Optimizing for Outcomes: Transformation Design in Systems at Scale
Summary
Moving beyond the service blueprint or user journey map, this case study explores some of the more non-traditional outputs and outcomes driven by service design, particularly through the lens of creating long-term transformational change. Stefanie will overview a variety of recipes for achieving transformative outcomes at three levels within government agencies: the product/service experience, program-wide or platform initiatives, and fundamental agency technology operations. The challenges for each layer are unique, but also offer different opportunities for where service designers can achieve sustainable, real impact. We’ll explore specific examples achieved by a breadth of designers, product managers, and engineers working within government before exploring how this model might be replicated across other partner government agencies to achieve our vision of making more government services become as simple, effective, and accessible as possible.
Key Insights
-
•
Transformation design applies human-centered design at every layer of government service delivery, including technical infrastructure.
-
•
Nava focuses on building better foundations, not just better facades, to create lasting organizational change.
-
•
Agile iteration culture is still not universal in government and introducing it through design can shift entrenched waterfall mindsets.
-
•
Designers embedded within technical teams, like at the VA, enable faster release cycles by identifying friction points and co-developing support processes.
-
•
Program-level service design can unify cross-agency teams with shared language, playbooks, and frameworks to synchronize complex federal initiatives.
-
•
Simplifying processes such as cloud infrastructure onboarding can reduce provisioning from months to 48 hours, saving costs and increasing adoption.
-
•
Using plain language playbooks helps caseworkers across states better understand and administer programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
-
•
Designers at the deepest organizational levels can advocate for policy and procurement changes to eliminate bottlenecks and burnout risks.
-
•
Despite challenges, design advocacy at technical and operational layers can build allies over time and spread human-centered design practices across agencies.
-
•
The scale of government systems means design improvements can have massive impact reaching millions of users and affecting significant portions of GDP.
Notable Quotes
"Build better foundations, not better facades."
"The highest impact levers for long-term transformation exist in technical infrastructure and operations."
"Many federal benefit programs face challenges verifying income, causing stress and leaving billions in unclaimed benefits."
"Injecting a culture of agile iteration sets the precedent that things can and will change as the team learns."
"Designers can help cross-functional teams learn and grow together through building shared understanding and common language."
"Making onboarding easier at the infrastructure layer results in huge efficiency gains and cost savings."
"Designers embedded alongside technical teams can spot unseen issues in the spaces between operational silos."
"An agency developing shared technical infrastructure must market to itself why change is preferred, not just rely on top-down mandate."
"It can be hard for designers to immediately understand or advocate for the real value of design at deeper technical layers."
"What one government agency does often serves as the playbook for success at another."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"It was like arriving to your home after a long day and just right to rest but at the same time you know you could not wait to continue working."
Benjamin RealMaturity Models: A Core Tool for Creating a DesignOps Strategy
October 1, 2021
"Accessibility is not only important to preserve rights but leads directly to innovation."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
June 10, 2022
"The landing charge is the key thing airlines look at and that needs to stay flat."
Stephen PollardClosing Keynote: Getting giants to dance - what can we learn from designing large and complex public infrastructure?
November 7, 2017
"Creating different formats of the vision for different stakeholders improves resonance and adoption."
Catt SmallCraft a Vision that Actually Gets Shipped
April 30, 2026
"Every minute spent struggling with an IT system is a minute not spent delivering value for IBM and our clients."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
"Paradigm shifts depend on how a problem is described and who controls the narratives and beliefs."
Meghan BausoneSystems Thinking and Design Innovation: Working with Leverage Points in Rural Maternal Health Systems
April 17, 2026
"Every innovation carries responsibility; we must tread carefully with AI in health."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"The iPhone launch was a remarkably compelling, magnetic, and beautiful case study for the power of design."
Doug PowellDesignOps and the Next Frontier: Leading Through Unpredictable Change
September 11, 2025
"Outage caused by technical debt between Boneyard’s VT100 era system and E-Toy’s cloud infrastructure."
Ted NewardTheme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
June 4, 2019
