GovStack × Standardizing Service Patterns
by Tomoko Osko at Concent, Inc.
When you hear the word “standardization,” doesn’t it sound a bit boring, like it might stifle creativity? I used to think so too.
But one day, I had an experience that completely overturned that image. It was the moment I realized that standardization isn’t about erasing differences, it might actually be a mechanism that helps us see them more clearly.
An unexpected workshop encounter
It all started with a workshop I co-hosted with Laurence Berry from Komo.International.
The theme was “trying out GovStack tools for designing public services.”
Honestly, I began preparing quite casually, thinking I’d learn how to use a tool. But as soon as we started, it became something much more meaningful. Before I knew it, my perspective on “design,” “systems,” and “human participation” quietly began to shift.
The softness within the word “standard”
The session began with a light PechaKucha-style presentation introducing how GovStack was created, where it has been used, and how its patterns are organized. After that, we split into groups to actually experience it.
Each team received a use-case and a user profile, and while referring to the service pattern cards and online guidance, we designed the flow of the service.
The tool we used came from GovStack, an international project. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp the big picture but later learned how GovStack is an initiative where experts around the world organize the building blocks of government services into common specifications an patterns. But the essence of it isn’t “to make everyone build the same thing.” It’s “to make it possible for everyone to share their experiences and ways of thinking.”
In other words, standardization is not about “making things uniform,” but about “a language for sharing ideas.” This idea was very fresh to me.
Design as a language
Laurence said, “This isn’t a set of blocks, it’s a language.”
Using architect Christopher Alexander’s book, A Pattern Language as an example, he explained:
“This is a language, considerations when implementing something. These are not Lego bricks, but loose plans that you can adapt to your needs.”
Hearing that, the stiffness I had always associated with the word standardization began to melt away. It wasn’t about fixed rules for forms, but about a grammar for creating meaning.
When we share a common grammar, we can ask the same questions, even across different countries or perspectives.
For instance, in A Pattern Language, the chapter “Mosaic of Subcultures” explains that a truly vibrant city isn’t one of superficial diversity, but one where different cultures interact like pieces of a mosaic.
If you look at park design through this lens, you realize that combining patterns like “spaces where people feel comfortable to sleep” or “cracks between paving stones” can create a more welcoming environment.
These patterns aren’t blueprints for replication; they serve as a language for thinking about context-specific design. It’s not a “standard” that forces uniform behavior, but a structure that helps create meaning within each context.
Instead of assembling fixed Lego pieces, it’s about flexible components that adapt to their surroundings and connect with them.
“You can repeat the same pattern infinitely, but it will never take the same form twice. ”
That, I realized, is why GovStack’s pattern cards intentionally contain only the essential information — to preserve that flexibility.
Seeing “beyond the service”
As we organized the steps, someone suddenly said:
“Wait, how would these people even find out this service exists?”
At that moment, the atmosphere in the room changed. The discussion shifted from the flow of the application to how to support people who can’t even access it in the first place.
Much of usability design assumes users are already able to use a service. But there are people who can’t even reach the entry point. That simple fact struck us anew.
We also realized that many of those people are supported not by government systems, but by communities outside them. Perhaps that was the first time we truly became aware of what lies beyond the service.
The white space in simplification
Using this tool made me realize something: When information is well-organized, it actually creates space for thinking. It’s not overdetermined and that’s exactly where imagination can enter.
One participant remarked:
“This looks like it could be used like a storybook. When developing a new service, there are many cases where existing modules and data are assumed. So, the designs that designers create from scratch are sometimes not actually usable. But with this level of granularity, it seems like it could work.”
To approach an ideal through implementation, this level of looseness is perfect. It’s not about aiming for a flawless blueprint, it’s a tool for translating ideals into reality step by step.
In real-world service and product development, not just in the public sector, strong stakeholders often prevent things from going “by the book.” But with this tool, you can bridge those power gaps and co-create something tangible, based on a shared minimum understanding.
I felt that this interaction itself was already part of the design, that simplification was not about eliminating thought, but about leaving space for thought.
What I realized later
Looking back, I feel that through this experience, I didn’t just learn what GovStack is — I physically understood what “standardization,” “simplification,” and “structure” really mean.
Standardization is by no means the enemy of creativity. Rather, it may be the foundation on which creativity emerges.
That was the quiet but profound insight I gained from this workshop.
In conclusion
The patterns collected in GovStack are the accumulated wisdom of practitioners around the world. But perhaps even more valuable is this: It allows people from different backgrounds to think in the same language.
Rethinking standardization as a “grammar for dialogue” rather than a “system of control” is what I felt was necessary when dealing with complex social issues, and at the same time, it was also a flexible “strategy.”
GovStack is not a “complete government system.” It’s a set of tools and templates to help countries and organizations design their own systems in their own contexts. GovStack is spreading that starting point to as many governments and municipalities as possible.
If you are inspired by this work and are interested in joining GovStack, you can get involved here:
- Laurence is a designer who previously worked for the UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS), and is currently the founder of Komo.International, where he co-leads the GovStack UX/UI working group. This work has been applied to government design around the world.
- I, Osko Tomoko, am a curator/design mediator who translates global design language into a Japanese context, working to localize international initiatives.
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