At thinkpublic we use creative and innovative design-based approaches to help the public sector, third sector and social enterprises innovate and improve their services, and address social issues. This book captures our work from 2008.

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Engage those who know what makes a good
service in designing new and innovative ways
to meet their needs.
Gain first-hand knowledge of your service users’
experiences, to help improve how you offer your
services.
Create new services that tackle your biggest
challenges and offer world-class service
provision.
Identify the opportunities for change in the way
you do things, and develop ways to tackle your
organisation’s key challenges.
Add a human dimension to the way you
present your impact to funders, stakeholders,
management and the public.
Present, share and celebrate your success
and best practice, to help improve services
elsewhere.

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We’re all about conversation.
Be it part of service improvement, innovation or design.
Send in the attached postcard and tell us what you need.

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We believe that the
people who use and
deliver services have
the experience and ideas
to make them better.

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Web Design and Prototyping
Communication Design
Training and Support
Filmed Ethnographic Research
Participatory Video
Blue Sky Thinking
Idea Generation and Visualisation
Branding and Communication Design
Public Consultations

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Service Innovation and Improvement
Social Innovation
User Insights and Testing
Social Marketing
Workshop Design and Facilitation
Market Research and Analysis
Service Experience Audit
User Engagement
Service and Product Prototyping
Digital and Online Engagement
Social Documentary
Corporate and Promotional Film
Knowledge Tool Kit Design
Training Films
Observation
Stakeholder Mapping
Design Process

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children and young people’s emergency
healthcare services
service user mapping and engagement
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
commissioned thinkpublic to find out how to better engage and
signpost children and young people to their local emergency
healthcare services.
We designed a practical workshop for year 10 pupils at Walton
High in Milton Keynes. Students shared their knowledge and
perceptions of local emergency health care services. They
helped us to understand the best way for them and their peers
to find out more about and navigate the services on offer.
This feedback made a real difference. Using it, thinkpublic was
able to design a toolkit and film to help health care professionals
understand how to better communicate information about local
emergency health services to young people.
In partnership with teachers and healthcare professionals,
thinkpublic also developed an Emergency Services Lesson
Plan for Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum.

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Listening to people involved in services is invaluable for any
organisation hoping to improve.
After all, who knows the strengths and
weaknesses of a service better than its
stakeholders?
Public sector providers are required to
involve users in the design and improvement
of services. User and beneficiary involvement
ought to be at the heart of the work of every
organisation.
We provide workshops where we use creative tools and
techniques to allow stakeholders to share and develop their ideas.
We can get service users, providers, the general public and
experts together to co-design suggestions for improvement.
We can help you to work with them to test and develop ideas into
working and sustainable services and products.
The end result is better, more responsive, more effective services.
whatwedo
“We help you
listen better and
get everyone
involved in making
improvements”

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clinic to go
service improvement, service innovation
With staff from Birmingham East and North NHS Primary
Care Trust, thinkpublic co-developed “Clinic to Go”, a portable
carry kit containing all the information and tools required to set
up a community clinic.
The kit was so successful that, working closely with the NHS
Institute for Innovation and Improvement and PCT staff,
“Clinic in a Box” was launched nationally across the NHS
in early 2008.

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thinkpublic works with organisations to bring ideas to life.
And we help organisations to look at their toughest challenges
from different angles.
Whether you’re clear about the direction
you want to go in or need new ideas, we
can help you to design innovative and
creative solutions.
Ultimately, we’ll help you to succeed and
achieve your goals. We map existing services and service user
experiences and identify where improvement can happen.
We help organisations to explore and visualise future projects.
We find that looking at problems with fresh, creative eyes offers
insight and answers. We design great services and products.
Then we test them with the people who will use them. Gain feedback.
Tweak them. Improve them. Until we get it totally right, saving you time,
mistakes and resources.
That’s good news for anyone interested in innovation.
But we don’t stop there.
We believe great ideas should be shared.
We’ll work with you to capture
best practice, and help you to
package your success into
accessible and transferable
processes, communications
or “tool kits” that can be shared
with others to replicate the
service elsewhere.
“We help you to identify
your organisation’s
problems. And we help
solve them too”
whatwedo

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public perception of healthcare
acquired infections
research and insight
The Department of Health and the NHS Institute for Innovation
and Improvement asked thinkpublic to design and use a range
of research tools, including an interactive CD and vox pops, to
capture the perceptions of the public and frontline nursing staff
around healthcare acquired infections.
Our research fed into the Department of Health’s Clean, Safe
Care programme. Our research also helped us design a Clean,
Safe Care toolkit, to spread best practice of how to prevent
healthcare acquired infections. Like many of our initiatives, the
toolkit was deemed so useful that it was launched nationally.
The programme and toolkit, alongside other measures, have
led to a 57% drop in MRSA infections in hospitals in England.

