News

Prototype Barnet


Over the last few weeks thinkpublic have been working on a new project with Barnet Council to develop a framework for using prototyping techniques in the development of new public services.

There are three aims to this project;

  • 1) to develop a framework which Barnet Council can adapt and use in the future for developing service ideas in other areas of the council;
  • 2) to build the capacity of the council to use prototyping in their own work;
  • 3) to test this framework ‘live’ (in true prototyping style) by using prototyping techniques to develop, test, refine and shape a new local service idea. (This service idea came out of the Future Shape research which targeted those families currently in contact with multiple public/voluntary sector organisations and professionals).

The aim of this new service is to work closely with these families to help them develop and become more resilient, reach their goals and reduce their dependence on the state. In addition to this, previous research highlighted that out of 35 meetings one family had with the council; only 5 meetings provided any new information, so the service we design should help reduce the number of unnecessary interactions and make services more efficient and useful for all involved.

To help us deliver this project and to build their organisational capacity, we have formed a core-team with representatives from across the council and local communities. This team will be attending training sessions and working groups to build their confidence and ability to prototype, they will also be going out and about into the community to test our their ideas and prototypes on real people.

What is interesting to thinkpublic about this project is that with looming government budget cuts on the agenda and the Spending Review due in the next few days; the interest in prototyping services to test viability at an early stage of service development (rather than undertaking more lengthy and costly piloting) is becoming increasingly popular with many public sector organisations. Whereas piloting is great for trialing a service in depth over a longer period of time, prototyping is good for failing quickly, cheaply (and quietly) when testing new service ideas, early in the development process.

The critical success factors with developing a prototyping framework is building the confidence and knowledge of the people involved in the project and making sure that the framework can be easily adapted for use with many different types of services. In addition to the cost benefit analysis of the project which will be undertaken by NESTA we will also be capturing the learning journey and confidence of the staff and community involved in the project, to demonstrate how the framework will be used across Barnet Council.

new thinkpublic website

Over the summer the team at thinkpublic have been working really hard on our brand new website. The new site is packed full of exciting information about our team, project case studies and publications. The site links with the thinkpublic blog, our twitter profile and displays updates of our latest news, so now it’s even easier to keep in touch and be part of the thinkpublic family.

our first thinkpublican – rosie jones!

We are very proud to announce the first ever winner of the thinkpublican awards! This is a new award scheme we have launched to pay well-deserved tribute to individuals using design and creative thinking in the public sector. The thinkpublican awards aim to recognise those creating positive social change by taking innovative approaches to challenges they face in their work. Awards will take place quarterly, and thinkpublicans are judged by the thinkpublic team on their evidence of design thinking, motivation, innovation, way of working, measurable social impact, a grounded approach, effective citizen engagement. You can read more about it here.

thinkpublic’s first thinkpublican is (drum roll please)… ROSIE JONES! Rosie is an amazing lady and incredibly dedicated Health Visitor in Croydon. She has played a central role in the creation and running of a pilot project that supports women suffering from mental health problems during pregnancy and up to a year after the birth of their child.

thinkpublic worked alongside Rosie to evaluate the pilot project for Croydon PCT, conducting interviews with women that had used the service. We were amazed and moved by how many of them spoke of how much their lives had been changed through the support they had received from Rosie.

Not only does Rosie have an extraordinary amount of empathy for her clients and dedication to her work, she has also used a bold and creative approach to take therapeutic support to women in their own homes. She has been incredibly pro-active at forging relationships across the PCT to integrate the project with existing maternity services, and to keep the project running even in this testing financial climate.

Rosie joined us for a thinkpublican lunch where she was presented with her award and a bag of goodies as a small token of our respect. We look forward to seeing the films Rosie makes on her new Flip-Cam, and hope she enjoys her well-earned massage!

The deadline for the next round of thinkpublican awards is 10th January, if you would like to nominate someone you think is using design and creative thinking in the public sector and having a great social impact please contact Alice.

