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Summary
For our first gathering of the Civic Design Community, we hear a few different perspectives on civic design and how the practice changes and stays the same in different contexts. We explore how designers inside and outside government build alliances with policymakers, program managers, electeds and more in order to change how services are delivered, improve outcomes, and create longer term capacity for design-informed ways of working across different roles and levels of government.
Key Insights
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Designers in government increasingly move from hands-on craft toward influencing policy and strategy at executive levels.
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Effective Civic Design requires collaborating closely with policy makers, program managers, and lived experts within communities.
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Embedding local talent within government design teams, as Oakland’s Design League does, builds authentic decision-making power and trust.
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Translating policy jargon into accessible language and SEO-friendly content is crucial to engage and grow public audiences.
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Visual aesthetics and branding significantly impact public engagement with civic initiatives.
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Small, tangible pilot projects with moderate risk and high trust help build momentum and overcome bureaucratic fatigue.
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Persistent and patient advocacy, starting with small projects (‘trojan horses’), helps designers make the case for design in government.
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Inviting ‘naysayers’ and outsiders into early project discussions fosters candid conversations and broader buy-in.
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Contract structures and procurement pose ongoing challenges by focusing too narrowly on deliverables rather than outcomes.
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Civic teams increasingly include content designers to improve accessibility and user understanding of services.
Notable Quotes
"We need to follow the policy because there are so many opportunities to create different outcomes but the policy shop says no."
"I think my job varies so much depending on whether I’m talking to a mayor or a line staff person."
"Designers are translators both technically, like H1 tags for SEO, and culturally, making policy understandable."
"Good design can change your engagement and audience by a magnitude—it’s worth the investment."
"We love the naysayers—the grumpy folks who’ve done this three times before—they’re critical to engage."
"We move at the speed of trust, building partnerships is key to making the case for design."
"It’s better to start with low-hanging fruit and build success than to wait to tackle the hardest problems first."
"Government teams that include local residents making decisions create authentic and effective civic design."
"Procurement and RFPs often limit design by focusing on delivering outputs rather than solving problems."
"Content designers are absolutely making their way into Civic Tech, improving accessibility and clarity."
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