Reviewing design methods to make them more sensitive to gender

5. Next Steps

As highlighted previously in this report, reviewing existing best practice for design methods was only the first step towards making SAtSD more inclusive. Having done that, this programme of work will continue to progress in terms of making design itself more inclusive. Scottish Government's Office of the Chief Designer will invite subject matter experts and specialists in the area of Equality and Inclusion, to help critique guidance, and any other guidance being created for inclusive design (including gender).

Findings from this report will be shared with the design community to allow for reflection, testing, and iterative development of some of the best practices opportunities identified. These findings will also be communicated through training activities led and commissioned by the Office of the Chief Designer to make sure there is awareness of the issues.

Key learnings from this report and subsequent 'testing' will be incorporated into the playbook and will be revised continuously as new knowledge emerges. The Office of the Chief Designer will work closely with our policy colleagues to align our ways of working around design and equalities, constantly learning from each other.

To embed more inclusive design thinking into public service design/redesign processes, it is important to intervene early on in the process, at the planning stage itself. This avoids tokenistic and superficial engagement with those user groups that are often left out of key decisions that have an impact on their lives, and can often further disadvantage and/or cause harm to them.

Getting inclusive thinking and practices right requires subject matter expertise and experience in involving seldom heard voices in the design and delivery of key policies and services that affect them. A significant part of this expertise exists outside of Scottish Government in the form of third sector organisations, academic institutions, and individuals that routinely work at community level. The next steps will have to ensure that this expertise is brought into the design and delivery of public services in a meaningful and sustainable way.