Hello friends,
I've been thinking a lot about how we keep up with what's happening in service design for public systems. There's lots of great research coming out on participatory methods in healthcare, democracy infrastructure, housing services, benefits delivery and more. Whether you're designing public services, trying to break into this field, or working adjacent to it and want to understand how good design actually happens in government and civic spaces, it's tough to stay oriented.
And right now, in the middle of a polycrisis where climate change, rising inequality, the dismantling of critical agencies, the obstruction of human rights, and slashed funding threaten the infrastructure many of us depend on, it's even harder to find space to learn from what's working elsewhere. People are rightfully scared, angry, and trying to figure out how to protect and improve the very systems and services under direct attack.
This newsletter is my attempt to make sense of what's happening across the field, and help you apply it to the public systems work you care most about. I read widely across health, housing, democracy, and civic infrastructure.
I'd like to share what I'm learning in a way that helps you spot emerging signals, apply ideas to your context, and remember that good work is happening even when it feels like everything is breaking. Good ideas transfer across domains. The most interesting patterns emerge in unexpected adjacencies, not just from staying in our collective lanes.
Every month, I'll share insights from the field. That will mean sometimes diving deep into recent research, sometimes spotlighting a case study or designer doing interesting work, and occasionally inviting you into a challenge or experiment together. I’ll cover a mixture of the following:
Research Synthesis (quarterly) - Deep dives into 2-3 recent papers, with takeaways for practice
Case Studies & Field Notes - Spotlights on projects, designers, and organizations doing the work
Challenges & Experiments - Invitations to try something together and share what you learn
Every issue ends with something concrete to try in your own practice.
My Service Design Take
I believe strongly in the power of participatory research to help avoid building systems that 1) harm the planet and 2) the people they're meant to serve. As Erika Hall says, you can't ask "how might we redesign this service / product?" without first asking "what gives us the right to design it at all?"
So, in upcoming issues, I'll explore questions like: What does this research reveal when we map it as a service or system? Where are the friction points? What patterns emerge? What assumptions does this challenge?
Plus links to everything, so if something lands you can dive deeper.
This newsletter will hopefully give you enough breadth to spot patterns across domains, and enough depth to actually use what you're learning.
The first issue drops February 19!
I'm curious how research from one domain might unlock something in your work. Feel free to reply if you see a connection I'm missing or want to talk through what you're building.
Excited to dive in together!
Cheers,
Nsisong