Social Lab for Go 10,000


thinkpublic recently worked with Danielle Ramsey, winner of the Go London Social Innovation Competition to further develop her idea for Go 10,000 (formerly known as 10,000 Step Challenge).

As one of the prize contributors’ thinkpublic offered Danielle the opportunity to undertake a dedicated Social Lab to transform her current ideas into an engaging fitness programme for delivery around the 2012 Olympic Games.

Throughout the afternoon thinkpublic and the Go 10,000 team worked with contributors from NHS London, FutureGov and TimeBank to decide on the areas to focus on in the session and work up further, more detailed ideas and plans through a number of fun and inspiring brainstorming sessions.

Wendy Clay, from NHS London said on the day that thinkpublic had; “most likely saved the Go 10,000 tens of thousands of pounds in marketing/advertising costs, by helping us to work out (in one afternoon session) how to target potential users through relevant, cost-effective marketing channels”

For further information about the Social Lab please see Lauren Ivory’s update about the afternoon’s activities: http://go.london.nhs.uk/blog/2010/09/03/thinkpublics-workshop-with-the-10000-step-challange/

Go London

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Today thinkpublic are working with Danielle Ramsey, winner of the Go London Social Innovation Competition to develop 10,000 steps; a work-based/community team event which aims to support each team member to walk 10,000 steps a day, for 7 days a week for 4 to 6 weeks. The aim is that each team will walk the circumference of the UK!

Danielle was selected as the winner of the prize by thinkpublic’s Managing Director, Ben Kingsmill who was a member of the judging panel for the Go London competition.

10,000 steps aims to include a challenge, an event, to encourage and support Londoners to make positive lifestyle changes by including physical activity in their daily routines.

thinkpublic, along with a range of people who will provide advice, opinions and expertise, will be working with Danielle to design and develop aspects of the challenge programme in more detail; for further information about the programme please visit: http://go.london.nhs.uk/submissions/2010/03/03/go-london-10000-steps-uk-challenge/

Coming soon…. thinkpublic’s new website!

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Over the summer we have been working really hard on our brand new website. The new site will feature information about our work, including lots of case studies and some really interesting new projects we’ve been working on.

We’re planning to launch the website in the coming weeks and we’re looking for five people to help us test the site. Email Kelly Welburn at Kelly.welburn@thinkpublic.com if you’d like to sign up as a tester. We’d love your help!

People-centred Services

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Todays Society Guardian supplement has two great articles about the thinkpublic approach and our work with The Alzheimers Society. Click here to read more about ‘Public services face doing more with less’  and to read how Dementia sufferers benefit from person-centred public services click here

Ivo Gormley attends UN Strategic Design Conference

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Ivo Gormley our Head of Media, is featured in Design Week this week writing about his recent trip to the UN Strategic Design Conference in New York, trying to meld together the worlds of policy development, design and cultural research to address the issues of turning local knowledge into action. To read the full article click here

Designing for Value

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Read Deborah Szebeko’s opinion piece from the Guardian Public on how Service improvement and doing more for less will only be a success if frontline staff are first of all given the tools to be more creative in their dealings with users and also building confidence to engage more with clients. To read more click here

Promoting active lifestyles in Shropshire

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This week we are running a project with Shropshire Council. We are engaging with local communities to better understand the opportunities for increasing public participation in active living.

More active lifestyles mean a healthier society, and we’re excited to be bringing the voices, experiences and ideas of local people into the Council’s development of future healthy living services.

This week, some of the thinkpublic team have been living and working in the Shropshire town of Oswestry. We have named the project ‘Active Oswestry’ and have been creating a bit of a presence in the area by traveling around the town on some thinkpublic bikes, meeting and speaking with local people and community groups.

Our research will not only feed into the Council’s bigger programme for healthy living in Shropshire, but also help to see a shift in the Council towards more inclusive and participatory community engagement.

This coming Saturday our engagement project will cumulate into a fun community event on the high street of Oswestry. We’ll be hosting free and fun activity sessions such as hoola hooping and yoga sessions. So pop along this Saturday 12 June 2010 if you live in and around the area and join us in to make a more ‘Active Oswestry.’

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