Abstract
This paper examines how public service ecosystems shape the agency of marginalized residents, focusing on immigrant job seekers. While ecosystem perspectives in service design have highlighted marginalization and actor interconnectedness, the role and intricacies of agency remain underexplored. To address this gap, we draw on a service design project in the City of Espoo aimed at improving an employment service for immigrants. Our findings reveal that immigrant job seekers’ agency is affected by (i) limited psychological, financial, and temporal resources, (ii) distorted information flows, (iii) the dependence on community support, (iv) biased attitudes of service staff and managers, and (v) the relationship between agency and serendipity. We demonstrate how a service design approach can surface these hindrances, uncovering how relational aspects within public service ecosystems shape marginalized residents’ agency. Responding to the identified barriers, we propose service design strategies and interventions, offering pathways to better facilitate marginalized residents’ agency within the public sector.
Keywords
Agency; public service ecosystem; service ecosystem design; marginalization; immigrant employment
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.10
Citation
Hußmann, N., Svanda, A.,and Čaić, M.(2025) Intentional Action at the Margins: Unpacking Agency in Public Service Ecosystem Design, in Brandt, E., Markussen, T., Berglund, E., Julier, G., Linde, P. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.10
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Intentional Action at the Margins: Unpacking Agency in Public Service Ecosystem Design
This paper examines how public service ecosystems shape the agency of marginalized residents, focusing on immigrant job seekers. While ecosystem perspectives in service design have highlighted marginalization and actor interconnectedness, the role and intricacies of agency remain underexplored. To address this gap, we draw on a service design project in the City of Espoo aimed at improving an employment service for immigrants. Our findings reveal that immigrant job seekers’ agency is affected by (i) limited psychological, financial, and temporal resources, (ii) distorted information flows, (iii) the dependence on community support, (iv) biased attitudes of service staff and managers, and (v) the relationship between agency and serendipity. We demonstrate how a service design approach can surface these hindrances, uncovering how relational aspects within public service ecosystems shape marginalized residents’ agency. Responding to the identified barriers, we propose service design strategies and interventions, offering pathways to better facilitate marginalized residents’ agency within the public sector.