How my studies changed my view on design
When asked to define design, most people will think of colors, shapes, aesthetics, or art in general. Such responses remind me of my initial understanding of design. However, after starting my Design Management studies, I learned that anything with a purpose is designed, whether it’s a specific table arrangement, a governmental regulation, or simply a white piece of paper. Designing always entails interfering with an organization, society, or environment, thus potential risks and negative consequences must be considered in advance.
The meaning of social design
As I started this semester’s social design class, I had already gained a comprehensive understanding of design in general, but I had never given much thought to the meaning of social design, its purpose, or its fundamental goal to be reached. Social design was a rather blurry picture in my head, linked to humans and societal factors.
It was an eye-opening moment when we were asked what social design really meant, and we discovered that any design, whether it is a painting, a dog cage, or a mobile phone, is socially driven. And that the way we design strongly defines how we contribute to social dynamics.
Every design is socially driven
It’s impossible to imagine a design that wasn’t created by or for humans, whether it’s the human elements that impact the design or the actual outcome that influences societal factors. Even factories that function fully technical, using robots to fasten procedures, have an impact on society and belong to social design since the goal of the technology is to make working places more efficient and safer for humans.
The purpose of a design lets us evaluate the social aspect of the creation and therefore, opportunities, challenges, and potential risks always have to be and are considered while contributing to social dynamics.
The interdependency of design, organizations, and society
Let’s take an organization as an example for social design to establish a clear reference and highlight the strong connections between designing, organizing, and making a change within a governmental setting. The key factors for an organization’s existence, are humans, a specific purpose, resources, and a common goal to be achieved. However, all these factors are directly linked to people, as without humans, an organization has no purpose, no resources, and hence loses its reason for existence. To sum up, we can say, without humans, there is no organization.
Everyone has the ability to contribute to social design
As we conducted research into energy issues in the municipalities we currently live in, I realized that everyone is able to contribute to change, not only the government. And unfortunately, we often forget, that the government also consists of normal citizens, like you and me.
A perfect example of how people design for people, and how social design is strongly influenced by people was when a high school graduate created a concept for an initiative about district heating in our city. At that time, without his help, the initiative could not be conceived or adopted.
By Florine Witzig
Sources:
Gorb, P., & Dumas, A. (1987). Silent design.
Junginger, S. (2016). Transforming Public Services by Design: Re-Orienting Policies, Organizations and Services around People (1st ed.). Routledge.
