Welcome to

Policy Lab

Winter 2017 edition

Who are we?Why Government Labs?What we doWorking with usOur approachOur methodsFinding out more

Who are Policy Lab?

Who are we?

We are a creative space based at the Cabinet Office where policy teams across Government can trial and test new ways of working.

Through live projects we support policy teams work with a range of experts to build the skills and knowledge they need to develop policy in a more open, data-driven, digital and user-centred way.

Who are we?

We were set up in 2014 as part of the Civil Service Reform plan. Since then, we have worked with over 5,000 civil servants on over 20 major policies.

Our multi-award winning projects, bespoke training and online materials have increased the awareness of cutting edge policy tools and techniques across government.

Follow us @PolicyLabUK

Who are we?

We are a small team of policy-makers,

departmental secondees and subject

experts including:

Beatrice Andrews, Stephen Bennet,

Dr Pauline Carnet, Vasant Chari,

Rupert Cryer, Kyna Gourley, Naeema

Malik, Gina Nsiah-Gyasi, Jasmine

Robinson, Sanjan Sabherwal, Dr

Andrea Siodmok and Owen Wilkie.

Email us policylab@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Who are we?

Data, design & data industry experts

Departments

Secondees and alumni

Projects:

Home Office & Surrey and

Sussex Police; MoJ; HMRC &

DWP; DH & DWP; DfE; DFID;

DCLG; BEIS and DfT.

Lab sprints: GO Science, DWP, NHS England, MOJ, DEFRA, Civil Service Learning, UKTI, BEIS and Departmental Policy Schools.

Uscreates, Innovation Unit, LiveWork, Studio INTO, Nonon, CurrentWorks, Made Open, FutureGov, Involve, Superflux, Strange Telemetry, Data Design and So Mo.

Andy Kepster, Cat Drew, Teresa Leitao, Helen Smith, Valentina Lopez, Iban Benzal, Holly McConnell, Professor Lucy Kimbell and Laurence Grinyer.

Some of our projects

How can we

support people to

manage their

health conditions

& stay in work?

How can we

support victims of

crime in a digital

world?

How can we meet

the challenges of

an ageing

society?

How can we

prevent and help

people exit

homelessness?

How can we

improve the

experience of

tenants and

landlords?

How can we

create a vision for

the future of rail

with passengers

at its heart?

How can we

encourage

businesses to

provide better

childcare

solutions?

How can we

achieve £1trillion

exports by 2020?

How can we

increase the take-

up of free

childcare for 2

year olds?

How can we

encourage young

people to value

their National

Insurance Nos?

How can we

persuade people

to use mediation

services when

they separate?

How can we

prevent

absenteeism in

schools?

Department

for Transport

(DfT)

Department

for Business,

Energy and

Industrial

Strategy

(BEIS)

Department

for Education

(DfE)

Department

for Work and

Pensions

(DWP)

Ministry of

Justice

(MOJ)

Foreign and

Commonwealth

Office (FCO)

Department

for Exiting the

EU (DExEU)

Department

for

International

Development

(DFID)

Department for

Environment

and Rural

Affairs

(DEFRA)

Cabinet

Office

(CO)

70Whitehall

Ministry of

Defence

(MOD)

Department

of Health

(DH)

HM Treasury

(HMT)

Department

of Culture

Media and

Sport

(DCMS)

HM Revenue

and Customs

(HMRC)

Department

for

Communities

and Local

Government

(CLG)

Policy

Lab

Home Office

(HO)

Success

As a result of collaboration and new insights

our policy projects deliver better outcomes at

lower cost.

Our projects are being scaled and achieving

savings. The Police Digitisation project is

being rolled out across England & Wales,

saving £3.7m.

We have also reached many more through the

open policy-making toolkit, Policy Lab blog and

slideshare which altogether have had over

50,000 views.

Why Government Labs?

The 3 big Ds

Design

Digital

Data

Why design?

Design can:• Save money. Understanding user

needs focuses our efforts on what people need (not what they don’t); prototyping spots errors early.

• Generate transformative ideas. Reframing questions allow new ideas, and creative techniques generate fresh thinking.

• Create people-centred services. User-centred design spends time with real people understanding their needs and designing services with them.

• Tackle complex problems. Design works best on problems which require action from multiple different people.

Why data?

Data science uses powerful computer techniques to analyse traditional data sets (like administration data or surveys) as well as new ones (such as social media data or digital data).

Algorithms work far quicker than humans, meaning we can analyse huge amounts of data quickly and find unexpected patterns and insights

Why digital?

Digital technologies can help us reach out to far more people to understand their views and crowdsource ideas.

It can also provide much more efficient, accessible and tailored services online.

