Emma van Asch

Design Thinking's implementation in the public sphere: A focus on Aotearoa New Zealand's public service

The past decade has seen the rise of Design Thinking in organisations the world over, with government agencies being no exception. However, government agencies have a unique purpose and operating environment from their commercial counterparts, an environment further singular to each nation. Therefore, government agencies have unique challenges and opportunities for the successful use of Design Thinking.

This beckons the question, how is Design Thinking used in public service settings and what could this mean for its ongoing implementation? I pose this question with a local focus on public services in Aotearoa New Zealand. I will seek to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Design Thinking in Aotearoa New Zealand public services through a social constructionist lens and reflexive approach to thematic analysis outlining the findings of a survey and semi-structured interviews with local designers and public servants, and speculating on the future of Design Thinking in these settings.