Summary
The complex challenges local government is tasked with addressing are often the result of national government policy or lack of one. One such challenge is the high cost of living. While working within the Tel-Aviv-Yafo Municipality, the team was tasked with reducing the high cost of living in the city. In this presentation Sarah will share a design process that engaged residents but left leadership behind, how the team overcame this obstacle to eventually engage city leadership and drive implementation of a radically innovative policy (one where local government picks up the slack in the national policy).
Key Insights
-
•
Radical policy change can be achieved through incremental, highly visible pilots that build trust and demonstrate feasibility.
-
•
Cities often resist taking responsibility over areas dominated by national policies due to fears of long-term liabilities.
-
•
Engaging private sector stakeholders and residents collaboratively uncovers diverse opportunities and fosters empathy in city management.
-
•
Digital platforms like Facebook groups can serve as effective direct communication channels between residents and city officials, creating community advocacy.
-
•
Physical public space adaptations, such as pop-up play areas and toy sheds, enable quick, low-commitment interventions that yield community excitement.
-
•
Embedding a dedicated staff member within city government strengthens cross-organizational collaboration and sustains initiatives.
-
•
Addressing early childhood needs requires integrating services across city departments like Parks, Community, Education, and Infrastructure.
-
•
Despite strong initiatives, broader economic factors like housing affordability remain huge challenges largely shaped by national policy.
-
•
Multi-channel presence—physical and digital—helps reach a wider demographic and amplify impact, although socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods still face barriers.
-
•
Small investments spread across multiple city projects can secure general manager support by balancing impact and feasibility.
Notable Quotes
"Incremental change was used to drive a radical shift in policy despite initial resistance."
"The mayor and CEO were concerned that if the city stepped in on early childhood education, they'd own it forever."
"Private educators were surprisingly open to collaborating because they were hungry for change."
"Thousands of parents came with their children to play in the pop-up urban play space downtown."
"Quick pilots are low in commitment, highly visible, and get everyone excited while figuring out funding later."
"Having a dedicated staff member created a point of contact for all things early childhood in the city government."
"Digitaf changed the way parents experience early childhood by connecting them to affordable municipal services."
"A Facebook group became a primary communication channel where parents post both praise and complaints."
"Cross-departmental cooperation helped redesign playgrounds with features that support early brain development."
"Small, tactical projects helped us secure political will and organizational capacity needed for systemic policy change."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We need to work on relationships with stakeholders because that’s how things get done in complex systems."
Boon Yew ChewMaking Sense of Systems—and Using Systems to Make Sense of the Enterprise
June 6, 2023
"Our job is to help others do great work, not to create perfect components for our own ego."
Dan DonaldDesign Systems as a Vehicle for Systemic Change
June 1, 2023
"No one sees the end-to-end metrics of research impact, so the work remains invisible at the corporate level."
Fatimah RichmondThe Future of ReOps as a Strategic Function: A Roadmap for Getting There
March 25, 2024
"There is no formula for good critiques, but mindset is behavior over time: humility, active listening, gratitude, owning blind spots, and acknowledgment."
Joseph MeersmanSweating the Pixel: Scaling Quality through Critique
June 10, 2021
"Kate Middleton has been doing this for a hot minute, invested in maintaining the status quo because if it ain't broke, why fix it?"
Melinda BelcherBridging the Gap: Making the Most of the Differences Between Agency and Enterprise
January 8, 2024
"Craft means intent and care even in digital products; for example, the bounce animation of Google Maps’ pin shows someone cared."
Uday Gajendar Adam RichardsonFrom AI to Zeitgeist: Theory as the design antidote to AI hype
March 27, 2025
"Procurement in local government favors old, single-sale products, making adoption of new services challenging despite long-term savings."
Laura Smith Tom GaylerEmbedding Service Design and Agile Practice within UK Planning Teams to Create Services that Last
December 3, 2024
"If you’re sitting there thinking I need to build out this project and nobody else is saying the same thing, it means you have to do it, period."
Catt Small Micah Bennett Brian Carr Jessica HarlleeWhat's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
February 22, 2024
"With LLMs, the product itself is no longer a dependent variable; experiences diverge per user."
Katie JohnsonDisrupting generative AI products with just-in-time consumer insights
June 4, 2024
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How does shifting organizational language from AI as a tool to AI as a way of working reflect cultural maturity?
How can teams integrate inclusive design into early product development stages to avoid costly late fixes?
What signs indicate an organization is ready to experiment with coordinated collaboration approaches?