Design Thinking for the LGPS: Practical tools for better outcomes

Last month, I was delighted to be asked back to speak at our LGPS officers’ conference in Edinburgh. At last year’s conference, I built a chatbot live on stage (risky!), but I think everyone is suffering a bit of A.I. fatigue. So, this time around - in line with the overarching theme of creating better outcomes for stakeholders, I chose to deliver a session looking from the other end of the spectrum.

So, no artificial humans this year, but real ones, with the focus on putting the human perspective (rather than data, technology or organisational perspectives) at the centre of the design process.

In a world increasingly shaped by complexity - an environment in which adaptation and agility is required to meet stakeholder needs - there is an ever-greater need for organisations to innovate.

Paradoxically, the world is also increasingly defined by processes, standards and prescriptive regulation, which are deliberately designed to reduce or entirely remove risk.

Unfortunately, this inherent risk aversion can act to suppress the ability of organisations to innovate. As a result, delivering real value to our various stakeholders can feel like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube… blindfolded (although - to be fair - I personally don’t require a blindfold to find that particular task challenging).

So how can we square this circle? How can we manage risk, while continuing to innovate and evolve our effectiveness?

Challenging? Yes. Impossible? No.

There’s a framework that can help us approach these balancing acts with a greater sense of clarity, creativity and purpose.  It’s called “Design Thinking".

This is an approach that’s well suited to the challenges faced by LGPS officers, fund managers and councillors navigating complex decisions in a rapidly changing environment. It’s driven by empathy towards the ultimate users of products and services and developed through iterative design, testing and learning.

At first glance, the term might conjure up images of Post-it notes and brainstorming sessions in Silicon Valley tech start-ups. But, in reality, Design Thinking is less about beanbags and whiteboards — and more about taking a structured approach to problem solving.

So, what exactly is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is, at its heart, a human-centred approach to innovation. It helps us understand the people we're designing for, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create effective solutions—often through rapid testing and iteration.

An example of Design Thinking in action is the creation of the Apple iPhone. Before the iPhone, most mobile phones were clunky, keypad-heavy and designed primarily around engineering limitations rather than user needs. Apple, under Steve Jobs’ and Jony Ive’s leadership, applied a deeply human-centred approach to rethink what a phone could be. Rather than start with technology, they started with consumers.

The process itself is generally broken down into five stages:

While these stages are often shown as linear, in practice, they’re fluid and interconnected. You might loop back to refine your understanding or test several ideas in parallel. This constant adjustment and iteration might seem complex, but it is a feature, rather than a flaw, of the process and is specifically designed to handle the messy reality of the world.

Why it matters for the LGPS

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) faces no shortage of complex challenges—whether it's improving user experience, ensuring member engagement, or making decisions around digital transformation. Design Thinking helps cut through the fog by starting from a position of empathy – i.e. understanding the people involved, their motivations, and their frustrations. From there, we can build solutions that work - not just in theory, but in the often-complex reality of day-to-day service delivery.

Not an abstract exercise

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about running time-consuming innovation workshops, expensive brainstorming sessions or lengthy panel interviews. Design Thinking isn’t a luxury or a buzzword—it’s a practical, problem-solving mindset. It doesn’t need to be time-consuming, expensive or resource intensive. In fact, some of the most effective design methods can be done with nothing more than a pen, a notepad, and a willingness to listen.

Beyond recognising that putting people at the centre of the process can drastically improve outcomes, Design Thinking also asks something more subtle—but equally powerful—of us: To embrace ambiguity, to test ideas, and to value the learning gained from that testing process as much as planning.

In my conference session, I discussed the catastrophic failure of Kodak in the 2000’s (it’s ironic that Kodak invented the digital camera which ultimately destroyed them). If they had listened more carefully and learned from their customers, they may well still be around today.

What’s next?

Over the coming weeks, I’ll look at each stage of the Design Thinking process in turn—starting with Empathy. I’ll consider what it really means to walk in someone else’s shoes, and how we can practically use that knowledge to shape better decisions and create better services.

Because better solutions don’t just come from better data. They come from better questions. And asking those questions starts with truly understanding the people we’re here to serve.