Design Thinking - from method to mindset
Design Thinking is often described as a methodology, but in practice it represents a broader shift in how public institutions approach policy and service design.
In Kosovo, Design Thinking initiatives are co-financed by the European Union and the German Government, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and carried out in close partnership with our lead partner the Strategic Planning Office of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Rather than organising procedures around institutional convenience, Design Thinking encourages administrations to focus on people, their needs, behaviors, and real life experiences.. This shift closely aligns with GIZ’s EU integration reforms, with Administrative Burden Reduction (ABR) at its centre - seeking to simplify procedures, abolish unnecessary ones, and make public services more accessible for citizens and businesses.
In Kosovo, this mindset shift is becoming increasingly visible across public administration, supported by GIZ through a structured and long-term approach to capacity development and practical application. Design thinking and ABR are approached as mutually reinforcing: while ABR provides the reform objective of simpler, more efficient procedures, design thinking offers a practical way to understand where complexity arises and how it can be addressed from the user’s perspective.
Through targeted capacity-building efforts, GIZ has supported the training of public officials across central and local institutions in Kosovo by applying design thinking principles to their daily work. These trainings focus not only on tools and techniques, but on how civil servants think, collaborate, and solve problems. Participants are encouraged to move beyond compliance-driven processes and to question whether existing procedures genuinely serve their intended purpose.
Civil servants are guided to start with empathy and understand citizens’ lived experiences, to reframe problems before jumping to solutions, to test, adapt, and continuously improve services. This approach directly supports ABR objectives by helping institutions identify redundant steps, overlapping requirements, and red tape that create administrative burden for citizens and businesses.
So far, 880 public officials have been trained in design thinking, with the number expected to reach 1,000 by the end of the project. Importantly, this effort goes beyond one-off workshops. It forms part of a broader reform ecosystem in which design thinking strengthens the capacity of institutions to implement citizen-centred public services.
To ensure sustainability and long-term impact, GIZ has introduced Training of Trainers (ToT) programme on Design Thinking. This approach equips selected public officials with the skills and confidence to transfer knowledge within their own institutions, creating internal capacities that remain well beyond the project lifecycle. By embedding design thinking expertise inside public administration, the reform process becomes self-sustaining – driven from within, rather than relying solely on external support.
