigate a challenge, ideate a solution, or test a new way of working is not just accepted… but encouraged.
This principle binds all the other principles in a way, because for design to work, teams need psychological safety. This means confidence that their efforts to change things won’t get them in trouble. A design approach usually means some disruption and change, however small. If leadership won’t support that, or if the design principles are applied in a superficial way – then none of the value and potential of design can be realised.
It’s complicated. It’s about mindset. What Principle 07 is calling for, is a real cultural shift.
So what does this look like?
It’s not easy to share a complete example of what this looks like in practice. It’s just too huge. Imagine a public service where everyone is empowered to suggest new things, investigate possibilities, and eventually test solutions to really tough challenges.
Even small steps towards that empowerment will be helpful, as we strive for Better Public Services.
Here at Context Studio we have worked with the Department of Justice to deliver a codesign process for the Justice sector innovation strategy. The effort captured perspectives from more than 25 agencies and bodies that across the sector.
Our work involved 105 people from 21 agencies and bodies in 6 online workshops, as well as 9 interviews with senior stakeholders from various justice organisations.
Design methods and tools used in this process allowed rapid capture of insights and themes and informed the development of the innovation strategy.
Some of the stakeholders from the workshops also expressed an interest in participating in the continued co-design of the strategy, and were involved in its development.
This is just one small example of an approach can help more people, from top down and bottom up, to contribute to problem solving and innovation in our public services.
How might we get started?
There are actions in the published Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services which should help our public sector to embrace this principle.
But if you want to get started today, this principle calls for leadership. If you are in a lead role, get familiar with the design principles, with best practices, and with any work in your organisation already using this approach. Consider headcount, and the prospect of bringing people with design skills into your organisation. Support the application of design principles, recognise success, and learn how to foster creative confidence.
If you are not in a leadership role, you have responsibilities too – designing from the bottom up means embracing the design principles, applying them in your work, and advocating for the approach with managers and colleagues. It’s your job to gather evidence from the ground up, to make sure it reaches those who need to hear and those who’s assumptions need to be challenged. It’s your job to put forward ideas, find the support you need, and advance those ideas through experimentation and testing.
Principle 07 is perhaps, among all the others, the one that really focuses on the bigger picture. It highlights the need for leadership, and the huge cultural change that Better Public Services will require. It’s exciting!
