First Understand, Then Design

As a designer working on projects, I consider my approach somewhat different from other people’s methods and strategies.  This doesn't mean that some methods are wrong and others right. Design is not considered a science as there is not a scientific method to show the correct answers to problems that I am trying to solve. In design, there are a lot of opportunities to address just one problem. My proposal will be the result of the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data obtained in the research phase.

To start the project it was helpful for me to define a clear research scope which would allow me to begin digging in the areas I was interested in. My four main areas of study are:

  1. Design Management/Methods

  2. Indigenous Community Practices

  3. Non-profit Social Innovation Organizations

  4. Systems Complexity

Defining an understanding of the relation between these 4 main areas of study is what guides the project to finding and locating what I call my "sweet spot", which is where the proposal of the project is located. That solution must accomplish the project’s design criteria.  The solution must be desirable, feasible, and viable and has to address the triple bottom line of any sustainability-driven project (people, profit, and planet). All four main areas of study provide the key insight that shapes the final deliverance.

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Introducing Design Management in this project provides structure and strategy for data collection and data analysis. Design Management is defined by a practice that merges theoretical and practical methods in order to be applied in ethnographic understanding, towards the design of an innovation.

Taking into consideration Indigenous community practices helps me to understand alternatives for living. I have learned that these communities:

  1. Learn from mistakes

  2. Have a strong sense of community

  3. Transfer shared knowledge which is key to preserve their culture for generations

  4. Provide awareness that consequences are reflected over  time

Analyzing the non-profit social innovation organizations brings to the identification of the two main problems they are currently facing:

  1. Problem Identification

  2. Measuring Impact over time

There is no doubt they want to create an impact. Having good intentions is not enough. Some of their initiatives create unintended negative consequences that are sometimes worse than the current situation which they are trying to address. Identifying and understanding the underlying problem these organizations are trying to solve help reduce risk during the solution implementation as well as increase the diffusion and adoption rate of the final deliverance.

Measuring impact is also a huge problem they are facing. What key factors do they have to look for to determine if an initiative is successful or unsuccessful?  Who defines it? Does the community? Does the organization? What type of data has to be collected in order to define success? All these questions circle around my head at this time. Organizations need to be responsible for their projects and proposals. There has to be a way to measure and follow-up the project in different stages with low cost and low tech.

Considering systems complexity is the key. Understanding the system as a whole and looking at the problem from a different perspective helps to map out relations and helps to have a better and a more holistic understanding of what organizations are trying to target. I have found a great example that I will use to explain systems. Imagine the following situation; there are two individuals with their eyes covered who are touching different segments of an elephant. They have been asked to describe their perception of the elephant.  One of them is touching the elephant’s husks, and he says, "the elephant is like a snake, it's long and flexible”. The other individual is touching the elephant's ear, and describes the elephant as a big bat, with big wings. Who is right? Who is wrong? Both people were right based on their own perception and experience while touching the elephant. But neither of their descriptions would work to describe an elephant. In order to get a holistic description of the subject, it’s important to have a holistic and systematic understanding of any complex problem before trying to solve it. It is also relevant to be aware that any change in the system has consequences. The systems' condition changes if a variable is disrupted. Any action affects the system’s conditions over time; everything has a consequence and has an effect.

Are you interested in following this story? Go to my next post!

Dealing With Complexity

Hi! My name is Paula Chamorro, I am from Bogota, Colombia, and my background is in Industrial Design. At the beginning of my professional journey, I didn’t quite understand what Industrial Design really was and what I could do with it in my future, but I was very excited to start this new adventure. From the beginning of the program, I truly enjoyed every class, from art history to exploring shapes, structures, and uses of a product. At the end of my undergraduate studies, I realized I was more passionate about the research process prior to designing the shape of a product and got interested in social innovation practices. For this reason, I decided to go to graduate school and to pursue two master’s degree at SCAD.

As a current student of Design for Sustainability and Design Management, I focused on the research process, project management, and strategic planning. I have experience applying design as a tool to find solutions and new opportunities, as well as working and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams members. I have developed projects following human-centered directions as part of the design of a systematic social understanding. Because of this, it is essential for me to direct my work into ethnographic research to accomplish innovative goals geared towards human needs.

On the other hand as a foreign student from Colombia (born and raised in Colombia), I am familiar with indigenous communities and social innovation practices. I find it very interesting how these communities and their practices survived years of battles, extreme weather conditions, and adverse circumstances and understanding this has taken me to the point where I feel a sense of responsibility and I want to apply all of this traditional knowledge into my field. I believe it's a gift that my ancestors provided me. I would like to bring these learning experiences to the world. This is one of the reasons I think my professional practice, as a designer is different from other designer’s approach.

My indigenous roots, skin, and eyes color make me proud that I belong to a culture that is providing me key insights to solving some of the most complex problems the world is facing today. Additionally, after having some experience in the sustainability world, I found it very relevant how some organizations work towards finding opportunities to enhance people’s lives. In contrast, some people misunderstand the concept of design, narrowing it down as a practice to develop luxury products and targeting only 10% of the world’s population. Designing for the other 90% brings a lot of challenges on the table. As a designer, I decided to focus on the social and environmental goods, and it is my desire to give back to this world by using my knowledge and passion by developing a more sustainable and better future for all.

After this short introduction to my work and myself. I am going to introduce what I am working on for the last year. As a designer, I am working on the creation of an innovative framework for the non-profit social innovation organizations (NFSIO) in order to develop more successful and long-lasting results to create greater impact. I am doing that by analyzing some of these organizations and the problems they are facing right now. After doing some primary and secondary research, I found that social innovation organizations are multiplying and are becoming even more common in answer to multiple challenges and the much-needed transition towards sustainability. (Manzini, 2012). However, there are having problems by Addressing symptoms rather than underlying problems, looking for the obvious, achieving short-term gains that are undermined by long-term impacts, producing negative consequences that are unintentional and by addressing chronic and complex social problems with conventional understanding (Stroh 2015). Because of that is relevant to introduce systems complexity to better understand complex social problems and furthermore create solutions that look for long-term impact.  On the other hand, there is compelling evidence that methods behind creative fields are equally powerful in designing holistic processes for organizations. It embraces important design factors like collaboration through different disciplines and creating new models by systems thinking. (Lockwood, 2009).

I am in the final stage of my project. Where I am about to design a deliverable to improve outcomes of the NFSIO and create greater change in a transformative society that is driven by an ongoing change.

Project Research Scope and Relationships Between Areas of Study