Finally, providing digital services can create digital data, which allows us to understand how people are using them so we can continue to improve them.

Purposeful Innovation

We help policy-makers to innovate. Our

goal is to deliver purposeful innovation.

Through a practical approach we help

teams identify new solutions that deliver

four key qualities (RISE):

• Responsive to the needs of citizen’s and

government.

• Inclusive and open in our approach and

outcomes.

• Systemic in our ambition, embracing

complexity and opportunities for collaboration.

• Effective in delivering significant measurable

impact and learning for the future.

We sit on the edge

We experiment with new approaches here. If they prove to be valuable we bring them into Government and support their more widespread use in departments.

We open up policy-making

Transparency of information

Input of knowledge & experience

Public Closed

Government

Expertise

Shared Expertise

Engagement in processParticipateInform

Accountability for outcomesGovernment

responsibility

Shared

responsibility

We bring people together

Creating new forms of governance and system stewardship to tackle complex intractable challenges

Additive Manufacturing

Quantum Computing

Maker Movement

Connected Home

Cyber Security

Internet of Things

(IOT)

Smart Cities

New Materials

Automation

Data

Democratisation

Artificial

Intelligence

GenomicsPrecision

Medicine

Low carbon

economy

Nano technology

Augmented Reality

Flexible Manufacturing

Drones

Co-working spaces

Networked

Literacy

Virtual Reality

Data Science

Sensing Planet

Wearables

Consolidation

and Aggregation

Flexible working

Platform Revolution

Citizens

Smart Machines

Smart Systems

Smart Materials

Smart Spaces

Data Revolution

Machine Learning

Personal analytics

Commerce

in the

Cloud

Smart

Robots

Synthetic BiologyAgri-tech

Body Sensors

Smart Energy

Grids

P2P assets

Big Data

Bitcoin

We are future focused

Distributed Ledger

Technology (DLT)

Some of the emerging technologies that could shape future services.

How can we make

it happen?

What happened?

Why did it

happen?

What will

happen?

We are evidence curators

Prescriptive

Analytics

Descriptive

Analytics

Diagnostic

Analytics

Predictive

Analytics

Policy analytics ladder

Hindsight

The ability to understand

something only after it

has happened or

developed.

Insight

The capacity to

acquire an accurate

and deep

understanding of

something.

Foresight

The ability to predict

what will be needed

or what might

happen in the future.

Outsight

The capacity to

create an overview of

something beyond

the bounds of the

present combining

various external data.

What is

happening?

Investigative

Analytics

Oversight

The means to assess

something through

indicators, checks

and balances and

standard setting data.

Increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity

Adapted from Gartner

We focus on impact

Service DesignService re-design & alternative

delivery mechanisms

There is no efficiency ‘silver bullet.’ There are many levers

that need to be pulled to improve efficiency.

Organisational DesignTalent, Culture and Workforce

Services Systems

Markets & CompetitionTechnology, Data & Targeting

Markets

Front-line service

integration

Empowering users: Co-

production & co-design

Prevention / early

intervention

Reconfiguring services

Workforce capability &

leadership

Shared services

Sharing best practice

Organisational structures

Cost benchmarking

Intelligent outsourcing

New entry competition/

market creation

Strengthened incentives

Effective use of ICT

Channel shift

Effective use of data

Technological advances

Digital & Data designTechnology, Data & Targeting

Platforms

Hard budget constraints, pay controls and spending flexibility

Policy dynamicsThe institutions of polity

The art of politics

The craft of policy

The science of management

The pragmatics of delivery

Styles of Govt intervention

Providing and commissioning services

Laws

Regulation

Funding, taxes, tariffs and subsidies

Procurement, purchasing and buying powers

Leading, influencing and informing

Stewardship

Large scale

intervention

Low level

intervention

Leader

Regulator

Funder

Provider

Steward

Customer

Legislator

Framing, piloting and market forming

Acting in mature markets and policy ecosystemsEarly stage intervention

Scaling, mainstreaming and market building

Strategy and skills planningPrepare for changing workforce demands and consequences of

change.

Fiscal incentivesDirect finance to stimulate new thinking that can drive future

opportunities.

GovernanceEnsure regulation supports the

conditions for change and delivers the policy intent.

ReformerEstablish legitimacy, harnessing

political will for change.

Educating and informingEnsure regulation is sufficiently agile and permissive to enable

innovation.

Grants and subsidiesIncentivise behaviour change

through grants or other incentives

Building regulatory environment

Ensure regulation enables the intended policy outcomes.

Service providerProvide services directly or

indirectly through funding and target setting.

Agenda settingBuild awareness and confidence in

new opportunities by providing thought leadership

InnovatorCreate test beds, sandboxes and

trials in real world settings.

