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UNIT

WHAT WE DO

Public Innovation & Strategic Design Studio

We design, build, and deliver public innovation infrastructure for governments, regulated industries, and institutions committed to generating public value. Every engagement produces tangible systems — programmes, services, governance models, and collaborative ecosystems — that turn institutional ambition into measurable public outcomes.

As an innovation studio rooted in the field, we’ve worked with 50+ organisations and 170+ local governments across Latin America, Europe, and the US, operating as embedded partners — from initial discovery through delivery and institutional handover.

Discover what we think

01

Strategic Consulting & Orchestration

For organisations that need to align institutional action around public innovation — and orchestrate the actors required to make it happen. We design the strategic architecture that aligns institutions around public innovation — shared vision, governance models, decision frameworks, and multi-stakeholder processes that make transformation possible, legitimate, and coordinated across sectors.

Strategic Design & Planning

We work with leadership to discover institutional readiness, define innovation portfolios, and design the connective tissue between strategic intent and institutional action — the governance models, partnership architectures, and decision frameworks that turn ambition into coordinated, results-oriented government innovation strategy. Service & Product Types: Institutional Innovation Strategy · Public Value & Impact Frameworks · Innovation Portfolio Design · Results-Oriented Public Policy Design · Governance Models for Innovation · Ecosystem & Institutional Partnership Strategy. Methods & Deliverables: Stakeholder Alignment Workshops · Institutional Ethnography · Strategic Design Sprints · Co-Design & Alignment Workshops · Systems Models & Decision Frameworks · Strategic Roadmaps & Narratives.

Foresight & Design Futures

We scan the horizon for signals of change and construct future scenarios that help leadership teams make strategic decisions under uncertainty — turning public sector foresight into actionable institutional strategy and long-term resilience. Service & Product Types: Emerging Trends Analysis · Future Scenarios Construction · Adaptive Strategy Design · Envisioning & Future Prototyping. Methods & Deliverables: Horizon Scanning Reports · Participatory Foresight Sessions · Scenario-Building Workshops · Strategic Roadmaps.

Cross-Sector Orchestration Frameworks

We design and facilitate high-level multi-stakeholder governance processes that bring together decision-makers from government, regulated industries, and civil society to unlock collective intelligence and coordinated action on shared public challenges. Service & Product Types: Multi-Stakeholder Forum Design · Inter-Institutional Collaboration Management · Collective Intelligence Methodologies. Methods & Deliverables: Executive Facilitation · Collaboration Methodology Design · Synthesis Reports · Session Documentation & Recording · Collective Learning Outputs.

Collaborative innovation

02

Strategic Service Design

For institutions that want to create or transform public services that people genuinely value, trust, and enjoy. We drive public sector service transformation that works for real people in real contexts — bridging the gap between technical infrastructure and human experience, and ensuring every touchpoint is coherent, accessible, and grounded in shared public purpose.

Insights & Research

We go deep into the field to move beyond assumptions, framing problems through the lens of those who live them every day — and surfacing the opportunities that institutional perspective alone cannot see. Service & Product Types: User & Citizen Research · Contextual Inquiry · Problem Reframing. Methods & Deliverables: Deep-Dive Interviews · Insight Synthesis Reports · Opportunity Maps.

Service Design Strategy

We define the vision and architecture for new or existing public services by mapping complex landscapes and benchmarking against global best practices. Through stakeholder co-design, we ensure that every service design framework for government is built to deliver measurable outcomes and a seamless user experience. Service & Product Types: Conceptual Design of New Services · Service Redesign & Transformation · Omnichannel Experience Strategy · Public Value Architecture. Methods & Deliverables: International Benchmarking · Comparative Service Benchmarking & Analysis · Strategic Co-Design Workshops.

