Design March Symposium

Program

We hear eight presentations from designers among Reykjavík City staff, giving interesting insights into civic design in the public sector.

At the end, there will be a panel discussion where Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson, Paul Bennett, and Ragnheiður H. Magnúsdóttir discuss public sector design, moderated by Fjóla María Ágústsdóttir.

• 2pm - Opening remarks
• 2:10pm - Styrmir Erlingsson: The Counselor
• 2:20pm - Árni Jónsson and Guðrún Lilja Gunnlaugsdóttir: Asking and testing
• 2:30pm - Búi Bjartmar Aðalsteinsson Discussions in the hot pot
• 2:40pm - Ævar Harðarson: New vision for Reykjavík's districts
• 2:50pm - Halla María Ólafsdóttir and Eva Jakobsdóttir "I like it when you ask how I am doing at work"
• 3pm - Már Örlygsson: Designing design (and now Hanna!)
• 3:10pm - Unnar Geir Unnarsson: "The nicest library ever!"
• 3:20pm - Embla Vigfúsdóttir and Gró Einarsdóttir: Ísak's journey from language development issues to solution
• 3:30pm - Panel discussion
• 4pm - Exhibition opening and refreshments

Issue

1. The Counselor

The Counselor is a new solution for residents and staff in the City's welfare services. Styrmir Erlingsson, director of Reykjavík City's digital service center, discusses the solution's development, opportunities, and role in the Welfare Department's digital journey.

2. Asking and testing

Árni Jónsson, director of Laugardalslaug Pool, and Guðrún Lilja Gunnlaugsdóttir, head of communication and innovation at Reykjavík City Library, share a short story about responding to rapid societal changes in public services.

3. Discussions in the hot pot

Búi Bjartmar Aðalsteinsson, service designer, covers interview methods and analysis work related to Ylströndin beach, along with some project outcomes. He also speculates on the importance of dialogue with users and service recipients.

4. New vision for Reykjavík's districts

Ævar Harðarson from Reykjavík City's Department of Environment & Planning highlights the District Viewer: a digital information portal for accessing district planning guidelines. The District Viewer aims to improve access to information and shorten planning case processing in Reykjavík.

5. "I like it when you ask how I am doing at work"

Halla María Ólafsdóttir, project manager, and Eva Jakobsdóttir, service designer, worked together on transforming services for the Department of Education & Youth. Trust and understanding in their cooperation helped break down walls between departments and fostered a new vision for service and procedures. Halla and Eva discuss the digital transformation of services, the so-called cultural hack.

6. Designing design (and now Hanna!)

Is a design system more of a constitution, a communication standard, or a mutual defense agreement between programming and design teams? Már Örlygsson, UX specialist, discusses how systematic design speeds up implementation, lowers costs, and improves quality and accessibility of digital services at Reykjavík City.

7. "The nicest library ever!"

When the Reykjavík City Library in Úlfarsárdalur opened in December, a young library visitor reportedly said these famous words to friends. But how does a library become nice? Unnar Geir Unnarsson, head of the Reykjavík City Library in Úlfarsárdalur, talks about the work behind it and how library staff used service design methods in the process.

8. Ísak's journey from language development issues to solution

How can a creative game designer and a social psychologist help Ísak get appropriate services? Embla Vigfúsdóttir and Gró Einarsdóttir discuss applying gamification and choice architecture in the digital transformation of school services for children needing support to improve wellbeing and find outlets for their strengths.

Panel discussion

• Dagur B. Eggertsson is the Mayor of Reykjavík. Dagur is the City Council Chair for the Social Democratic Alliance and former Vice-President of the party. He has held the position of mayor since 2014. He has a medical degree and a master's in Human Rights and International Law from Lund University in Sweden. He was born in Oslo, but was raised in the neighborhood of Árbær, the son of Eggert Gunnarsson, veterinarian, and Bergþóra Jónsdóttir, biochemist.
• Paul Bennett is the Chief Creative Officer of IDEO. As an owner and one of five key executives, Paul works closely with clients and partners on service-oriented, popular and socially important businesses, products, services and experiences. He has been responsible for IDEO's quality standards and is active in developing service and design-driven innovation.
• Ragnheiður H. Magnúsdóttir, or Ragga as she is usually called, is a key figure in Iceland's innovation and entrepreneurship sector. She is CEO of Maggar, specializing in digital transformation, innovation, change management, strategy, business planning and product development. Ragga has extensive management experience, especially in digital transformation and change management. She is very familiar with the City's digital transformation work.
• Fjóla María Ágústsdóttir will moderate the panel discussion. She is the change manager for digital transformations at the Association of Icelandic Municipalities and was previously a project manager and service designer at Digital Iceland. Fjóla María has worked on reorganization, redesign, changes and implementing changes in government through better service design in collaboration with municipalities, staff and residents in digital transformation.