Autor: chantaljaun

In the last couple of weeks, I delved into the topic of energy issues and what it means for social design. Through the municipality project, we are currently working on, I realized that the effort to achieve energy reductions and the awareness of the need for a strategy is largely present. However, stakeholders from the municipality claim that at the moment the knowledge about the exact status, the goals, and the strategic approach is missing. But, in practice, what does a strategic approach and a well-defined strategy mean? And why is there no energy strategy in the municipality, despite the fact that efforts to change things appear to be underway?

When looking from a manager’s point of view, a strategy is an action to attain one or more of the organization’s goals. Whereas planning is a part of the managerial process, strategy is a part of decision-making. In the process of planning a strategy, it is crucial to consider the context and its stakeholders constantly while making decisions. (Juneja. P, n.d)

So, in the case of Emmen’s missing energy strategy it might be that nobody takes full accountability in making decisions. Since this project engages stakeholders primarily in a social context the lack of clearly defined roles and task responsibilities might be contributing to this issue. That is where I believe the approach of social design  may help to make decisions with people rather than for them. Because change can only happen if everyone is dedicated to the same goal and works together to achieve it.

By Chantal Jaun 

Sources:

Juneja, P (n.d) Strategy – Definition and Features, P Management Study Guidehttps://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategy-definition.htm

In a world where social distance is the new norm and humanity appears alienated where can we place social design? How can design even be social? I am wondering if we would be where we are now if society as a whole had comprehended the ideas of social design some years ago. Since social design is an ambiguous term we might as well want to find out what it means. 

Generally speaking, an organization loses its existence without people. Based on the paper of Junginger (2016) the commonality of all organizations are people, resources, structure, and purpose. Hence, the success of an organization highly depends on how those aspects are managed and designed. However, the activity of design can be present in an organization without anyone being aware of it which is referred to as Silent design. (Grob & Dumas, 2011) This phenomenon of applying design principles in an organization without classifying it as design happens frequently. We can argue if this reveals itself as a major issue or not. Nonetheless, it is clear that designing is a core activity in organizational life. (Junginger, 2016)

Since the beginning of my studies, I have been confronted with the term human-centered design. However, I could not quite grasp the definition in context with design until the start of this course. I now see that human-centered design goes far beyond serving social needs and desires. Whereas user-centered design focuses only on a one-to-one relationship, human-centered design emphasizes the one-to-many relationships that consider all possible factors which might affect its environment. In fact, I think one of the major misconceptions we face nowadays is that our society lives in the belief that our well-being is not directly connected to the external environment. Although society and the environment are crucial to human well-being, hence sustainability is a fundamental concern in human-centered design. (Junginger, 2016)

But how can we practice social design? And what is the value of it? After reading about social design I realized that achieving social transformation can only happen if all parties are involved. This might be challenging, particularly in policy, where hierarchical limits are prominent and problems are wicked. In this case, social design can be an enabler by applying a cross-disciplinary approach. People from different sectors need to collaborate with each other in order to achieve social innovation. This paradigm shift requires that we adapt to a design process which is fostering participation and integration. (Junginger, 2016) In other words, we co-design with the people instead of for them which ultimately leads to value creation.   

To sum up, I learned how important it is to include all relevant stakeholders from the start while constantly learning from each other. Because only if we learn from another we can achieve social change. As a design management student, I believe it is my responsibility to raise awareness about the importance of social design in order to move towards a more sustainable future.  

By Chantal Jaun 

Sources: 

Gorb, P., & Dumas, A. (1987). Silent design. (p. 52-63). 

Junginger, S. (2016). Transforming Public Services by Design: Re-Orienting Policies, Organizations and Services around People (1st ed.). Routledge.