This article is written by Marion Lean. Marion Lean is a textile design researcher leading policymakers who are engaging real people and communities to build better outcomes for Future Farming using design at the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs. Following the posting as Design Researcher for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme at DCMS she also continues to explore modes for participatory rural research with the Centre for Digital Citizens at Newcastle University.

  • The problem: Design is a great way of looking at problems and developing approaches for collaboration, however, it can be viewed as a niche or expert skill.
  • Why it matters: Design methods can support anyone to explore new ways to tackle challenges and frame problems, but accessing the approaches is often not prioritised or accessible to non designers.
  • The solution: Designing safe spaces to explore, experiment and collaborate through informal peer learning.

I am a designer, researcher, and creativity coach. For the past three years I have been embedded inside two government departments; firstly as a design research analyst for the Rural Gigabit Connectivity Programme at Building Digital UK in the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), and currently as Co-Design Coach for the Future Farming and Countryside Programme (FFCP) at the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Co-Design means involving users (people impacted by policy) at every stage of the development of new initiatives, a key tenet in the objectives of inclusive policymaking.

Alongside my formal roles leading on the application of novel listening methods for policy development, I have used this time to develop my practice of designing and hosting ‘pop-up design studios’. The aim is to bring people together, learn new things and try out creative activities in a safe space.

The approach began during my PhD study in Design Research at the Royal College of Art. I created opportunities for people to unpack the topical issue of data experience by inviting them to explore the properties of physical materials as a mode of communication. We used this to share insights about personal interactions and emotional responses to technology and data. Offering creative methods and tools for people to share their experiences enabled different sorts of discussions and stories to emerge. Outputs from this way of working can help researchers to analyse and understand people’s experiences, to prompt discussion and generate data points to inform design and innovation. Others using novel sensory encounters to explore our everyday interactions include Kate Maclean’s Smell Walks and John Fass’ illustration workshops exploring digital connection.

It is fair to say that most policymakers are not trained in design methods, and I can say with some certainty that designers – even at the best design schools in the UK–are not typically trained in policymaking.

Thinking differently about data at DCMS

I first developed the pop up event** ‘Analysts Thinking Differently about Data’ in response to the lack of data being reported on the impact of Covid-19 on different ethnic groups in the UK. It wasn't a topic that I had encountered professionally in my own data practice but having read ‘Invisible Women’ I thought the least I could do is make space to talk about it. As a feminist design researcher, finding myself inside a community of government analysts my challenges were, a) how to bring people together to learn more about the issue and b) what could we be doing in our profession to challenge the systems we live and work in?

I designed an invite, added a selection of recent news articles to prompt discussion of this video of Yeshimabeit Milner from Data for Black Lives calling for the abolishment of big data as a tool for oppression, the suggestion being to use data to change systems instead. I held my breath, then sent the invite to the whole department. The first session was well attended, the conversation flowed easily, even in the virtual space, and I met a lot of new people. What was particularly interesting was that people were able to relate to the topic and share experiences from professional and personal lives to help create a shared understanding of the challenges, and together propose actions within our own practices that could influence ways of working with data by considering the methodology of Data Feminism. For example, asking where and how data was collected, or considering what visuals are included in data storytelling. The session was 45 minutes, barely enough time to hear everyone’s name but we made it. Everyone asked when the next one would be. I committed to running a session every fortnight until Christmas, and then until the next Christmas.

Acknowledging that the sessions were of interest beyond the analytical community, the name was shortened to ‘Thinking Differently About Data’. The common theme was ‘data and justice’ and the topics and methods of inquiry changed from session to session. Particularly memorable were a hands-on workshop on designing alternative measures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a debate about the use of AI in recruitment, and the talk from Bristol Pay on the possibilities for community payment platforms. During my time at DCMS I was fortunate to be surrounded by folk who were curious, engaged and ready to roll up their sleeves to come up with new ideas to get people thinking differently. The meeting of minds between two very different disciplines–designer (myself) and economist (Anas Abu) generated some deep discussion and ambitious objectives that we were able to collaborate on to engage many people with important topics in interesting and creative ways.

Jamboard Screengrab from session on Hidden Data Jamboard Screengrab from session on Hidden Data

As I left DCMS in December 2021 the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework (DDaT Profession) was just getting started, and the first User Researcher and Service Design roles were being advertised. I felt hopeful that the legacy of TDAD and the introduction of new creative and design talent would support innovative and design thinking for DCMS of the future.

Design and policy

When I joined the Future Farming and Countryside Programme FFCP I was aware that the department already had a thriving design community due to their visibility on blogs, Slack and events, for example the co-design coffee morning. It was a pleasure to join and not have to feel I needed to explain what I meant by ‘Design’. However, I found myself with a new challenge. Yes, there are many designers at DEFRA but in FFCP the approach is to encourage everyone (not just designers) to adopt a ‘co-design’ mindset. This is a wholly positive move, the principles of co-design align with justice practices in every discipline. However, the concept of ‘design’ can be concerning or misleading to policymakers. Design is often understood as a digital toolbox–for example improving citizen access to government services online–and is, however the Cross Government Policy Design Community is now exploring approaches to embed design (as a problem framing and research method) into policy development practices, for example through multidisciplinary training.

It is fair to say that most policymakers are not trained in design methods, and I can say with some certainty that designers – even at the best design schools in the UK–are not typically trained in policymaking. It certainly wasn’t on offer during my textiles degree at The Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Various sessions at the international Design Research Society conference in Bilbao this year focussed on Policy Design. The design academics have lots of ideas, but there was a resounding message that policy people don’t get design. It is positive that I am employed to offer my expertise in creative thinking in policy, but I think I can do better. Rather than being relied on as the sole ‘creative’ in my team I have set myself the challenge of embedding creative methods and design thinking across the programme.

Lab Chats at DEFRA

Drawing on the success of TDAD at DCMS I designed Lab Chats again as an informal space to meet people, to practise online facilitation, try out co-design methods/tools, and learn new ways of working. The aim is to explore issues around justice in our field, for example food poverty and land accessibility, and to explore these together using creative methods. This series is informed by the principles of Design Justice extended to include more than human perspectives such as land and animals. This is based on literature, news articles, novel technologies, and case study examples. I aim to host a safe space to reflect and inform our own practice together.

Some of the topics we have covered so far include future food cities, smart consumption, pesticides in food, women in farming and transformational policymaking. The design activities we have tried together include Crazy 8s, Moral Imaginings, and we had a great introduction to live action role play from researchers at University of Sussex working in the space of More-Than-Human design thinking. To plan the sessions, I have introduced my ‘non-design’ colleagues to tools such as Policy Lab’s ‘Experimental Policy Design Methods’ to encourage playful and unusual activities to explore important topic policy issues. We plan and deliver the sessions online using collaborative platforms such as Mural to document ideas and outputs and after each session we hold a coaching activity to reflect on what happened.

No, we are not going to turn policymakers into designers in 45-minute meetups, but we can use this time to experiment, fail and learn together. Through this practice I feel closer to my objective of meaningfully embedding creative methods and design thinking to better equip the policymaker’s toolbox–which may lead to more innovative and impactful policies. I hope to continue encouraging people to take risks, try new things and see what happens when we make space to think a little differently.

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(Image Credit: Unsplash)