Institute for Design & Public Policy @ RISD

KRISTEN CHIN (PRATT CENTER FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT): You have to approach a problem from all different angles. When that’s done, you know, it’s when the strongest ideas are generated through collaboration. 

 

JOHN KLUGE (SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR AND AUTHOR): We’re really here I think to learn about the process of design, human-centered design thinking and the intersection of policy. Using energy as a kind of case study or framework. 

 

MEGHAN LAZIER (OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT): This institute is really exciting because I think people are learning that design is a process and sometimes a tool does not solve a really complex problem. You need to go through a process that is in someways difficult and hard and complex and I think the process reflects the problems we are trying to work on. 

 

ANTOINETTE BOWSER (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE): Often times government in general, you know, we think we know what the problem is and immediately we’re trying to find a solution to it. But we really haven’t truly defined the problem. So I know that is one thing I want to take back to my organization, managers in particular. 

 

EMILY TAVOULAREAS (U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS): I’ve been working in government for about two years to help government do a better job of connecting with the people it serves and delivering better services to citizens. Essentially my interest and my excitement for being here is exploring how a methodology that is so good at producing good tangible products can be used to help us create better policies and outcomes for people. 

 

JOHN CHOI (FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER): In foreign policy, especially in public diplomacy, we’re also trying to find solutions that take into account users, communities, technology. Design does it in a way that’s participatory and open to other approaches is really appealing to me, it’s always appealed to me. And I’m going to try and replicate that approach to try and solve problems, challenges in the foreign policy sphere. 

 

MEGHAN LAZIER (OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT): So I’m really excited to see government employees kind of expand their knowledge of design and then be able to take that back to their own offices and really try to transform how people are working on some of the most complex problems in the world.