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To truly improve how your organisation works, you need
to know what it really looks like.
thinkpublic provides detailed qualitative research that gives
organisations a 360-degree view of their services. That offers
a sound basis to improve.
We use innovative and interactive methods to show you what
you need to know.
We use photography, film, illustration, story-telling, interactive online
tools and text to carry out in-depth observations of the day-to-day
running of organisations and services.
whatwedo
“Our research
methodology is
based on an
anthropoligical
approach”

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thinkpublic design clinic
design
The thinkpublic design clinic is a space where public sector
organisations can work with designers to better understand how
to involve their users and staff in designing services, products
and communications.
In 2008 the thinkpublic design clinic made appearances at
Channel 4’s 2gether08 Festival, Kable’s Government Computing
Expo and NESTA/The NHS Institute for Innovation and
Improvement’s Innovation Live events.

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We don’t just design for people, we design with people.
Our collaborative, creative co-design processes, which let all
stakeholders have their say, help our clients develop innovative
services, products and communications to successfully address
their needs.
We also help organisations brand and communicate their ideas via
a range of design media, such as publications, campaigns, events,
newspapers, digital marketing, and direct mail.
whatwedo
“We design solutions
to address social
challenges using
a variety of media”

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John Kelly Girls’ Technology College
film and observation
thinkpublic ran a video workshop with year seven pupils at
John Kelly Girls’ Technology College in Neasden, London to
support the new Key Stage 3 curriculum, teaching independence
and self-confidence, and to feed into the development of new
school buildings.
We showed the girls how to use video cameras, split them up
into groups and challenged them to storyboard, film and edit
five films describing what they wanted for the future of their
school. Ideas ranged from escalators and uniforms for teachers,
to curriculum changes.

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Film brings issues to life in a way no other medium can. It shows
the human side of things and gives a real, in-depth understanding
of an issue.
That’s why powerful, broadcast quality
films are at the heart of much of the
research work thinkpublic does.
We produce ethnographic films, where
we follow service stakeholders to help
understand their challenges and the inner
workings of an organisation.
We create independent documentary films that explore social issues.
We film vox pops, interviews and focus groups.
We also create films to train and films to share good practice.
The real personal experiences and emotions they bring to life inspire
change.
We also produce promotional films to spread knowledge of exciting
new services or organisations.
whatwedo
“We produce films that
give you a stronger,
first-hand insight into the
thoughts and feelings
of the people that matter”

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National Endowment for Science,
Technology and the Arts
online and interactive
The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts
(NESTA) asked thinkpublic to design an interactive platform to
capture people’s views of innovation challenges and opportunities
in mental health.
During a live event, participants typed their responses into a
specially-designed computer programme. Their views were
projected around the hall, allowing them to see one another’s
opinions, respond and make connections.
The event provided useful qualitative data for NESTA, whose
aim was to make sure they were offering meaningful support for
projects focused on mental health.

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We understand that services are delivered in a variety of ways,
including online. The web is rapidly growing with new ideas and
applications.
We can identify how public services can use these to address
challenges.
We can design interactive ways to display and share findings.
We are able to integrate existing (often free) platforms or systems,
or develop custom applications tailored to a project’s needs.
We can compliment our workshops with digital tools, and capture
information to share with people who are unable to attend in person.
whatwedo
“We can explore ways
of using the social web
(sites such as facebook,
flickr, youtube and
google maps) to engage
with people”

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Mental Health
Commissioning
Long-Term Conditions
Cancer
Residential Care
Infection Control
Patient Safety
Emergency Services
Sexual Health Service
Service Efficiency
Obesity
Diabetes
Ageing
Strokes
NHS Values
Befriending
Consumer Rights
Social Technology
Foundation Trust Membership
Patient and Public Involvement
The Diploma
Social Care
Town Planning
Parkinsons
Assistive Technology
Government IT
Some of the areas we have worked in...

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Education
Health
School Food and Nutrition
Work Experience
Parental Engagement
Third Sector
Volunteering
Social Entrepreneurship
Mentoring
Local Government
Customer Experience
Citizen Engagement
Patient Mapping
Healthcare Environments
Children and Young People
Dementia
Housing
Crime
District Nursing
Learning and Development
Innovation
Social Movements in Healthcare
Mentoring
Employment
MRSA
Personal Budgets

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thinkpublic have worked with many leading organisations, helping them
to think differently, connect with their users and design improvements.
Our clients include national, regional and local level organisations.
Ultimately, we’ve helped them to provide outstanding public and
voluntary services.
Here are some of our clients:
clients&partners

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Alzheimer100
Alzheimer’s Society
thinkpublic were invited to work with branches of
Alzheimer’s Society in the north east of England to
investigate new methods to improve the lives of people
with dementia, their carers and service providers.
Alzheimer100, was part of Designs of the time (Dott07),
a year-long project based in the region exploring how
design can make a positive impact on our daily lives.

