Background | New Zealand | UK | HK (of China) | India | Conclusion | Reference

Background

Governments worldwide face the challenge of delivering efficient, user-centered services to diverse populations. From simplifying visa processes to reimagining digital document management, Design Sprint projects (including Determining Challenges, Discovering Information, Defining Opportunities, Developing Ideas, Delivering Solutions and Driving Changes) have emerged as a powerful tool to solve complex problems in a structured, rapid, and collaborative manner.

This article explores four real-world examples of government and public services—from New Zealand, the UK, Hong Kong (of China), and India—that demonstrate how Design Sprints are transforming government and public services and why they matter for public sector innovation.

New Zealand

Enhancing All-of-Government Service Analytics

The Service Innovation Lab in New Zealand conducted a condensed three-day Design Sprint to explore how service analytics could improve government services during real-life events. By integrating principles from game design, the sprint focused on:

  • Developing a reporting dashboard to visualize user flows and bottlenecks.
  • Creating a user journey map to highlight touchpoints and pain points.
  • Building a recommendations engine to provide tailored suggestions for citizens.

Key Outcome: The sprint delivered actionable insights and prototypes, demonstrating how government services can be designed to minimize user frustration and improve engagement.

UK

Simplifying the Visa Application Process

The GOV.UK Moving to the UK for Work team ran a one-day Design Sprint to improve the ‘Check if you need a visa’ tool. By using user personas and sketching ideas, the team identified key pain points in the visa journey, such as confusion about eligibility and application requirements.

Key Outcome: The sprint generated practical solutions for simplifying the visa results page, improving user understanding, and aligning stakeholders on the next steps. This collaborative approach underscored how even a single-day sprint can lead to impactful changes.

Hong Kong (Case 1)

Innovating Public Services with IT Solutions

The Hong Kong Police Force’s Information Systems Wing (ISW) adopted the Design Sprint framework to re-engineer their IT design process. Over a five-day sprint, the team:

  • Prototyped innovative IT solutions.
  • Tested ideas with users to validate their effectiveness.

Key Outcome: The sprint produced prototypes for enhancing public services and fostered a culture of innovation within the Force. The success of the initial workshop led to the scheduling of 12 additional sprints to develop more solutions.

Hong Kong (Case 2)

Revitalizing Historic Community with Societal Stakeholders

The Hong Kong Design Centre, in partnership with us, launched the Innovation Jam 2024 initiative to revitalize the Sham Shui Po Fabric Market, which had seen a decline in visitors since its relocation. Using a two-day AI-driven Design Sprint, the program aimed to analyze customer needs and develop preliminary solutions to attract more visitors with university students, social workers, volunteers from social service organizations, and school teachers.

Key Outcomes: Project efficiency improved by 95%, and project timelines were reduced from 26 weeks to just 1 week. The innovation team delivered preliminary innovative, actionable solutions to address the market’s challenges. It gained feedback from the representatives of the Fabric Market stalls, Sham Shui Po District Council, and the E-commerce Association.

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India

Reimagining Digital Documents with DigiLocker

The Indian Government partnered with Parallel, a design studio, to redesign the DigiLocker app, a platform for managing digital versions of official documents. The sprint addressed challenges such as low Aadhaar linkage, user confusion about the app’s purpose, and misuse of storage.

Key Outcome: The redesigned app saw a 280% increase in user retention, 7.5 million new installs, and a significant boost in Aadhaar-linked accounts. The sprint not only enhanced the app’s usability but also showed how Design Sprints can make large-scale government projects more effective.

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Conclusion

Design Sprint projects have proven to be a game-changer for governments and public services worldwide, enabling them to innovate faster, design better services, and meet the evolving needs of their citizens. These 5 cases illustrate the transformative impact of the Design Sprint method on government and public service projects:

  1. Citizen-Centered Approach: Governments can directly address citizen pain points by involving stakeholders and leveraging user feedback.
  2. Collaboration Across Society: Design Sprint fosters teamwork by breaking down silos across different societal stakeholders, ensuring alignment on society and city development goals.
  3. Efficiency in Problem-Solving: By condensing months of work into a few days, Design Sprint enables rapid prototyping and validation of ideas.
  4. Scalable Solutions: Design Sprint’s iterative nature allows government and public services owners to refine prototypes and scale solutions that can better serve society and the community.

Whether it’s improving analytics in New Zealand, simplifying visas in the UK, modernizing IT in Hong Kong, or reimagining digital documents in India, Design Sprint projects provide a structured, impactful framework for solving complex problems.

Reference
  1. Argyll and Bute. (n.d.). Run a service design sprint. Retrieved from https://portal360.argyll-bute.gov.uk/service-manual/how-we/run-a-service-design-sprint
  2. Bradshaw, H. (2019, September 16). LabPlus: What do design sprints, game design and government have in common? NZ Digital Government Blog. Retrieved from https://www.digital.govt.nz/blog/labplus-what-do-design-sprints-game-design-and-government-have-in-common
  3. Chandler Institute of Governance. (n.d.). India’s Aadhaar system: Bringing e-government to life. Retrieved April 6, 2025, from https://www.chandlerinstitute.org/governancematters/indias-aadhaar-system-bringing-e-government-to-life
  4. Department for Culture, Media and Sport & Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. (2022, July 28). Creative industries spillovers – research findings. GOV.UK. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industries-spillovers-research-findings
  5. Design Council. (2022, June). Creative Industries Sector Vision Report: Maximising the spillover value of the creative industries to the wider economy. Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e10b63e90e0766b251ab73/Creative_Industries_Sector_Vision_Report_FINAL.pdf
  6. Hong Kong Police. (2019, May 8). ISW holds ‘Design Sprint’ workshop. Offbeat, Issue 1134. Retrieved from https://www.police.gov.hk/offbeat/1134/eng/7885.html
  7. Omar, A., Arpalikli, H., & Cottrell, R. (2023, January 9). How we ran a 1 day design sprint to help users understand visa options. Design in Government Blog. Retrieved from https://designnotes.blog.gov.uk/2023/01/09/how-we-ran-a-1-day-design-sprint-to-help-users-understand-visa-options/
  8. Parallel. (2020, October 30). Reimagining digital documents for a billion Indians with a Design Sprint. Sprint Stories. Retrieved from https://sprintstories.com/reimagining-digital-documents-for-a-billion-indians-with-a-design-sprint-b44e50c0a61f
  9. trendig. (2019, May 27). Hong Kong Police uses Design Sprint Framework to improve public services. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/trendig/hong-kong-police-uses-design-sprint-framework-to-improve-public-services-ed5414fd696b
  10. trendig. (2019, May 27). Hong Kong Police uses Design Sprint Framework to improve public services.
  11. trendig blog. Retrieved from https://trendig.com/en/blog/hong-kong-police-uses-design-sprint-framework-to-improve-public-services/ Unboxed Consulting Ltd. (n.d.). Design sprint – Digital Marketplace. Digital Marketplace. Retrieved from https://www.applytosupply.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/services/264741729886603
  12. Wytze, A. (2018, August 1). Could “Design Sprints” work in government? Code for Canada. Retrieved from https://medium.com/code-for-canada/could-design-sprints-work-in-government-aa167df9db8b

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