Systemic co-design
Collaborative, multi-stakeholder processes are vital for tackling complex societal challenges, but they require careful design to ensure lasting impact. Unlike the planning for a single meeting or workshop, systemic co-design involves flexible, iterative processes that can span months or even years. These processes need to accommodate emergent learning while offering a clear sense of direction, ensuring that stakeholders can collectively navigate towards desired outcomes.
Systemic design, often referred to as co-design, differs from traditional service or experience design in its scale and complexity. It focuses on higher-order social systems composed of interconnected subsystems and diverse stakeholders, such as public health, agriculture, climate change, and biodiversity conservation. By blending systems thinking with design thinking, systemic design brings human-centred approaches to complex, multi-stakeholder challenges.
This approach leverages tools and methods from both disciplines – including mapping, visualisation, and generative research – to reimagine and transform services and systems. The emphasis is on collaboration and innovation, creating pathways for shared understanding, co-creation, and meaningful change.
For a foundational understanding, start with this introduction to systems thinking and systemic design, which outlines how these approaches can support decision-making in dynamic environments. Below, several recent publications and websites have contributed to locating systemic design as a social-centred systems-oriented design practice, such as the ones set out below:
Beyond Net Zero: A Systemic Design Framework | Design Council
The Design Council’s 2021 Systemic Design Framework helps policymakers and agencies address complex, multidisciplinary challenges. Centred on people and the planet, it emphasises regenerative and decolonising approaches while highlighting the importance of leadership and storytelling. Cat Drew’s article – Developing our new Systemic Design Framework – provides an accessible overview of its principles and originins.
Systemic Design Practice Wheel
Developed by Emma Blomkamp, the Systemic Design Practice Wheel supports practitioners in addressing complex challenges through creative and participatory approaches. Centred on the “5 Ps”—principles, place, people, process, and practice—it integrates systems thinking, human-centred design, and participatory methods to foster meaningful social change.
Systemic Design Toolkit Guide
The systemic design toolkit created by Kristel Van Ael, Philippe Vandenbroeck, Alex Ryan, & Peter Jones provides practical tools for systemic transformation through co-creation sessions. It includes eight adaptable techniques—such as framing the system, exploring possibility spaces, and fostering transitions—designed to combine systems thinking and design thinking. The toolkit supports collaborative processes that can be tailored to various contexts and challenges.
Follow the Rabbit: A Field Guide to Systemic Design
Roya Damabi’s Follow the Rabbit: A Field Guide to Systemic Design (2017) is a practical resource for systemic designers with a basic understanding of the field. It walks readers through the systemic design process, from concept to implementation, with advice on workshop planning, role definition, and client engagement. The guide also features an FAQ section to help introduce systemic design concepts to new audiences.
The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design
This 2015 guide from IDEO outlines human-centred design as a process with three key phases: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. These phases help practitioners build empathy, design solutions, and test ideas before implementation. The guide also shares IDEO’s seven mindsets—Empathy, Optimism, Iteration, Creative Confidence, Making, Embracing Ambiguity, and Learning from Failure—offering practical insights into their design philosophy.
Whole in one: Designing for empathy in complex systems
This 2017 paper by Helena Sustar and Tuuliu Maki investigates the role of empathy and the use of service design tools in the context of (governmental) systems and organisational services. They propose that – rather than dealing with emotions and mental states – the empathic design approach aims to assist and scaffold people in a system, to understand how the system works from another perspective and to reflect their own viewpoints on a better whole. The paper also examines existing systemic and empathic design tools through which empathy is applied in design processes.
Systems Approaches to Public Sector Challenges – Working with Change
This 2017 report, produced by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, explores how systems approaches can be used in the public sector to solve complex or “wicked” problems . Consisting of three parts, the report discusses the need for systems thinking in the public sector; identifies tactics that can be employed by government agencies to work towards systems change; and provides an in-depth examination of how systems approaches have been applied in practice.
Beyond sticky notes: what is co-design?
