Design capability in Finnish governmental organizations: Perspectives of design-minded civil servants
Loading...
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
Location:
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Authors
Date
2019
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
77+17
Series
Abstract
Design-led approaches (DLAs) promise to assist the public sector in providing better public value while saving costs and addressing complex problems. Governments in Finland and abroad have been increasingly applying DLAs in their work. This trend is demonstrated by the formation of communities of practice, such as Julkis-muotoilijat (design-minded civil servant community in English), which have formed around the utilization of DLAs in the government. However, the application of DLAs in the governmental context is relatively recent and not well understood. As such, there is a need for further empirically grounded research in order to better understand which promises are kept by design approaches. The latter may be necessary in order to have a more realistic image of the current uses of DLAs. One of the objectives of the thesis was to first reflect on the perceived contributions as well as current and potential uses of DLAs in some public sector organizations. Second, this thesis set out to examine the perceived challenges to the application of design-led approaches. A better understanding of the challenges may enable reflection on the conditions in which DLAs may be applied to their full potential. In the area of applying DLAs in the public sector, Finland has been described as the forerunner and was chosen as the context of this research. To investigate these topics, design-minded civil servants (n=33) with a membership in the Julkis-muotoilijat community were surveyed through a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire. The results were interpreted using Malmberg’s (2017) Design Capability Framework and its three dimensions, namely awareness of design, design resources, and structures enabling a design practice. The results indicated that the application of design-led approaches varies greatly with a strong emphasis on digital service development. DLAs were especially seen to contribute to bringing user-centric views and also in building bridges and enabling greater collaboration between actors. The surveyed design-minded civil servants did recognize the value of DLAs as it applies to a strategic and policy level and enabling organizational transformation. However, among the respondents, these applications remain mostly aspirational and limited. The respondents also reported facing significant challenges in applying DLAs. The challenges ranged from simpler ones, such as having appropriate spaces to conduct design activities, to more demanding ones, such as cultural pushback. These survey results point to a need for a greater consideration of organizational conditions, such as structures enabling a design practice and awareness of design when introducing design capability into public sector organizations.Description
Supervisor
Mazé, RamiaThesis advisor
Mazé, RamiaKeywords
design capability, public sector, design-minded, civil servants, design for government, community of practice