Prototyping & UX Design

We design service flows, digital products, and information architectures grounded in the lived experience of users and frontline teams — supporting the digital transformation of public services through solutions tested in real contexts and built for the real world. Service & Product Types: Experience Design & Service Flow · Digital & Physical Product Design · Content Infrastructure. Methods & Deliverables: Ethnographic Research & In-Depth Interviews · User Journeys & Experience Maps · Service Blueprints & Orchestration Diagrams · Functional Prototypes (Low, Mid & High Fidelity) · Design Sprints & Ideation Workshops.

Evaluation & Iteration

We test with real users, measure what matters, and build the systems that keep services continuously improving — from usability metrics and experience indicators to design systems and implementation guides that ensure lasting institutional ownership. Service & Product Types: Testing with Real Users · Public Value & User Experience Metrics · Continuous Improvement Cycles · Implementation Guides & Technical Handover. Methods & Deliverables: Testing & Observation Sessions · Usability & Experience Analysis · Service Design System & Specifications · Research Reports & Insight Synthesis.

Strategy

03

Innovation Programmes

For organisations that want to activate ecosystems, build capabilities, and mobilise actors around complex public challenges. We design and operate programmes that activate ecosystems, install lasting capabilities — the methods, mindsets, and institutional routines — and mobilise actors around shared public purpose. From open innovation challenges and labs to capacity building and learning journeys.

Open Innovation Challenges

We deliver end-to-end open innovation programme design — from strategic framing to jury management — mobilising diverse actors to surface and scale solutions to public problems. Service & Product Types: End-to-End Strategic Programme Design · Outreach Management & Actor Mobilisation · Application & Selection Platforms · Jury Management, Awards & Recognition · Outreach Strategy & Digital Marketing · Communications, Press & Audiovisual Documentation. Methods & Deliverables: Co-Design of Rules & Criteria with Key Actors · Visual Identity, Branding & Communication System · Programme Website Development · Alignment Workshops with Partners & Jury · Application & Results Systematisation.

Capacity Building Programmes

We design learning experiences that install lasting capabilities — from curriculum design and digital platforms to masterclasses and learning journeys — equipping teams across government, regulated industries, and cross-sectoral networks with the methods and mindsets to lead change. Service & Product Types: Curriculum & Learning Design · Digital Learning Platform Design · Content & Pedagogical Materials Design · Workshop, Course & Masterclass Facilitation · Learning Journeys & Learning Experiences. Methods & Deliverables: Curricular Co-Design with Experts & Teams · Facilitation Kits & Workshop Materials · Digital E-Learning Platforms · Learning Documentation & Systematisation · Programme Evaluation & Continuous Improvement.

Innovation Lab Design

We co-design institutional innovation labs from strategic purpose to operational model — defining action lines, governance, and identity — building the organisational architecture and actor ecosystems that enable labs to generate sustained institutional impact. Service & Product Types: Co-Designed Strategic Design of the Lab · Purpose, Action Lines & Activity Portfolio · Organisational Structure & Operating Model · Identity, Branding & Actor Ecosystem. Methods & Deliverables: Co-Design Workshops with Founding Teams · Key Actor Mapping & Management · Organisational Design Sprints · Strategic Framework, Narrative & Lab Identity · Governance Model & Network Activation.

Service innovation
São Paulo
Santo Tomas
GAM
BID
Fiscalia
Renca
Generadoras
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Visa
CMPC
British Council
PNIPA
UN Habitat
São Paulo
Santo Tomas
GAM
BID
Fiscalia
Renca
Generadoras
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Visa
CMPC
British Council
PNIPA
UN Habitat

Latest publications

Diseño Público

Vol 1 . Diseño Público: Transformation Patterns

UNIT systematised ten years of work alongside 170 local governments in 17 countries to identify ten recurring patterns of institutional transformation, organised around three dynamic capabilities: learning, connecting, and signalling.

Client reports

Towards an Audience Engagement Strategy

UNIT conducted a service design-based audience characterisation for GAM, identifying 8 user profiles and formulating 6 strategic objectives with 19 specific goals to strengthen the relationship between the cultural centre and its communities.