Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

This paper discusses the emerging role of service design in policymaking. In the face of a growing need for innovation and change, more governmental institutions are showing a deep interest in design; and approaches such as service design and human-centered design are spreading to innovate public services and public policies. The purpose is to examine how service design can contribute to policymaking, describing a case study in which design is adopted to rethink the European Commission’s Better Regulation Package, making the experience of access of policy processes more responsive to human needs. An action-research approach was followed, involving the active participation of the researcher of Politecnico di Milano and the Design for Policy team at the EU Policy Lab. Extensive qualitative research including an expert’s interview was conducted to gather insights about the context, user experience, and content of the Better Regulation Package. Among different scenarios, one was developed and tested with users through two iterative prototyping sessions to define the final structure and functionalities of a holistic product-service. This paper outlines the results obtained in terms of design intervention and discusses how service design can contribute to designing better policies.