Design Meets Democracy 🇺🇸 with Chelsea Mauldin

This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast

If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.

Join our Community: https://circle.thisishcd.com/Join-Community

When Chelsea Mauldin began bringing design thinking into the U.S. government, she was met with scepticism — design was still seen as “throw pillows and pretty fonts.”

In this deep and fascinating episode, Chelsea — Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab in New York — joins Gerry Scullion to share her journey from urban planning to pioneering human-centered design in federal and municipal agencies.

They discuss:

✅ How design entered the public sector during the Obama era.

✅ Why half the real work happens after the design phase.

✅ Building trust, ethics, and change in complex systems.

✅ The People Say project — a groundbreaking, public repository for civic research.

✅ What AI means (and doesn’t mean) for the future of public services.

🎧 A must-listen for anyone working in service design, policy, or civic innovation.

Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcd

Sponsor links

• 10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'
  Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-up
• Check out This is HCD x Sutsu range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing.
• Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10

Creators & Guests

• Gerry Scullion - Host
• Chelsea Mauldin - Guest
• Stef Murphy - Producer
• Serdar Mele - Editor

Click here to view the episode transcript.