The design workshops were implemented as thematic workshops on improving public services and were served for the chief executive officers of national institutions on how to develop public services with design capabilities and methods, including data information and change management techniques. In 2018, three thematic workshops were held on 21 September, 28 September and 5 October, followed by a procurement procedure organized by the State Chancellery of Republic of Latvia.

The first workshop introduced the participants to the opportunities and the need to create design solutions and contexts to manage a happy nation. The terms of reference set out a blueprint for a public administration service system with design capabilities and methods to meet the needs of specific target groups in order to make Latvia the world’s happiest nation in 2028. To achieve this, the first workshop involved hands-on work with user-centered design methods for service development and service user research based on design thinking.

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In the second workshop, the participants reflected on user design studies for service design and revised the process of service interface points by including the data needed to receive the services in the service plan. The participants became aware of the role and importance of open data in providing and receiving services.

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In addition, the participants in the second workshop gained insights into the process of developing user-centered services, including the existence of various types of data and their importance in public administration services. The participants gained knowledge of open data principles in public administration services and the role and importance of data in the development of user-centered services. The participants used design methods to develop a service plan identifying potential data channels and learned how to practice the service plan development method.

In the third design workshop, the participants complemented the implementation of the service plan with change theory techniques, particularly the Osterwalder business canvas model. They analyzed the plan following the Kolb learning cycle and the change management phases.

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The workshop participants created three proposals for the development of public services with design options and methods to make Latvia the happiest nation in which to live by 2028: 1% of income tax for public participation in NGO support, the state as an accountant for small businesses and development of mobile assistants.

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