Designing in Complexity : A Systems Oriented Design Approach to Improving the Case Handling of Financial Assistance in Oslo
Description
What?
This thesis presents how systems oriented design has been integrated into design
practice by us – three service designers in the digitalization agency Oslo Origo at
the municipality of Oslo. The thesis follows a specific project which is about finding
out how to streamline the case handling of financial assistance, a public welfare
service. Throughout the text, we highlight the contributions and limitations of using
systems oriented design while working with the project. We end our reflections by
supplementing Selvaldsons (2022) suggested shifts in mindset, bringing more attention
to the humbleness, courage and emergence we have encountered in SOD, in order to
move towards a more systemic approach in design.
Why us?
As in-house service designers at Oslo Origo, we are often asked to facilitate
exploratory processes. As students of systems oriented design we are furthermore
curious to explore how to apply our learnings about systems in our design practice.
Financial assistance is one of the most complex welfare services in the public sector of
Norway and our assumption is that systems oriented design can contribute to improve
the service in holistic ways.
Why is it relevant?
We live in a time where we experience the after effects of interconnected global crises:
Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have led to inflation and a high influx of refugees
to Norway. This has increased the demand and expenses for financial assistance in
Norway by more than 10% in 2022 (Souri & Grebstad, 2023; SSB, 2023). To cope
with this, the public sector seeks responses. Streamlining services is seen as a way
to free up time for case handling with the ultimate goal of providing better assistance
to help people out of the service as quickly as possible. However, due to the complex
landscape this is not an easy task.
Publisher
The Oslo School of Architecture and DesignCopyright
Marcela Urbano CanalMaria Haukali Nørregaard
Tabea Jurine Glahs