When designing into inherently complex government services, civic designers must take a systemic approach. Too often service design focuses on public-facing and sometimes frontline staff-facing interventions, thereby placing the burden of successful service delivery on unempowered shoulders. As service delivery is the byproduct of many entities, interventions must systemically target all policy “layers”, such as operations and policy, to be successful.

In this presentation, the Public Policy Lab team will share their public policy ‘layer cake’. Besides reflecting their affinity for baked goods, it’s a systems design framework for creating interventions at all levels of a public service, while also creating opportunities for equity.