Design for Implementation (Practising)

70% on-the-job learning

• Lead the development of a detailed description of how each policy option would be operationalised, and apply an appropriate decision model to assess the costs, benefits and risks.
• Work with relevant partners to ensure users or sectors with particular needs (e.g. women, Māori, other ethnic communities, those with accessibility or mobility needs) can use a service or have alternative options.
• Engage early on in your policy work with service delivery experts and specialist advisors who will be key to the successful implementation of policy proposals (e.g. your agency’s legal section and Parliamentary Counsel).
• Apply implementation-focused decision-making models (e.g. impact analysis tools, Better Rules processes, Government Expectations for Good Regulatory Practice).
• Consider the potential for non-traditional policy options, such as behavioural nudges, new technologies and voluntary agreements.
• Use iterative approaches to test new ideas on a small scale before wider implementation (e.g. sand-boxing, pilots, prototypes and small-scale experiments of new ideas).
• Manage timeframes to ensure projects include sufficient time and resources for testing and evaluation across different stages of a project or service’s lifecycle.
• Learn about how user research is integrated into policy analysis at different points, including the design of policy options and services.
• Explore a major business transformation project (see Business Transformation).
• Understand the importance of digital inclusion in your work (see Digital Inclusion).
• Understand how Better Rules can help you design implementable legislation.

20% learning from others

• Use basic prototypes to explain or test approaches with colleagues.
• Learn from other agencies’ expertise on how to take user-centred approaches to policy design and implementation.
• Spend time in regional offices, if your agency has them.
• Seek secondments or other opportunities to work with partner organisations, such as iwi entities.
• Review the case studies, reports, research papers and more from Toi Āria the College of Creative Arts.

10% formal learning

• Attend courses or seminars on new ‘design thinking’ methods including Agile and Lean project approaches. For example:
  • Design Thinking Fundamentals Bootcamp by Wellington Uni Professional.