Want an update in your mailbox every month about my research? Then subscribe to my newsletter<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n What perhaps surprises me most about the team I\u2019m part of now is how different it feels from the design teams I\u2019ve worked on before. Back then, I was surrounded by UX designers, researchers, content designers, and\u2014okay, maybe the occasional business analyst. Everyone spoke the same language, used the same tools, and had the same stickers on their laptops. These were teams where we usually got along great\u2014if only because we shared the frustration of not making more of an impact within our organization. <\/p>\n\n A year and a half ago, I began my field research for my doctoral dissertation with the Clustering Rijksincasso program<\/a>. Here, I don\u2019t find a traditional design team like the ones I\u2019m used to. In fact, no one here calls themselves a designer. There is one colleague listed as a \u201cresearcher,\u201d but who clearly also works as a UX designer. The rest are process coordinators, lawyers, analysts, project managers, and product owners\u2014people who are very hands-on and \u201csimply\u201d building services. <\/p>\n\n Whenever I ask about people-centered design\u2014or, to use the jargon, \u201chuman-centered design\u201d<\/em>\u2014in interviews, I invariably get answers like:<\/p>\n\n \u201cYes, but once you realize that a citizen only has one repayment capacity, it makes perfect sense. So why not just do it that way?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Starting from a simple idea, they challenge the internal structure of the government, create space for new ways of delivering services, and don\u2019t get bogged down in fancy jargon. No one has stickers on their laptops. Yet I knew right from the start<\/a>: this is a team that designs people-centered services. <\/p>\n\n The ISO standard on human-centered design states that a design team must incorporate multidisciplinary skills and perspectives. A design team does not need to be large, as long as it is able to incorporate all relevant perspectives into the design so that it aligns well with the users, their context, and their needs. <\/p>\n\n One of the strengths of design-based work is that it not only gathers different perspectives but also brings them together. Design makes it possible to bring together interests that at first glance seem contradictory\u2014such as simplicity versus precision or enforcement versus service\u2014into a solution that works. It is precisely when you bring these perspectives together within<\/em> your team that space is created to make better choices collectively. A good design team, therefore, is not a collection of experts, but a collective that can shift between perspectives. <\/p>\n\n When we think of a team, we often picture a small group of people working together. A team can also consist of a structure with different layers and subteams, which in turn form a team together. For each team, you can pool your expertise and perspectives in a very focused way. <\/p>\n\n At CRI, this is reflected in how the program works with ad hoc teams<\/em> focused on specific issues. For example, there is a \u201csmall group\u201d working on the legal framework for data exchange so that the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Service can connect to the Central Government Payment System (BRR). This team includes colleagues from all three organizations. <\/p>\n\n Another ad hoc team consists of colleagues from DUO to expand their participation in the BRR. Where there is overlap with issues that the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Service also face, a call is scheduled to brainstorm how they are addressing them. All of these people are working together to build this payment service. Team boundaries are fluid. <\/p>\n\n In fact, there is a strong sense within the program that anyone who contributes to the service is part of \u201cTeam CRI,\u201d whether they work at CJIB, the Tax and Customs Administration, UWV, or DUO. <\/p>\n\n I\u2019ve noticed that in this program, people from all kinds of fields and roles collaborate on the services they create, without calling themselves designers. They don\u2019t work in a secluded lab, testing ground, or internal UX club, but right in the thick of things. Yet they are indeed designing human-centered services. In the literature, this is called \u201csilent design\u201d<\/em>\u2014designing without people actually calling it that. <\/p>\n\n Interestingly, the ISO definition omits one profession that is indispensable within the government: the lawyer. <\/p>\n\n When it comes to public services, legislation is rarely absent. Sometimes, the only option is to reinterpret the law or explain it differently. Many design disciplines run into this challenge during implementation (let\u2019s take a moment of silence for all the content editorial teams at municipalities and implementing organizations). <\/p>\n\n When you do succeed in changing policy and legislation, you significantly expand the scope for creating effective services. This is where the lawyers come in. They should not merely assess the situation but take the lead: regularly researching real-world case studies, outlining alternatives, actively exploring scenarios, and then bringing these into the political process. <\/p>\n\n Without lawyers who are open to the citizen\u2019s perspective, you can\u2019t design anything new. But with such lawyers, you can do things that were previously unthinkable. <\/p>\n\n Jasper van Kuijk previously referred to them as \u201ccan-do lawyers\u201d<\/a> in his column in *de Volkskrant*. For lawyers (and anyone interested) who would like to become that kind of lawyer, I recommend Mariette Lokin\u2019s *Wendbaar Wetgeven<\/a>*. <\/p>\n\n User-centered design requires flexibility. For example, it allows you to work iteratively<\/a> and not know exactly what you\u2019re creating in advance. Or to test with users<\/a> even before everything has been fine-tuned down to the last detail. <\/p>\n\n This space is not only operational but also administrative. Especially in a government context, you have to deal with policy, politics, and public accountability. If administrators are not involved in the design and learning process, every step becomes a battle to reach consensus or a risk. <\/p>\n\n At CRI, I see how things can be done differently: decision-makers are involved from the start, receive ongoing insights, and see how users respond. This allows them to adapt, provide direction, and make adjustments based on facts, not just assumptions. Decision-makers are part of the learning system. <\/p>\n\n You create a people-centered service with people who complement and challenge one another and design together\u2014even if they don\u2019t call themselves designers.<\/p>\n\n I also wrote these blog posts about the principles of human-centered design:<\/p>\n\n You can\u2019t create a people-centered service on your own. In this blog, you\u2019ll learn why it matters who you involve in the design of government services\u2014and why that goes beyond just \u201ca design team.\u201d You\u2019ll also discover what you\u2019re missing if lawyers and administrators aren\u2019t involved. Want an update in your mailbox every month about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[479],"tags":[514,416,513],"verborgen":[],"class_list":["post-6320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-centered-design","tag-design-team","tag-human-centered-design","tag-team"],"yoast_head":"\nStickers on the laptop<\/h2>\n\n
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What makes a good design team?<\/h2>\n\n
The team’s boundaries<\/h2>\n\n
Quiet<\/em> Design<\/h2>\n\n
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<\/a>The Forgotten Profession: The Lawyer<\/h2>\n\n
Directors are also part of the team<\/h2>\n\n
How do you begin?<\/h2>\n\n
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Continue reading?<\/h2>\n\n
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