How to Play (Online Version)

1. Identify phase: Think of a challenge you are working on and decide which phase you are in.
2. Browse methods: Review the methods. Think about how you might apply them to your work. (Feel free to explore other phases, too.)
3. Use methods: Try out any promising methods. You can learn more about the methods online. If you feel stuck or need advice, we can help! Send us a note at info@publicpolicylab.org.

Online Card Deck

Plan

During Plan, teams are focused on aligning stakeholders on a project’s scope and preparing research operations. During this phase, teams are asking:

• How can we capture authentic participant experiences?
• How can we set up effective research operations?
• How can we define clear project boundaries and success metrics?

Research

Once teams move on to Research, the goal is capturing participant experiences to generate fuel for design. During this phase, teams are asking:

• How can we share participants’ voices and experiences, as directly as possible, with decision-makers?
• How can we translate research findings into actionable insights?
• How can we identify the most promising opportunities for change?

Design

Design centers on co-creating viable prototypes with end-users and providers and building systems and buy-in for implementation. During this phase, teams are asking:

• How can we co-create prototypes that actually work for users?
• How can we design the systems needed for successful implementation?
• How can we test and refine our solutions before launch?

Deploy

Once we reach Deploy, teams are focused on capturing end-user/provider experiences during initial live implementation and iterating based on learnings. During this phase, teams are asking:

• How do we monitor what’s working and what isn’t during implementation?
• How do we quickly adapt based on real-world feedback?
• How do we maintain quality while scaling up?

Scale

Finally, Scale is all about achieving system integration and supporting scaled implementation. During this phase, teams are asking:

• How can we get organizational buy-in for system-wide adoption?
• How can we support other teams in implementing our solutions?
• How can we document and share our learnings?

This is just the first version of the deck, and we plan to add more methods and release a full deck soon—stay tuned! If you have any questions about how to use the deck or suggestions about what to include, send us an email at info@publicpolicylab.org. We’d love to hear from you!

Recommended Citation

​​Public Policy Lab. Public Sector Service Design Kit. New York, NY: Public Policy Lab, 2025.