Colloquia

Summary

Design is increasingly positioned in the public sector as a promising answer to complex societal challenges, often referred to as wicked problems. These challenges are systemic and ambiguous, involving multiple stakeholders with divergent perspectives, and require iterative and experimental ways of working. While design aligns well with these demands, public organisations often struggle to adopt design ways of working due to hierarchical structures, risk-averse cultures, and efficiency-driven practices that prioritise predefined outcomes over exploration and learning.

In this thesis, we explored how a Design Mindset (DM) might be enabled within a public organisation, using the Justiële Informatiedienst (Justid) as a case study. We engaged in three design cycles, having employees across different roles and departments. First, we conducted fourteen semi-structured interviews, analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis to identify organisational enablers and barriers for enabling a DM. Second, we carried out four co-design sessions using Responsible Futuring to explore how employees experience sensemaking, collaboration, and ownership when engaging in design practices for collaborative future thinking in public organisations. Third, we translated these insights into a Research through Design (RtD) prototype. This prototype is a collaboration tool in the form of a micro-ritual card deck, designed as a low-threshold entry point for gradually cultivating design-oriented practices for non-designer workers in public organisations.

The findings illustrated that while employees expressed strong motivation to work in design-oriented ways, they often experienced limited agency due to hierarchical decision-making, unclear responsibilities, and low psychological safety. Through participatory design activities, employees recognised shared ambitions and experienced ownership by working collaboratively.

This thesis contributes (1) empirical insights into positioning design as a participatory and relational practice grounded in shared ownership, rather than as a method mandated by management or executives, and (2) a RtD prototype that supports the gradual cultivation of a DM in everyday organisational practice. A key limitation of the thesis is the uneven engagement of top- and middle-level managers across the research phases, despite the importance of their involvement. Future research should therefore explore how employees and management can jointly cultivate shared ownership of design-oriented change in public organisations.