Encourage voluntary codesSelf-regulation, without

legislating, allowing for greater flexibility.

Early adopterExplore, experiment and trial new opportunities with strategic value.

CollaboratingProviding platforms for citizens to

protect vested rights and interests.

Platform provisionScale up proven ideas through

existing infrastructure and public services.

ComplianceSupport enforcement and

harmonise regulatory compliance environment.

Choice architect‘Nudging’ behaviour so that the

default is both attractive and easy.

Convening powerApplying government’s convening power to draw together expertise.

Connecting networksFostering a nexus where

government, experts and citizens can co-create change.

ChampionBuild a case for change and

alliances for action.

Co-producingCo-deliver by steering different

actors from across the system to deliver outcomes.

Standard settingDevelop standards for data collection and presentation.

Intelligent customerUtilise public procurement to

encourage investment and innovation.

CatalystReview, identify and prioritise key opportunities with strategic value.

Consumer, and supply-chain, protection

Protection of consumer rights and upholding of standards.

White papers & draft bills

Publish proposals for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny.

Primary and Secondary LawSupport a bill through parliament

and enact legislation

Green papersPublish proposals for discussion

with stakeholders and the public.

Amend rulesStatutory Instruments: rules, orders, created by delegated authorities (e.g. Secretary of

State).

Styles of government intervention*

* Examples of different formal and informal powers and levers for government policy-makers

Government as a...

What is our approach?

How do we work?

DiagnosePolicy Justification and framing the challenge. Developing and analysing the existing evidence base.

DesignEstablishing the policy theory of change, impact measures and constraints

DevelopGenerate and appraise options against design intent

DeliverPrototyping options, refining measures and planning implementation

PURPOSEGoals

How do we work?

Diagnose

Establish scope & reframe questions

Test and refine shared ideas

and proposals

DeliverDesign

Generate insight through big data and user insight

Be open and collaborative

Generate fresh ideas

Develop

Three levels of impact

New skills, knowledge& Tools

NewSolutions

InspiringProjects

Improved Performance

InnovativePolicy

New Thinking

1. Delivering new policy solutions through inspiring practical projects

2. Building the skills and knowledge of the policy profession and civil service

3. Inspiring new thinking and innovations in policy through our experiments and writing.

4 areas of workLab Light

Lab Experiments

Lab Sprints

Lab Demonstrators

Support for up to a year to enable policy teams to work innew ways.

Wrap-around support

over a short intensive

period of time to

accelerate a project.

Short introductions to

using Lab tools and

techniques.

One-off trials of new

and emergent

techniques.

• Policy schools

• Awaydays

• Mental Health Social Impact Bond

(scoping workshop with stakeholders)

• Export Jam (idea generation with 200

businesses)

• Health & social care data (prototyping)

• Supporting victims of crime digitally

• Supporting people to manage their

health conditions at work

• Preventing homelessness

• Increasing uptake of free childcare for

2 year olds

• Supporting parents to stay in co-

parenting relationships

• Speculative design to explore the Future

of Rail and Ageing society

• Data visualisation of complex evidence

How do we work?

Diagnose DeliverDesign

Lab Light

Develop

Full demonstration projects

Lab sprints Lab sprints

Lab experiments Lab experiments Lab experiments Lab experiments

Lab sprints

Our methods

Our tools & techniques

Diagnose DeliverDiscover Develop

Policy canvas

Hopes & fears cards

Challenge setting

5 whys

Data discovery cards

Personas

User segmentation

User journeys

Desk research

Interviews

Data science

Evidence safari

Film ethnography

Service safaris

Crowdsourcing

Ideation sheets

Future speculations

Change cards

Role cards

Service blueprints

Desktop prototyping

Experience prototyping

Design ethnography

User journeys

Evidence safari

Ideas days or ‘jams’

Speculative design

Idea sketch sheets

‘Backstage’ policy levers

Our tools & techniquesSpecialistBasic

(or Lab in a day!)Intermediate

User-insight

Data

Digital

Diagnosis

Idea generation

PersonasUser journeys

Service safarisPhoto-based interviews

Design ethnographyFilm ethnography

Data discovery cardsGoogle trendsvisual.ons.gov.uk

Online data visualisation tools, e.g. RAW, Dataseed

Machine learning, predictive modeling, clustering/segmentation

Reading twitter/online foraPosing questions on online fora

Online questionnaires e.g. Survey monkeyOnline crowdsourcing platforms

Online engagement toolsA/B testing

Ask ‘why?’ five times to get to the root causeChallenge setting

Hopes & fears cardsPolicy canvasMetric sheet

Evidence safari

Change cardsBrainstormingIdea sketch sheets

Speculative designPolicy Jams or ideas daysWhat if…Policy blueprintsPolicy intervention cards

Open Policy Making

Open policy making is about developing and delivering policy in a fast-paced and increasingly networked and digital world through: using collaborative approaches in the policy making process, so that policy is informed by a broad range of input and expertise and meets user needs.

