Governance Design

This paper proposes a new field of design – Governance Design. Governance Design draws attention to the role of design in producing, reproducing or questioning how societies and societal issues are governed, by whom and based on which norms and values. It considers governance something distinct from government and acknowledges that design, both the product and process of design, plays a significant role in societal governance – sometimes intentionally but more often unintentionally. Governance Design therefore urges designers to become more critically aware of the role design plays in governance. Drawing on recent STS and governance literature, the paper further proposes a theoretical foundation for Governance Design, and through an example demonstrates how Governance Design might look in practice.