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Case study: Alzheimer100
thinkpublic carried out a series of interviews with people affected by
Alzheimer’s to gain first-hand insights into living with the disease. We
then held a workshop to train people with dementia in film-making and
interviewing skills, which they used to produce an emotional 18-minute
documentary.
The project resulted in a number of recommendations for improvement,
including a dementia signposting service, a mentoring programme for
carers and a safe “wandering garden”.
The project findings were fed into the Government’s National Dementia
Strategy, launched in November 2008.
thinkpublic continue to work with The Alzheimer’s Society on developing
the dementia signposting service, which will be launched nationally.
“At the start we were nervous about creating and designing a service…
but now we think we can actually do this. We have the ability, skills and
the power to actually go out and change services,” said one person with
dementia involved in the co-design.
In recognition of the project’s success and innovative use of design
thinking, Alzheimer100 was highly commended in The Dott07
People’s Voice Awards and also exhibited at the Dott07 Festival,
held in Gateshead, near Newcastle.
Alzheimer100

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Experience
Based Design
The NHS Institute
for Innovation and
Improvement
thinkpublic worked with the Head and Neck Cancer
Service at Luton & Dunstable Hospital to co-design
improvements to their service.

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Case study: Experience Based Design
We worked closely with staff and patients to understand and map
their emotional experiences of the service. The information gathered
identified key points for improvement.
This unique co-design process resulted in more than 43 improvements
to the service, including an improved waiting room layout and
redesigned outpatient clinic times.
“I’ve been very pleased with the amount of involvement we have had
and how collaborative the whole experience has been,” said a patient
involved in the co-design. One of the nurses who took part said:
“Having the patients there definitely gives you that extra motivation and
it’s a richer and deeper experience.”
thinkpublic tested the approach we used at Luton & Dunstable Hospital
with five other NHS Trusts, in departments including stroke services
and day case surgery.
We co-developed a training product called Experience Based Design
that will ensure our innovative user improvement process can be
transferred across the NHS.
Experience Based Design has been presented at UK and international conferences,
including at The UK Cabinet Office in London, Reinventing Design ‘08 at the Hong
Kong Design Centre and The European Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care
2006 in Prague. It has also been published in the British Medical Journal and by public
services thinktank DEMOS.
Experience
BasedDesign

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Journeys to Health
TimeBank
Journeys to Health aims to design innovative volunteering
opportunities in the UK health sector. It was co-founded
by thinkpublic and the UK volunteering charity TimeBank.

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The programme began with a number of workshops and extensive
online and offline research to capture public opinion about health
sector volunteering. In the workshops, volunteers shared their
experiences, visually mapped their journeys and identified current
and future issues surrounding health sector volunteering.
Through it we found out more about why people volunteer, and
what stops them. thinkpublic collated these findings and made
recommendations for the future through a documentary film and
report, presented to The Department of Health and The Office of
the Prime Minister.
The next step was a series of “Pitch Your Project” events, hosted
in seven NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. In the format of the TV
programme “Dragons’ Den”, 27 shortlisted social and community
projects were given the opportunity to pitch for financial support.
Each group received face-to-face advice from a panel of media,
design, enterprise, health and volunteering experts. The best
projects pitched at each event were awarded £2,000 to help put
their ideas into practice.
“Today has been fantastic, it’s given us a taster of the sorts of
community groups out there and how we can help them, as well
as them help us.” Christine Allen, Director of Planning and
Development, Northampton Foundation Trust.
Journeys to Health has been shortlisted by the NHS Centre for
Involvement for the 2008 Involvement to Impact Awards in the
Social Care category.
Journeys
toHealth

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Fear of Crime
London Borough
of Barnet
For Barnet Council, collecting information through
the same old surveys and questionnaires wasn’t
working, particularly when it came to tackling
complex community issues.

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Case study: Fear of Crime
Rather than doing a traditional survey for the Council’s 2008/2009
Annual Resident’s Survey, thinkpublic was commisioned to do some
innovative qualitative research instead.
At the heart of the work was one of the Council’s most pressing issues:
the fear of crime. One ward in the borough had a disproportionately
high fear of crime compared to actual crime rates. In another, there
was a low fear of crime compared to actual rates.
To uncover the reasons behind the anomalies, thinkpublic worked
with the Council to carry out ethnographic research and discovery
workshops in the heart of these two communities.
Using filmed interviews and vox pops, we found out how people and
communities really felt about crime, and where their fears came from.
We ran an interactive text message and photo mapping workshop
with children and young people in youth clubs across the ward.
They helped us understand their fears about the area and capture
ideas for how they could be involved in helping reducing the fear of
crime within their community.
Our research findings were developed into a comprehensive report
and a series of short documentary films, providing an engaging piece
of consultation.
Using this background as evidence, we are now working with Barnet
Council and their relevant service providers to explore new ways of
reducing crime and the fear of crime.
FearofCrime

