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What it’s like to run a gov design jam

A small of group of people working together during the Gov Jam, in focus: two young women of different ethnicities, one holding a LEGO figure, coloured sticky notes are behind them on the wall

End of October, public servants from multiple government organisations co-organised Gov Jams in Blackpool, Leeds and London. The hackathon-like events were part of a global event series that took place in 26 cities internationally. In this blog post, 3 organisers share how it worked, what it was like, and how to get involved.

User-centred design in local government: where it’s at

Announcement graphic for Local #govdesign Day on 25 November 2019 at Birmingham Council House from 11 to 5 o’clock; supported by Birmingham City Council

Many local councils all across the UK are increasing their design, user research, and content design capability. Designers and design-minded people are improving the public services provided by Local Authorities. We are running a Local #govdesign Day to bring these people together and showcase their work.

International Design in Government community autumn update

Mari Nakano, Design Director at the NYC Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity, presenting in front of a group of people at the International Design in Government Day in Oakland; a poster behind her reads: “The future of government is better design”; the speaker smiles and members of the audience take pictures with their smartphones

Over the summer, the growing International Design in Government community gathered at a few events. In autumn, there will be 2 more events in Europe. In this post, we share what members of community can expect next.

Become a service designer in government: step by step

A person points with their finger at a hand-drawn map introducing service design in multiple steps with diagrams

Service design is a rapidly growing and much needed field in government. In this post, Sanjay Poyzer describes how he became a service designer and shares some steps you could take to become a service designer in government.

International Design in Government events this summer

A poster promoting the International Design in Government Day. It contains a quote from Lou Downe: “The future of government transformation is better design”. The poster also contains the logo of the organisers – Code for America and the International Design in Government community – and the date of the event: 29 May 2019

After running the first ever International Design in Government Conference in London last summer, we asked our community who would like to bring it to their country. In this post, we share where designers in government will get to gather next.