‘What does participation mean to you?’ (Image by Miles Heller, available on Flickr on a Creative Commons Attribution – Share Alike licence)
Starting from the acknowledgment of design as a socially constructed practice (Whitely 1993), which is understood and applied differently by participants, in different design contexts, I will investigate the role, the meaning and the impact of design when embedded in public bodies and Community Sector Organisations (CSO), and also develop a critical reflection on how the adoption of a design-led approach affects the way these organisations develop their discourse around change and innovation.
If it is true that we are living what scholars have defined as a ‘social design moment’, where the practice of using design in the social field is gaining momentum, it is also true that some critical voices are emerging, which interrogate: a) the real impact of design led approaches when applied in the public and CSOs, b) the lack of an ethical dimension of design within these areas and c) whether or not, ultimately, designers and design consultancies have the right skills, knowledge and attitude to work effectively within these new fields.
This study aims, from a non-design perspective, at contributing to this emerging strand of design research, in order to improve the understanding of the role and impact that socially aimed design could have within the social sector.
The objectives for this study will be two:
- To explore the encounter between design and social innovation, and to explicitly look at what is gained, lost and created new when design theories and techniques are recombined, assimilated and/or hybridated within the tradition of CSOs and public bodies;
- To unpack the question of ideology within socially focused service design, looking at the implicit and explicit assumptions and value systems, that consultancies and designers embody, which also shape the way design discourses are developed in the social field.