Service design identifies what processes, people, and tools are needed to reach the desired state of customer experience. Rooted in a deep understanding of the user, service design practices take a holistic approach by understanding and synchronizing the employee experience and the customer experience. Service design is a growing skill set within government shaping the way people interact with the government and bolstering all aspects needed to support those experiences.
We create safe and experimental spaces for service designers to learn, network, and evolve. This is a free community open to any public sector service designers that are curious and want to grow. In addition to supporting government service designers, we present and share many different methodologies, including Liberating Structures, Game Storming, Participatory Design, Behavioral Design, Equity-centered Design, Design Futures, Inclusive Design, Systemic Design, and much more.
The Service Design in Government group brings together practitioners to learn and share as a community of practice. This group will bring together all levels of service design talent from federal, state, county, and municipal governments.
Greetings from the Strategy and Innovation Branch of the Ontario Public Service! We will be sharing our approach, roles, and reflections on what innovation means in our provincial context. We will invite participants to reflect on the gaps between our ambitions and what is possible when considering public service readiness for transformation and change.
Presenters:
Evelyn Paul: Evelyn Paul (she/her) is a strategy and implementation advisor based in Toronto, with experience across consulting and government. Her work spans organizational transformation, economic development, workforce, and sector strategy across Canada and the United States, with a focus on helping teams move from ambition to execution within complex public sector systems. Evelyn offers a candid, behind-the-scenes perspective on how transformation happens in practice, and the decisions that bring them to life. She is particularly interested in the intersections of socio-economic systems, culture, and land use, and the possibilities that emerge when these systems are aligned.
Jess Craig: Jess Craig (she/her) is a design strategist with over 12 years of experience helping organizations in Canada and the US with their shift toward empathy- and system-oriented services. She brings a diverse experience in design, urbanism, strategy, behavioural insights, and technology to enable multi-level change. Jess is currently working at the Ontario provincial government in Toronto.
Marie-Hélène Fokias: Marie-Hélène is a systems and strategic foresight practitioner with experience in multiple sectors, including healthcare (mental health and addictions), the Canadian Armed Forces, and public service. She is passionate about systems transformation that centres equity, inclusion, and accessibility. She endeavours to use creative methods to break down the barriers presented by hierarchies to understand and work with complex problems.
Shahzma Esmail: Shahzma Esmail (she/her) is a public interest designer and strategist. She helps organizations tackle complex challenges to deliver better outcomes and improve people’s lives. Shahzma has 15+ years of experience applying human‑centered, iterative approaches to strengthen strategies, policies, services, and organizational culture. Her expertise is in leading change rooted in systems, building and guiding teams to create useful, tangible products, and designing thoughtful engagement that respects and reflects the needs of the people it serves. She currently works for the Government of Ontario and has held senior leadership roles in the non‑profit sector. Connect with Shahzma on LinkedIn to share your perspective or ask her questions.
Vanessa Toye: Vanessa Toye (they / she) is a design strategist based in Tkaronto, Canada. Their love of food, clay, whimsy, and spreadsheets significantly informs how they learn about culture, engage in creativity, and see systems. They have over 10 years of experience developing organization strategies, policy frameworks, service journeys, and change approaches in the Canadian public sector. Their focus has been on designing thoughtful, collaborative, and playful multi-stakeholder engagements that navigate tensions, competing priorities, and reveal underlying mental models.
We meet twice a month--one time for a speaker/training and one small group discussion as part of the Lab Series. Each month The Lab Series provides a space for an inclusive community of service designers to openly ideate, troubleshoot, and experiment with old and new activities and methods. Check out our upcoming meetings below.
January 28 [LAB]: Intentional Gathering with Susanne Wiggins
March 11 [LAB] Atlanta Government with Mariama Ndiaye
Mark 25 [TALK] German Digital Service with Anja Alburg and Sonja Wilczek
April 15 [LAB]
April 29 [TALK] Bring Clarity to Complex Services (Without Service Mapping) with Ayesha Moarif
May 13 [LAB] Ontario Innovation and Service Design Group (tentative)
May 27
June 10 [TALK] Behavioral Design in Helsinki Government
June 17 [TALK] Designing for (and from) Relationality with Michal Osterweil
June 24 [WORKSHOP] Designing for (and from) Relationality with Michal Osterweil
July 15 [LAB]
July 29 [TALK]
August 12 [LAB]
August 26 [TALK]
September 16 [LAB]
September 30 [TALK]
October 7 [LAB]
October 21 [TALK]
November 4 [LAB]
November 18 [TALK]
December 2 [LAB]
December 16 [TALK]
Check out our speakers page to view a full list of past speakers/facilitators from 2021-2025.