1. Nina Terrey, Partner ThinkPlace
Nina.terrey@thinkplace.com.au
Re-thinking assistance to vulnerable
families
Understanding the journey of familles through the
service system

2. THINKPLACE
ThinkPlace applies strategy and design to transform the
public sector in creating public value. We work with clients
across Federal, State and local government levels. We
run on average 200 design projects a year. We have
offices in Australia – Canberra and Sydney; New Zealand
– Wellington and run projects in Uganda and Washington.
We are a leading design firm in Australia applying design
to services and public strategy and policy - everyday.

3. « Listening to Families« 200 ….. 5000 »
 recognition that a group of individuals and families experience
perpetual cycles of disadvantage.
 The policy issue was to address how to improve responses for
individuals and families that cannot, or choose not to, access
the support they require to meet their full range of needs and to
mitigate against any adverse outcomes

4. “In this policy space, a ‘co-design’ methodology with service
users based on an action learning approach is more likely to
be effective than a traditional policy making process”

5. Method
 Multi stage
 Parallel activities: listening to families & reflection on co-
design as method
 Iterative
 Driven by dialogues
 Drawn together by social analysis
 Visual representation

6. Players
 Network of relations within the service system
 Drawing together policy people, frontline staff, and the
families
 Enabled by designers and sociologists

7. Result(s)
 Listening and not acting
 Reframing models and assumptions
« vulnerable »
 Building empathy

8. Result(s)

9. Result(s)

10. Result(s)
 Framing design challenges as ways to stimulate
new dialogues across the players
 Uncovering insights to see possibilities from the
families perspective
 Crafting « shifts » to draw forward innovation

11. Result(s) Click on the icon below to add one or
several images representing the
positive result of the project
 Co-creating possibilities
 New models of dialogues with all players
together
 Seeking concrete ideas stemming from insights

12. Result(s)
Family Connect
Family
centred,
outcomes
focused,
collaborative
service Family
Lead Case delivery
information
worker profile

13. FAMILY PROFILE
Result(s)
FAMILY CONNECT
LEAD CASE WORKER

14. Challenge (s)
 Shifting perceptions that this was « different » than a
normal consultancy
 Gaining buy-in from a wide group to participate in
every stage
 Maintaining focussed effort to draw out richness of
lived experiences

15. Again ?
- This is an initial project leading new ways of
working
- It takes a new project to demonstrate
- The next stage will be essential to get right –
inclusiveness will be critcial in the detailed
service design and implementation

16. Play the video….