This page by Kelly Ann McKercher provides a good overview of what co-design is, and an introduction to her book – Beyond Sticky Notes. Packed full of useful tips, clear diagrams, and practical frameworks, the book (and the website) will help you lead collaborative design work, and genuinely share power. A useful book for new and experienced practitioners alike, Beyond Sticky Notes is a definitive guide to the mindsets, methods, practices of care, and social movements of co-design. Kelly Ann McKercher also shares her useful Co-design Planning-Tool Template which provides a one page overview and prompt questions covering several key facets of co-design.
A framework for systemic design. This 2014 paper by Alex Ryan presents a framework for systemic design as a mindset, methodology, and set of methods that together enable teams to learn, innovate, and adapt to a complex and dynamic environment. The author proposes a systemic design methodology composed of six main activities: framing, formulating, generating, reflecting, inquiring, and facilitating. In this view systemic design methods are seen as a flexible and open-ended set of procedures for facilitating group collaboration that are both systemic and designerly.
Systemic design principles for complex social systems
Peter Jones’s 2014 preprint paper bridges systems theory and design thinking, combining analytical problem-solving with action-oriented creativity. It highlights shared principles for addressing complex challenges across social, organisational, and service systems, as well as product and information design. For more, see Jones’s (2014) companion paper- Design Research Methods in Systemic Design .
Integrating systems thinking and design thinking
This web paper by John Pourdehnad, Erica Wexler, and Dennis Wilson explores how systems thinking and design thinking complement one another. The authors highlight the importance of bringing the whole system into the discussion from the outset, enabling stakeholders to frame and reframe problems collaboratively. A systems mindset, they argue, enhances problem formulation, a crucial first step in the design process.
Schön: Design as a reflective practice.
Willemien Visser’s 2011 paper examines Donald Schön’s view of design as a form of reflective practice across diverse domains such as city planning, engineering, management, and education. Schön describes how designers construct a “design world” to define their problem space and develop creative solutions through iterative moves.
Lessons learned – Why the failure of systems thinking should inform the future of design thinking
Fred Collopy’s 2009 Fast Company blog highlights lessons design thinking can learn from systems thinking’s challenges. Pioneers like Russell Ackoff and Peter Checkland stressed principles such as stakeholder engagement, reframing, and iteration. However, systems thinking’s academic framing often limited its practical application. Collopy warns against similar over-definition in design thinking, advocating for accessibility and usability.
Concept & Systems Learning for Design
CSL4D is an informal, private initiative by Sjon van ’t Hof. He has developed this wordpress site and blog for exploring the combined use of concept mapping and systems thinking for learning in business, development, and education.
Adopt-Adapt-Expand-Respond: a framework for managing and measuring systemic change processes.
Daniel Nippard and colleagues introduce this framework to clarify the often-vague concepts of ‘systemic change’ and the ‘facilitation’ required to implement it. This briefing paper aims to help practitioners and funders better understand and operationalise systemic change by providing a more precise approach.
Systemic Design eXchange
SDX is an Edmonton-based community of practice that convenes individuals interested in learning about Systemic Design as a methodology for addressing complex, real world issues. With a bias towards learning by doing, SDX aims to be a watering hole where multiple sectors can come together, learn together, and act together. Together, SDX explores systems thinking, design thinking, and change lab approaches.
Presentations
Framing design as conversations about systems
This 2016 presentation by Hugh Dubberly outlines how design has evolved to address and work with complexity. Design and thinking in terms of whole systems means thinking about relationships, continuous change and feedback loops.
Systemic design: Systems as a theory for complex design.
A 2015 slideshare presentation by Peter Jones. Covers new approaches to design thinking, design methods and principles.
Towards a Systemic Design Toolkit: A Practical Workshop
A 2016 slideshare presentation by Koen Peters. Provides an introduction to a systemic design toolkit, along with underlying principles. It then provides an overview of the tools, and illustrates these using a case study example around managing child obesity.
More information on approaches, tools and methodologies related to systemic design can be found through the linked LfS pages on systems thinking, design thinking and systems thinking tools. Other related pages point to resources on related topics such as guides to help initiate and manage multi-stakeholder processes, managing participation – including marginalized voices, facilitation tools and reflective practice. Allied topics include supporting constructive practice change, strategic planning and scenario development.
