Design in Government

Discover the design behind government systems and services.

As part of our efforts to encourage creative problem solvers to participate in public service and civic innovation, we have made Design Museum Magazine’s Fall 2022 issue available for free online via the below links. The print edition is also available for purchase. The Design in Government Issue features eight in-depth pieces on the design behind government services and processes, including the design of the court system, design applications to policy, and how we can better design our government.

“Designing government better and designing a better government includes engaging communities as we design public services, to, as Ayana Pressley says, bring people in the most pain closest to the power.”

— Dana Chisnell, Letter from the Editor.

 Design in Government features:

• Letter from the Editor: Democracy is a Design Problem by Dana Chisnell, Civic and Policy Designer;
• How Candace Brooks, Agncy, applied human-centered design practices to create community-centered education programs;
• The reasons why policymakers don’t always connect their ideas with achievable outcomes, from Cecilia Muñoz, Senior Advisor, New America, and Nikki Zeichner, Product Director and Civic Technologist;
• An interview with Baratunde Thurston, Creator and Host, How to Citizen, on what it means “to citizen” as a verb;
• How to prototype policy, from Angelica Quicksey, Head of Public Spaces Incubator, New_ Public, and Chris Meierling, Director of Experience Design, Medable;
• A conversation between Lauren Mattioli, Department of Political Science, Boston University, and Cyd Harrell, User Researcher, on the design of courts;
• Why we need to design government better, and how we can make that happen, by Anne Petersen, design leader;
• A feature on dance diplomat Dana Tai Soon Burgess, and how he works to design cultural diplomacy;
• And a glimpse into why government design matters in the lives of people by Dana Chisnell, Civic and Policy Designer;
• Q&A on the relationship between designers and politics; 
• And design recommendations from our community.

Purchase Design in Government and/or subscribe to Design Museum Magazine to receive stories about creative thought leaders who are using design to change the world.