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UK Government review of public design launches at UAL

Written byPress Office
Published date 17 July 2025

**Public Design Evidence Review, University of the Arts London | Photography: University of the Arts London**

Cabinet Office Minister Georgia Gould OBE MP, senior civil servants and academics gathered at UAL today to launch the Public Design Evidence Review. The first of its kind globally, the Review considers the role of design in creating more successful government policies and services..

How do we create better public policies and services that routinely achieve their intent? Public design could be part of the answer.

This Review looks at the policy process from start to finish, from the early development of ideas to how policies are delivered and, finally, experienced by the public. It identifies four key impacts from incorporating design principles and practices:

more innovative solutions

increased effectiveness

increased efficiency

reduces the gap between government and citizens

Commissioned by the Civil Service, the Review includes perspectives and examples from across government departments as well as contributions from UAL academics and the Design Council. This collaborative piece of work explores what ‘good design’ means in the public sector, why it matters and how its power can be harnessed.

The Review evidences how practices from strategic design, user experience and service design can improve the workings of government and therefore impact lives for the better. It points towards a coherent strategic framework for examining and implementing design in the public sector and, in so doing, inform future decisions about what role public design should play in a modern, agile and mission-focused government.

The publication includes a report, case studies and literature reviews. The report was led by Lucy Kimbell, Professor of Contemporary Design Practices at Central Saint Martins, UAL, alongside co-authors Prof Catherine Durose (University of Liverpool), Professor Rainer Kattel (UCL) and Professor Liz Richardson (University of Manchester).

Too often decisions are made by process, by funding or by organisations. but what I love about human centred design is that it always starts with people's lived experience…I think design is such a powerful tool to make change happen and to create connections.

— Georgia Gould MP and Parliamentary Secretary

Design as problem solving has a long and important tradition. But there is another tradition of imagination and vision. Design educators, students and academics have a track record of working with communities to envision: what kind of world do we want to live in?

— Lucy Kimbell Professor of Contemporary Design Practices