Politikdesign

Politikdesign is an interdisciplinary field that applies design thinking, service design, and user-centered methods to political processes, public policy, and governance. The aim is to make political systems and policies more legible, usable, and legitimate for diverse stakeholders by shaping institutions, interfaces, and communications that citizens interact with.

The scope includes policy design (defining objectives, instruments, and implementation pathways), governance design (institutional rules, decision rights, and accountability mechanisms), and service design for public programs and digital services. It also covers information design, such as data dashboards and policy summaries, as well as the design of electoral and participatory processes (ballots, voting interfaces, citizen consultation platforms).

Practitioners draw on design thinking, co-creation, prototyping, user research, and iterative testing to explore trade-offs, test assumptions, and refine offerings before large-scale deployment. The field often operates at the interface of government, civil society, and civic tech, including researchers, designers, policy analysts, and public managers.

Proponents argue that Politikdesign can improve transparency, accessibility, and civic engagement, while increasing policy effectiveness. Critics warn against technocratic overreach, simplification, and potential manipulation of political choices, and emphasize the need to preserve democratic deliberation, inclusion, and accountability.

Examples include user-centered redesigns of public portals and forms, interactive budget dashboards, improved information visuals for complex policies, and the design of voting or deliberative platforms intended to facilitate participation.