The Story Vacuum: Why User Research Isn’t Enough / Brian Whittaker / Ep. #252

Imagine making the cover of Time magazine...

Okay, maybe not. Nobody gets into service design for the fame.

Actually, as we’re always saying on the show, our best work is usually the stuff nobody notices.

The spotlight stays on the CEOs. You rarely see the people in the trenches, the ones making sure the "faceless" public services we rely on actually work.

Think about it for a moment, you can thank a mailman because he’s a human being standing on your porch in the rain. But when water is coming out of your faucet, there’s nobody to thank. It’s just "the system".

That invisibility is exactly why people sometimes get hostile toward the government or big institutions. It's always "us versus them" because there’s no "them" to relate to.

So our guest for this episode, Brian Whittaker, decided to change by starting a project called Humans of Public Service (HoPS).

In this episode, we talk about the early days of the project and the weirdly difficult task of getting modest, quiet service design professionals to actually talk about themselves (on camera). He also shares hard won lessons on how he finally got the project to take off.

It’s an inspiring conversation. It shows how much the vibe changes when you put a human face on a anonymous system.

So if you’re trying to build empathy inside a big, messy organization, Brian’s blueprint really might just be what you need.

While you’re listening, try to think of one "boring" story in your own org that deserves a spotlight.

Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

Be well,

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 252

03:45 Family Roots in Service

05:00 Current US Service Challenges

07:30 Private to Public Transition

10:00 Modernizing Federal Tech

11:00 Passion of Public Servants

13:30 The Shift in 2020

14:15 Humans of Public Service

15:45 Growing on LinkedIn

17:00 Amplifying Unheard Voices

18:15 Shifting the Narrative

21:30 Bridging the Empathy Gap

25:45 The Power of Recognition

32:45 Institutional Design

38:30- Scaling Human Connection

44:55 The Future of Service

51:15 Advice for Change-Makers

53:30 Final Reflections

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwhtt/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

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