Design-driven innovation in the public sector: insights from case studies of initiatives in Taiwan

Contemporary public sectors face inefficiency, poor service quality, and limited innovation capacity. Existing solutions often lack flexibility, overlook organizational and human factors, and fail to address complex challenges. While Taiwan has successful design-driven public sector innovation cases, systematic analysis and implementation guidelines remain scarce. This study aims to analyse 6 cases from the Taiwan Design Research Institute using a framework covering ‘Background and Origins’, ‘Challenges and Difficulties’, ‘Key Breakthroughs’, and ‘Major Output Achievements’. It identifies key success factors, such as cross-department communication, collaborative design participation, and design capacity building, and proposes a six-step innovation process: 1) Understanding Challenges and Opportunities, 2) Cultivating an Innovative Culture, 3) Integrating Design Thinking, 4) Allocating Resources and Training, 5) Partner Collaboration, and 6) Continuous Evaluation. The study highlights implementation challenges like resource limitations, bureaucratic delays, and regulatory constraints while demonstrating how design-driven approaches enhance public service quality, efficiency, and responsiveness to citizen needs. This study demonstrates that design-driven innovation enhances public service quality, efficiency, and innovation. It aids officials in understanding citizen needs, aligning services with requirements, and providing systematic guidelines to address challenges, improve efficiency, and deliver better services in the public sector.