What Can Design Learn From Policy?
Designers who work in the public sector, myself included, have been theorizing about how design can augment, influence, and transform the policy-making process. With this growing interest in design for policy, what’s missing from this developing field is an understanding of how policy development processes and the policymaker knowledge set can contribute to new knowledge creation in design. Rather than continuing to explore what policy can learn from design, I’d like to flip the question and ask:
What can design learn from policy?
This post is an open invitation to all policy professionals to share their thoughts and opinions on the topic. But for now, here are a few things I believe designers can take from policymaking:
- Tradeoffs
Policy operates at a higher level of complexity than most designers are used to. While design often focuses on individual needs, policy must consider multiple conflicting stakeholders and competing priorities. A key lesson I learned as an Action Canada fellow is that not everyone wins in policymaking. Tradeoffs are inevitable. This can feel wrong in design, where a human-centred approach aims to create a thing where each person using it is positively impacted. I don’t know if there’s a lesson to be learned here, but maybe a shift in mindset as we approach broad, complex problems? - The Politics of Decisions
Policymakers understand that the viability of any idea depends on its alignment with the political climate and the priorities of the government in power. Designers can sometimes be naive to this unseen force without understanding why some ideas move forward while others are non-starters. Understanding political realities, which policy makers can be quite adept at, can help designers frame their work in ways that resonate with decision-makers. While this applies most actively to working in government, I wouldn’t be surprised if this same design-centric ideas mindset is pervasive in private sector businesses amongst designers. - Quantitative and Statistical Analysis
Many policy analysts come from economics or other disciplines that emphasize statistical analysis. Designers can’t be everything, and asking them to be economists isn’t realistic or desired. However, while designers excel at qualitative research, we are increasingly being asked to support our work with quantitative evidence. The analytical skills of policy professionals could complement design practices and help us articulate the value of our work more effectively.
What else?
These are just my initial thoughts, but I’d love to hear from you. What can designers learn from policymakers?
Leave a comment or email me at davislevine@publics.design