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“Deborah and her team are trustworthy, creative
and reliable. Their goal is to deliver high quality
outputs for their customer, rather than a high
profit margin and a mediocre output. That is a
rare endearing quality which commands a high
level of respect.”
Sarbjit Purewal, Associate
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
“Deborah brings a refreshingly new perspective, that
of design, to healthcare innovation and service delivery,
coupled with a passion for user empowerment and
engagement. Straight talking, no fuss and a real can-do
approach make working with Deborah and thinkpublic
a pleasure. I look forward to working with her again
and encourage others to do likewise.”
Jacques Mizan, Senior Associate
Health Launchpad at The Young Foundation
“Deborah and the thinkpublic team brought energy
and insights to the processes we used. They helped us
‘co-design’ solutions that were generated by staff and
patients together. Their creativity and innovative use of
film and other media impressed us and I know had an
impact on colleagues at the Department of Health.”
Julie Wells, Head of Service Improvement
Luton & Dunstable Hospital

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“thinkpublic’s approach to engaging people
who need services in the design process is an
inspiration to everyone working in healthcare and
an essential way forward. The thoroughness of
thinkpublic’s approach meant that the engagement
was meaningful and central to the design.”
Julia Ashley, Information Project Lead
Alzheimer’s Society
whattheysay
“thinkpublic have brought a fresh approach to
health service improvement. We have used
their design expertise and skills to great effect,
especially in engaging staff and patients in
working closely together.”
Dr Lynne Maher, Head of Innovation Practice
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
“thinkpublic have a wide range of excellent innovative
qualitative research techniques. We have found these
techniques powerful tools, in understanding the real
issues for our residents and in reviewing service design
and processes. In particular the use of film allows us to
communicate these issues and real life experiences of
our senior management bringing the experience of our
residents/customers and the experiences of our frontline
line staff to our senior management.”
Rosie Evangelou, Corporate Consultation Officer
London Borough of Barnet

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NESTA
The National Endowment for
Science, Technology and the
Arts (NESTA) awarded Deborah
a grant to start up thinkpublic
in 2004 through their Creative
Pioneer Programme.
Who’s Who of Britain’s
Business Leaders
thinkpublic director Deborah
Szebeko has been listed in the
2008-2009 publication.
ReD 2008
thinkpublic were awarded this
as part of their trip to Hong
Kong in 2008, where they
presented their Experience
Based Co-design work.
Future Awards
Deborah Szebeko has been
nominated in the Art and
Culture category of the Women
of the Future Awards 2008.
Press
Profiles of thinkpublic have
appeared in The Telegraph,
Design Week, the RSA Journal,
The Journal of Public Mental
Health, the Health Service Journal,
Hospital Development and
The Financial Times.

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The British Council
Awarded their Young Design
Entrepreneur Award 2008 to
thinkpublic director, Deborah
Szebeko.
Future 500
thinkpublic were in the Top 10
of the 2007 Future 500 list of
high achievers in UK Public life,
compiled by Courvoisier, The
Observer and New Statesman.
Downing Street
In May 2008, thinkpublic knocked
on the door of Number 10, to meet
Greg Beales, Senior Advisor for
Health and Social Care Issues to
the Prime Minister.
Involvement to Impact
thinkpublic’s ‘Journeys to Health’
project has been shortlisted by
the NHS Centre for Involvement
for the 2008 Involvement to
Impact Awards in the Social
Care category.

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thinkpublic was founded in 2004 by Deborah Szebeko.
She got the idea for the company after volunteering as a project
manager at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, where she
experienced first-hand the impact design can have on improving
patient experience.
The thinkpublic team has grown and now includes designers,
film makers, positive psychologists, programmers, marketers
and anthropologists.

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The Social Lab is designed to
enable people to develop concepts
for social change. Every other
month The Social Lab is given a
social theme for discussion and
brings people together to share,
develop and support ideas.
www.thesociallab.com
As well as our client work, we run a number of our own projects
aimed at generating social change. We do this via our “social lab”.

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ithinkpublic is our online shop
that sells t-shirts and badges,
all of which are emblazoned
with positive messages about
public services.
www.ithinkpublic.com
The Real Work Experience aims
to open design graduates’ eyes
to the opportunities offered by
working in the public sector.
www.therealworkexperience.com
The Good Gym helps people
who exercise or who want to get
fit to channel their efforts towards
social good.
www.thegoodgym.org
Public Service Thank You
is a movement to encourage
appreciation and thanks to
all the people doing fabulous
things in public service roles.
www.publicservicethankyou.com

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