Christopher Patten
Christopher translates design methodologies for use by government and non-profit stakeholders. Whether he’s facilitating co-creation workshops or debating design thinking, he brings a critical approach to his role as a designer working in non-design settings.
His work has spanned the fields of policy, education, and transportation. His engagements have included The World Bank, Ford Motor Company Fund, Ford Smart Mobility, the Christopher Park Alliance, the New York City Parks Department, and Detroit public schools.
Christopher began his design career as a landscape architect in Milan working for the Salone del Mobile design week, where he created roof gardens and temporary installations for both civic and private spaces. There, he was exposed to co-creation methods and service design methodologies, which became the focus of his career.
Christopher holds an MFA in Transdisciplinary Design from Parsons School of Design and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Ball State University.
At Center for Civic Design, Christopher:
- Lead work on ranked choice voting information
- Lead work on planning and implementation of language access
You can read more about Christopher’s work in these articles:
- How North Carolina’s mail-in envelope got a new, easier-to-use look – Washington Post
- An invitation to certainty, in an uncertain time – writing cure notifications
- Language access helps with acculturation – from the new citizens research project
- An invitation to redistricting – writing the application for the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission
In April 2021, Christopher left CCD for a 4-year appointment at the LAB at the United States Office of Personnel Management. Like CCD, the LAB is focused on capacity building and teaching design methods to public sector employees. Before he left, we talked to him about his next adventure.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
I think this role will round out my skills. Before CCD, I spent 4 years working in local K-12 administration. CCD gave me experience working at the state level in elections. This new role will allow me to work with a variety of agencies on the federal level. When I complete my 4-year appointment, I think I’ll have a solid understanding of how government works at different scales.
What will you take away from your work at CCD?
Layers of red tape and band-aid solutions from years of crises are everywhere in government. A school principal might be stuck with a state testing program that hurts teachers and students. An election official might deal with election laws that are impossible to understand but required to be printed on absentee ballot envelopes.
Fixing these problems is extremely hard and requires time that public sector employees don’t have. In every case, a group of designers sailing in and claiming they can save a school district or election office is not the way to start a conversation. A heaping amount of patience, as well as careful listening, tends to work better!
A heaping amount of patience and a steadfast commitment to careful listening are hallmarks of Christopher’s work style. While we’ll miss having him on the team, we’re all excited to see how he takes these skills and applies them to his new role at OPM.