Data is the natural resource of the digital economy, holding the potential to improve the lives of citizens when used to inform evidence-based policies, programs, services or innovations. But how can we best use it to solve complex real-world problems given its diverse forms, dispersed locations and complicated legacy systems?
The BC Government’s Service Design team set out to learn more about developing a web portal for data access and use, and in doing so uncovered the story of how people currently work with data and their barriers to using it to its full potential. Through working with researchers, data analysts, policy makers and decision makers, we uncovered challenges that led us to ask bigger questions about organizational structure and silos.
Join us as we tell the story of how we used interactive artefacts including: “honest LinkedIn” personas, layered process maps and co-design approaches to help leadership understand the challenges and opportunities around working with data in a diverse and complex organization.
Sim Shakdher is a Service Design Specialist with British Columbia’s Government Digital Experience Division. In her practice spanning eleven years, she has collaborated with cross-functional teams within multi-disciplinary organizations channelizing her problem-solving abilities into creative and sustainable solutions for human-centred service delivery.
Previously, she has worked with leading Design studios, Technology services, Strategic Communications, and Innovation consultants in Singapore, Japan, India, and Canada; handling comprehensive visual and systems design, ethnographic research, workshop facilitation, and product development for clients in private and public sector.
Sim holds a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University, Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delhi, India.
Designing for data’s potential
