Report summary: Community-centred design in local government

This report is authored by Nidhi Singh Rathore. Nidhi is a South Asian multi-hyphenate currently applying design methodologies to reimagine civic engagement in Maryland. Her intersectional and value-centred practice focuses on deconstructing nebulous concepts, bringing people together, and breaking down complex problems — for better and equitable services. She uses research, art, strategy and data to communicate the intricacies of her investigations. Her design practice is built upon advocacy, curiosity and socio-political expression. Nidhi graduated from the Art Center College of Design and got a B.Des. in Visual Communication from the National Institute of Design, India.

Report name

Dismantling traditional approaches: community-centered design in local government

Who wrote this report?

‘Dismantling traditional approaches’ is a peer-reviewed research article published in Policy Design and Practice Journal. It was published as part of the special issue focusing on design-led policy and governance in practice. The article is written by Nidhi Singh Rathore, a design and research practitioner.

Best quote

Design practitioners have an increasingly difficult job. To make lasting change in local government, [design] practitioners have to reimagine existing design processes and learn from lived experience of those most impacted by challenges.”

Key takeaways:

• Dismantling traditional approaches: community-centred design in local government, proposes how design practitioners can build a community-centred practice by following three key principles where:
  • We try to understand historical evidence and acknowledge institutional oppression to ground our work and civic engagement in opportunities to care, trust, and build communities.
  • We move away from hyper-innovative and leader-driven solutions to create space and identify the community’s needs.
  • We become an agent to distribute, if not dismantle, power structures by bringing community and direct service staff into decision-making.
• The paper advocates that a community-centred practice enables design practitioners to reflect and increase intentionality in their practice, and to channel their power and agency to marginalised communities.

What’s in this report?

• This paper investigates community-centred design to propose a framework that people can oppose, believe in, or start to implement. The author, while proposing three principles, also shares examples that outline evidence on how design practitioners use community-centred design to distribute power through intentional advocacy. The throughline of the paper is designers advocating for individuals and communities historically marginalised, by utilising their positionality, privilege and access.
• Design education, both as a student and teacher, made the author realise that designers are challenged to think linearly and radially, connect the dots and bring order to chaos. With such adaptability, designers are ready to explore challenges from different perspectives. But it was only through her experience as a civic designer and in the policy sector that she realised how important it is for a designer to let go of perfectionism, attachment and ego to truly collaborate with others and create tools, artefacts and services that distribute power.
• The author uses case studies to demonstrate how community-centred principles are pillars of how design practitioners can question their ability to exercise power, identify where power is accumulated and break it down through community-centred initiatives and processes. Instead of proposing a static diagrammatic framework, which may lack scalability, this approach grounds the design practice in the needs of the community. Since communities are individualistic, they require an approach designed for them and not for the benefit of a monolithic vision of government.

Why should you read this report?

While there is considerable growth in publication and documentation of social innovation across the world, most lack a community-centred perspective. In addition to proposing principles and reasoning for why design practitioners need to reevaluate their positioning, this paper also shares examples from the field to ensure readers can learn from lived experience of those who are actively shaping design in and for local government.

Who is this report for?

You should read this report if you’re interested in existentially assessing the role of design and design practitioners in local government, and would love to learn about community-centred practice along with case studies. This report will, ideally, motivate design practitioners to challenge the myth that designers are neutral and objective agents. So while this paper focuses on design as a practice, any individual interested in using the aforementioned principles can use this report to practise critical self-reflexivity and examine their power, assumptions and how their values, identities, and positionality affect their work and relationship with communities they serve.

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