A core course for the Graduate Minor in Civic Service Design at Parsons School of Design at The New School, taught by Lara Penin

What could public services become if, instead of delivering service solutions to individual, passive end-users, they could be designed as platforms to trigger, enable and support citizens’ active and collaborative behaviors? Driven by social, economic and environmental motivations, governments around the world are already making use of innovative strategies to improve their public services by empowering citizens. This course is for senior and graduate students who are interested in learning how to integrate end-user involvement into the design of public services and explore how these services can be innovated by incorporating greater citizen collaboration. The course will invite international design experts and public-sector leaders as guest lecturers and work in partnership with New York City agencies to carry out user research and propose solutions and prototypes. Students will learn advanced concepts and practical methods and tools related to Design for Social Innovation, Community-Centered and Participatory Design and Service Design applied to the public sector.