Implementing Policy through Systemic Design This article shows how a systemic design approach was used to support the implementation of a policy direction that touches multiple services and organisations. It discusses how a team of designers and policy makers mobilised services to action through breaking silos, building empathy and developing Nourhan Hegazy is a Design Lead at the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS) where she builds capacity for systemic design. Nourhan holds a Masters of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University and a Bachelor of Science in Product Design from the German University in Cairo.
Kara Waites is an Analyst at the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS). As part of the Design Team, Kara enjoys making connections and building communities. Kara holds a Masters in Public Administration from Queen’s University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Media and the Public Interest from Western University.
70 Touchpoint 12-2
a community of practice. Connecting policy with service As society evolves, new approaches are being adopted by governments to meet people’s needs. In 2018, the Canadian federal government introduced a “Policy Direction to Modernize Sex and Gender Information Practices” that aims to promote the respect, inclusion and personal safety of transgender, non-binary and two-spirit people. This policy direction acts as a framework to align federal public services on inclusive practices and asks them to rethink how and why they collect and display sex and gender information. The policy direction was developed over the course of two years in collaboration with many organisations, gender-diverse communities and various other stakeholders. It impacts IT systems, business processes and regulations, but most importantly, it is about ensuring that policies and services are inclusive of all gender identities. It introduces a third
gender identifier, ‘X’, when sex and/or gender information is displayed. While some people may simply check the “M” or the “F” when asked about their sex or gender, for many gender-diverse individuals, that is not the case. According to a study by Trans PULSE1 , trans people face issues with identity documents that don’t reflect their lived gender, in addition to being more vulnerable to discrimination and marginalisation (Bauer G. R. & Scheim A. I., 2014). Sex and gender information is used by the government for many reasons, such as for analysing demographics, delivering benefits and issuing identity documents such as passports. Therefore, implementation is multi-faceted; there are impacts on many service touchpoints such as forms, correspondence, web
1 Trans PULSE is a research study of social determinants of health among trans (transgender, transitioned) people in the province of Ontario, Canada.
