Summary
On day two of Civic Design 2021, the program shifted from broad themes to concrete, tactical approaches for advancing civic design in government. The speakers, collaborating closely for months, addressed the community’s highest priorities such as how to advocate for design’s value and gain stakeholder trust across disciplines. The sessions dove deep into accessibility, equity, and systems thinking, highlighting ways to redistribute power and center community voices through equitable research methods. Practical guidance was offered on structuring government hiring and procurement processes to attract quality design services and enhance internal capacities. Additionally, career advice was shared for those aspiring to enter civic design from diverse backgrounds, including students and government workers. The day was rich with personal stories, resources, and actionable methodologies, empowering attendees—facilitated by Bria and others—to embed inclusivity and sustain impact in their civic design work.
Key Insights
-
•
Making the case for design requires shifting mindsets and communicating value to multidisciplinary stakeholders.
-
•
Building trust with stakeholders is essential and can be enhanced by involving them early and often.
-
•
Accessibility and equity should be embedded from project inception, not added as an afterthought.
-
•
Equitable research practices can surface systemic points of intervention and redirect power to communities.
-
•
Sustainable civic design demands ongoing collaboration across geographies, government levels, and disciplines.
-
•
Government procurement and hiring processes must be designed inclusively to secure effective civic design services.
-
•
Augmenting internal government design capacity often includes contracting external design expertise through tailored procurement.
-
•
Career pathways into civic design are diverse, including roles in design, government, and education.
-
•
Personal narratives from practitioners deepen understanding and inspire new approaches in civic design.
-
•
Effective civic design blends tactical tools with mindful, community-centered methodologies to create lasting impact.
Notable Quotes
"Yesterday we saw themes emerge on striving for inclusion, applying equity and sustaining the work over time."
"One of the overwhelming requests has been how to make the case for design."
"We’ll hear multi-disciplinary views on how to build trust with stakeholders."
"We’ll explore tactics to understand systems, points of intervention, and how to redirect power."
"Embedding inclusivity from the start through equitable research practices is essential."
"Many governments need to buy design services to augment their internal capacities."
"Design procurement itself can be designed to get the best responses through inclusive processes."
"Whether you are a student, designer, or government worker, there is advice for getting started in Civic Design."
"Our presenters have iterated on their talks to provide rich resources and new knowledge."
"I encourage you all to ask questions throughout the day and follow up with speakers and cohorts to go deeper."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Knowing your value as a person means not giving everything to situations that don't give back."
Shahrzad SamadzadehWhat Is My Value? Two Takes and Some Mistakes
January 8, 2024
"If you get a perfect OKR score, it means you didn’t set your sights high enough."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"To get into flow, I need a strong belief in the purpose and the work we’re doing."
Ruzanna RozmanGetting in Flow with Your Team
January 8, 2024
"Rich industrialized countries outsource their plastic waste disposal to less capable countries."
Sheryl CababaExpanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
March 28, 2023
"Customer understanding gives teams focus. Customer empathy gives purpose."
Melissa Schmidt Adam MenterHow UX Research Hit It Big in Las Vegas
June 4, 2019
"A pattern library is not a design system. Relying on documentation alone leads to inconsistency and erosion over time."
Nathan Curtis Nalini P. Kotamraju Jack Moffett Dawn ResselDiscussion
June 9, 2016
"Culture change is the hardest part; build the muscle for sharing and collaboration early."
Jake BurghardtStop wasting research: Create new value with insight summaries
July 9, 2025
"Synthetic users might be okay for finding average behaviors, but they won’t replace unique insights from real users."
Kate Towsey Basel Fakhoury Oren Friedman Graham GardnerParticipant Recruitment and Management Tools
March 12, 2026
"We could not have this conference without you all — the curation team relies heavily on audience participation."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
September 9, 2022
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How does Survicate decide which prototype changes to make after user interviews?
What examples show that empathy emerges more from participation in research than from insights alone?
How do research operations teams manage the tension between consolidating tools and needing specialized capabilities?