Design Gov
Pioneering creative leadership training of the first Chief Design Officers in the UAE government.
Overview & Impact
I co-designed a transformative learning experience that equipped numerous emerging leaders across UAE ministries with Human-Centered Design and creative leadership capabilities. Graduates were transformed with profound shifts in their leadership, demonstrating creative problem-solving through HCD skillsets and mindsets.
The capstone projects directly enabled a national policy launch for a sustainable blue economy strategy for an Emirate in 2020.
Having completed its 3rd cohort in 2025, 120 government leaders have graduated from the program, and 45 of them have been appointed as CDOs in their existing or newly appointed Ministry roles. As a blueprint for action-forward learning, the program continues to showcase impact of citizen-centric solutions with government leaders who design on the ground.
Client
Dubai Future Foundation
Year
2019 - 2020
Responsibilities
Design Research
Program Design
Learning Curriculum Design
Learning Materials Design
Co-facilitation & Team Coaching
Duration
10 months
Project Partners
Dubai Design Lab
IDEO
Impact
120
government leaders
graduated from Design Gov, transformed with Human-Centered Design skillsets and minsets
45
graduates appointed as Chief Design Officers
in their new or existing Ministries, championing HCD in their teams
1
national policy launched
from a Capstone project, for sustainable blue economy for Umm Al Quwain Emirate
3
cohorts have been launched since 2019, and still counting.
Research
Teaming up with IDEO designers, I interviewed 18 people—potential candidates, talent executives from sponsoring Ministries, and leaders from other government programs—to position our learning program effectively. I also co-facilitated 8 co-design workshops with 14 potential candidates to test our experiential learning methods and HCD skillsets.
My focus was understanding the growth needs of high-potential officers and how Chief Design Officers would fit within existing leadership structures.
Design Challenge
How might we ignite the power of human-centered design and creative leadership within the UAE government by building creative capabilities and establish new creative roles?
Synthesis
From our research, the need for tangible results was a crucial element in a program's success. Merging learning skillsets with design leadership mindsets, while demonstrating these skills for developing citizen-centric solutions on the ground was important.
With the learning journey I have co-designed with our team lead, each Bootcamp week was aimed at different aspects: first week on leadership, reflection and inspiration, while making the second week a full-on, outcome-driven design sprint.
Program Design
I co-designed a 2-weeks-Bootcamp followed by a Capstone Project that focuses on the region’s pressing challenges, in collaboration with our team lead.
I co-designed a comprehensive learning curriculum modelling five core design mindsets: empathy, collaboration, creative confidence, growth, and responsibility. By designing experiential learning activities from field research and citizen interviews to prototyping and stakeholder storytelling, the intent was to guide participants through a full human-centered design process with a local challenge.
I created custom learning materials including activity canvases, method cards, instruction presentations, and visual assets that brought the Design Gov movement to life and enabled consistent program delivery.
Delivery
I supported the delivery of this immersive learning experience for 35 Chief Design Officers in inaugural 2019 cohort, with the program continuing to scale.
Also as a team coach, I supported one of the cross-ministerial teams working on high-visibility capstone projects addressing local challenges.
Materials and curriculum enabled adaptive facilitation across diverse government contexts, creating sustainable learning infrastructure that empowered participants to embed design practices within their ministries long after program completion.
Program Evolution
After graduating the 1st cohort with their new CDO roles in their respective Ministries, I closely monitored how they apply the learned skillsets and mindsets in their day-to-day work.
In 2022, I led immersive interviews with past graduates and sponsoring entities to redesign the Learn & Design program to better fit to the ecosystem they design in. With insights on cross-entity team structures, design challenges for learning as well as the positioning of CDOs in the government, I contributed to securing a sustainable future for its future cohorts.
