Unit 4
How Manuel Bonduki teaches Unit 4
What is this page?
This is a detailed breakdown of how Manuel Bonduki Lecturer at Insper, São Paulo, Brazil, teaches a class that covers the contents of Unit 4 of the open access syllabus developed by Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age.
We believe it is helpful to see how professors in different contexts teach the same concepts, so we also provide similar class breakdowns by a professor in the USA, and by a professor in Germany.
Who is this page for?
This page was developed for university faculty who teach public administrators or master's levels students in public policy and public administration. This material may also be suitable for teaching to upper year undergraduates.
Class Overview
Digital transformation of public services is an important driver for public transformation in the public sector as a whole. This process, however, should be built putting the users’ needs first. In order to do that, human-centered design is a powerful approach that allows service designers better understand what is essential in service provision from the point of view of citizens and what may result in amplified exclusion of marginalized groups.
The class is organized following the DOCK20 Learning Experience Design framework, a student-focused approach to deliver meaningful classes as well as Insper’s Student Centered Learning methodology.
This page provides an example of a lecture conducted by Manuel Bonduki in his course "Innovation in Public Administration" at Insper.
This Class' Learning Objectives
By the end of this class students should be able to:
Explain why public services transformation can be a driver of digital transformation in government
Apply the design thinking approach to public services digital transformation
How this class relates to the Digital Era Competencies
💡 This class has a specific focus on Competency 1 - Users. See all eight competencies here.
Acknowledgements
A warm thank you to Isabella Brandelise and the GNova Innovation in Government Lab team
Pre-class assignments and reading
Before the class, the students are encouraged to watch the movie ‘I, Daniel Blake’ (2016) which offers a compelling message about how services that are badly designed and badly transformed to “digital by default” can exclude most vulnerable people. The movie is not directly discussed during class but puts the students in a more empathic mood to consider human-centered design.
Assigned Reading
Schou, J., & Pors, A. S. (2019). Digital by default? A qualitative study of exclusion in digitalised welfare. Social Policy and Administration, 53(3), 464–477. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12470
Optional Reading
Designing for Public Services: a practical guide (NESTA, IDEO, 2017)
Good Services: How to Design Services that Work. DOWNE, Louise.
Detailed Class Breakdown
Class Plan, 180 minutes
The sections below describe the dynamics of each part of the class:
Segment 1 - Entry (15’)
The purpose of this segment is to bring student’s attention on how they have themselves experienced services that haven’t worked properly.
Through a check-in process, each student is asked to say one word about a characteristic of a bad service they have been through recently.
Segment 2 - Discussion - What is a service? (20’)
Building on the experience of having watched ‘I, Daniel Blake’ the aim of this section is to have a common concept of what public service is and why building an adequate and citizen-centred digital transformation of services is such an important topic.
The class begins as the instructor presents a list of various government activities on a screen and students have to vote (on Mentimeter or other voting application) on whether options do or do not constitute 'a service'.
A slide showing various government policies and services like 'public vaccination campaign', 'renew passport', and 'streets cleaning'
Some of the options are policies, others are parts of services, others are not individualized services (like street cleaning). A discussion follows in which the students are invited to explain their votes and why they would or would not characterize a government activity as a service, as opposed to something else.
In this segment the difficulties of defining services are stressed as the instructor differentiates common services (such as ‘streets cleaning’) from individualized services (such as ‘renew passport’ or ‘pay income tax’) from policies (such as Conditional Cash Transfer programs) or information campaigns.
Lou Downe’s definition of services - “Service is something that helps someone do something” - exemplifies how hard it may be to have a definitive concept. The Brazilian regulatory definition of public services states, “Public Service is the action of the administrative bodies and entities of government to meet, directly or indirectly, the demands of society related to the exercise of rights or compliance with a duty”. . Although not a very exciting definition, it is at least some common ground to build upon.
The instructor then presents a basic framework of frequent elements of services: users, prerequisites, requests, steps and outcomes and brings examples.
Segment 3 - Lecture - Why should services be the driver for digital transformation in governments? (20’)
The purpose of this segment is stress to students the central role that public services transformation plays in digital transformation of governments.
The importance of services to trust in governments is emphasised, as public services are frequently the most visible form of engagement between citizens and government. It is thus very important that government services can deliver a quality experience to its users.
The agility and technological advances present in services built by the private sector act as a kind of reference point for citizens - a definition of what 'normal' looks like. Governments must be able to offer similar experiences.
However, unlike services provided by businesses, public services must have to be both inclusive and secure. Well done transformation of public services therefore often involves solving some of the most complex challenges that governments face.
Although governments do more than just deliver public services (they also regulate), it is the delivery of services, especially new and improved services, that is usually the driver of change to digital government.
This most often happens because the budgetary characteristics of digital transformation often look attractive to decision-makers. Digital services can cost only a fraction of having face-to-face delivery, and can reduce costs for citizens, not just government itself. So during his class Manuel presents the Standard Cost Model to help evaluate the possible savings that come from digital transformations.
Segment 4 - How should we transform public services? (20’)
The purpose of this section is to explain the basics of the design thinking approach and how it can be used in public sector innovation projects as well as in human-centred service design.
Human-centered design is presented as an approach that holds human needs as the cornerstone of solution building. The concept of divergent and convergent thinking are explained, and a project by GNova Innovation Lab is presented as an example of application of design thinking into fostering innovation in public services delivery.
Segment 5 - Exercise - Design the Ideal Wallet (90 min)
The purpose of this segment is to let students understand the difference between a solution developed with and without user focus and have them experiencing all stages of design thinking approach, such as exploration, problem definition,ideation, prototyping and testing.
After students have heard about how to design with user focus, they are invited to form pairs and receive the canvas for the “Design the Ideal Wallet” Stanford’s D.School exercise.
It is an exercise that allows students to go through all stages of design thinking is just about an hour.
After building an “ideal wallet”, based on their own view, the students are invited to understand what are the needs of the user, through quick interviews and feedback. As they focus on what the user wants, it becomes clear that “the wallet” is only one possible solution and perhaps not the best one for that specific user.
As well as the ‘ideal wallet’, many services are designed taking in account an “ideal citizen”. Real citizens, however, may have specific and different needs that should be addressed. Focusing on the problem (the fulfilment of a need) and not on the solution allows services designers to build inclusive and effective services.
The exercise has a complete facilitator’s guide available in several languages.
Segment 6 - Exit (15')
Next Class: In continuation of this class, the next class presents and supports students on how to choose and apply different tools and methodologies to understand users' needs. A very complete list of toolkits for citizen centered innovation may be found here.
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Acknowledgements
David Eaves would like to note that this material was made possible by numerous practitioners and other faculty who have generously shared stories, pedagogy and their practices. David is also grateful to the students of DPI 662 at the Harvard Kennedy School for enriching the course and providing consent to have the material and questions shared. Finally, an enormous thank you must be given to Beatriz Vasconcellos, who helped assemble and organize the content on this page.