What happens when a country applies human-centred design to reimagine the relationship between citizens and the state? This talk will explore Ukraine’s groundbreaking approach to building a human-centred digital state, with a focus on the use of design thinking in developing digital public services. Through the digital government ecosystem Diia, Ukraine placed citizen needs, behaviours, and experiences at the core of its digital transformation. The session offers insights into how empathetic, inclusive, and iterative design can drive trust, resilience, and civic engagement, even in the most challenging contexts.
About the Speaker
Dr Bozhena (Bo) Kelestyn is a design thinking academic and practitioner with a diverse teaching and consulting portfolio. She works as an Associate Professor and Course Director for the MSc in Management of Information Systems and Digital Innovation at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK. Outside of academia, Bo is an Innovation Consultant and has worked with The Guardian Masterclasses as their lead design thinking masterclass tutor. Bo is the Founder of the pioneering Master’s level programme Leadership for Educational Transformation, aimed at supporting the rebuilding and transformation of education in Ukraine. Bo is working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on researching the case of the digital government ecosystem Diia.
