When Chelsea Mauldin first introduced design thinking into the U.S. government, she ran straight into scepticism — back then, design was often dismissed as “throw pillows and pretty fonts. In this rich and wide-ranging conversation, Chelsea — Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab in New…
When Chelsea Mauldin first introduced design thinking into the U.S. government, she ran straight into scepticism — back then, design was often dismissed as “throw pillows and pretty fonts. In this rich and wide ranging conversation, Chelsea — Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab in New York — joins Gerry Scullion to trace her path from urban planning into championing human centred design across federal and municipal agencies. They explore: How design found its foothold in the public sector during the Obama administration Why the hardest — and most important — work happens after the design phase ends What it takes to build trust, practice ethics, and drive change inside complex systems The People Say project — a first of its kind, public repository for civic research Where AI genuinely supports public services… and where it simply doesn’t 🎧 A powerful listen for anyone shaping service design, public policy, or civic innovation.
Humana Design — service design and design research consultancy, Dublin, Ireland.