Hopes & fears cards

We use images at the beginning of a project to get people using a different side of their brain, and to pick ones that visually represent a hope they have for the project or a fear. It’s a good way to understand the motivations of different people in the room right from the start.

Challenge setting

Challenge setting is our way of finding the right question to answer. It takes many iterations!! By asking why five times, we can get to the route causes of the issue. And by asking ‘how can we?’ (as opposed to ‘how can I?’ we open up possibilities to a wider set of ideas which require more than one department.

Personas

Personas are real or hypothetical descriptions of people who might be experiencing the policy or service. They help us to empathise with people, think about their needs and design policy that fits them. We use evidence to develop them and do a segmentation to avoid them becoming stereotypes.

Personas

Personas are real or hypothetical descriptions of people who might be experiencing the policy or service. They help us to empathise with people, think about their needs and design policy that fits them. We use evidence to develop them and do a segmentation to avoid them becoming stereotypes.

Journey mapping

‘User Journeys’ are a step by step map showing how people interact with services. They can identify the highs and lows and therefore what aspects new ideas can build on or improve.

Ethnography

‘Design ethnography’ is the study of people and behaviours from their point of view. Building insight and ideas by shadowing users or spending time with them and discussing their lived experience in real life contexts. Films and photos can be extremely powerful in creating empathy and generating ideas.

Data science

Through data science we can identify new knowledge, patterns and insights gained from large volumes of data. We can use new forms of real-time, digital data. Data visualisations like this Sankey diagram allows non-analysts to spot patterns and trends. And powerful clustering techniques can segment groups far faster than any human can.

Evidence safari

An evidence safari is a technique we use to get groups of people to explore large amounts of data quickly, spot gaps and build insight from which to generate ideas. Here, we are using evidence in the form of charts and graphs,but also humanised into persona stories that people can relate to.

Idea sketch sheets

We use creative methods to help people come up with new ideas. Sketching can help share germs of ideas during co-design sessions with stakeholders.

Open ideas days

Policy Jams and open ideas days help engage wider stakeholders with policy areas and co-develop ideas. They often start by exploring evidence or asking stakeholders to share their experiences, and then generate ideas as a result.

Speculative design

Speculative design imagines possible (rather than probably or predictable) futures and then creates an object or image from them. This tangible ‘thing’ allows to engage the public in a debate about whether we not we want that type of future, and what we would need to do to get there (or avoid it). Research before situations exist.

Service blueprints

‘Service blueprints’ and ‘Value maps’ can help show the relationship between different parts of the system now and in the future. We have adapted these for Government so they map out how a user experiences a policy, as well as the specifically Government functions (legislation, regulation, funding) make this happen.

Service blueprints

‘Service blueprints’ and ‘Value maps’ can help show the relationship between different parts of the system now and in the future. We have adapted these for Government so they map out how a user experiences a policy, as well as the specifically Government functions (legislation, regulation, funding) make this happen.

Prototyping

An early model or mock-up built to test a concept, so it can be replicated or learned from. Prototypes help quickly build a service or policy idea to test assumptions. These can be made out of paper (like this online crime reporting tool) or tried out in real situations.

Finding out more

Commissioning Lab

We are always open to enquiries for new

projects. We offer a quick overview of

Policy Lab and an opportunity to work up a

project idea in an introductory workshop for

policy teams who may be interested in

running a lab project.

For more information contact:

policylab@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Or read our guide to commissioning Policy

Lab.

Further information

We blog all the time here

And we put all of our tools on the Open Policy Making toolkit here

Check out our latest videos from Lab:

Cat Drew shares her insights on design

and data in her TEDx talk .

Head of Lab, Andrea Siodmok speaks at

the RSA about the role of design thinking

in Government.

Further information

International visits

and visitors

Senior Whitehall Group

Presentation by Geoff Mulgan I-

teams report (pictured).

International workshops and

speeches:

Global Lab Leaders (Toronto,

Marseille)

Keynote speeches (Sweden,

Australia, New Zealand)

OECD change (Paris)

SEE / BEDA (Brussels)

Visitors:

Australia, Canada, Estonia, Israel,

New Zealand, UAE, US, China and

Japan.

Further information

We know this is a long powerpoint but if

you are still interested in finding out more

here is some more in depth reading:

Our former research fellow Lucy Kimbell

produced this booklet called Discovering

Policy Lab.

The RSA Journal article on Policy Lab

called ‘Designer Policies’