This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast Design Meets Democracy 🇺🇸 with Chelsea Mauldin
Nov 7, 2025
Chelsea Mauldin, Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab, shares her journey from urban planning to civic design leadership. She discusses how design thinking gained traction in the U.S. government during the Obama era and the initial skepticism she faced. Chelsea emphasizes that real progress happens post-design through collaboration and implementation. She also introduces the People Say project, a public repository for civic research, and reflects on the role of AI in enhancing, not replacing, human interaction in public services.
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Early Resistance To Strategic Design
- Chelsea recalls early government reactions: design meant throw pillows and fonts, not strategic change.
- She and colleagues spent years introducing design as a strategic tool inside federal agencies.
Position Government As Partner, Not Client
- Treat government partners as co-owners serving a shared public client, not as commercial clients.
- Maintain positional independence so you can disagree and advocate for public interests.
Implementation Is Half The Project
- Chelsea realized deployable designs often never get implemented and that implementation is half the work.
- She reframed successful projects to include systems integration and change management as core activities.