“…what if governmental services through design become so functional, what if governmental services through design become so functional, so well designed and aesthetically appealing (aesthetically standardized) that we hardly notice the difference between sleek and expensive private for profits and as governmental programs anymore?”
Excerpt from:
From Product to Process: The Technopolitics of Design Led Public Innovation
Anke Gruendel, BS Liberal Arts ’14, MA Design Studies ’16
This thesis explores the design in the public sector and links it to liberal governmentality. Through a study of design methods today and their underlying rationality developed by design theorists during the design methods movement, this thesis argues that the phenomenon of public sector design signals a larger shift in government.
Much of my process is a constant interaction between empirical observation and theory. I draw particularly heavily on Foucault and recent scholarship built on his governmentality work.
