Designing with Society

A Capabilities Approach to Design, Systems Thinking and Social Innovation

Scott Boylston

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351372060
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

This book explores an emerging design culture that rigorously applies systems thinking to the practice of design as a form of facilitating change on an increasingly crowded planet. Designers conversant in topics such as living systems, cultural competence, social justice, and power asymmetries can contribute their creative skills to the world of social innovation to help address the complex social challenges of the 21st century.

By establishing a foundation built on the capabilities approach to human development, designers have an opportunity to transcend previous disciplinary constraints, and redefine our understanding of design agency. With an emphasis on developing an adaptability to dynamic situations, the cultivation of diversity, and an insistence on human dignity, this book weaves together theories and practices from diverse fields of thought and action to provide designers with a concrete yet flexible set of actionable design principles. And, with the aim of equipping designers with the ability to drive long-term, sustainable change, it proposes a new set of design competences that emphasize a deeper mindfulness of our interdependence; with each other, and with our life-giving natural systems. It's a call to action to use design and design thinking as a tool to transform our collective worldviews toward an appreciation for what we all hold in common; a hope and a belief that our future is a place where all of humankind will flourish.

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

1. Amatullo, Mariana. Design Attitude and Social Innovation: Empirical Studies of the Return on Design. PhD Dissertation, Case Western Reserve University. 2015. p. 19

2. Stanford Graduate School of Business, Center for Social Innovation (2018, Nov. 20). Retrieved from: www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/centers-initiatives/csi/defining-social-innovation

3. Phills Jr., et al. Rediscovering Social Innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2008, p. 39

4. Irwin, Terry, et al. Transition Design Framework. Transition Design 2015, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015. p. 7

5. Gordon Training International (2018, October 10). Learning a New Skill is Easier Said Than Done. Retrieved from: www.gordontraining.com/free-workplace-articles/learning-a-new-skill-is-easier-said-than-done

6. Aye, George. (2018, June 22). Design Educations’ Big Gap: Understanding the Role of Power. Medium. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/greater-good-studio/design-educations-big-gap-understanding-the-role-of-power-1ee1756b7f08

7. Meadows, Donella H., and Diana Wright. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015. p. 11

8. Ibid. p. 17

9. Jones, Peter. Systemic Design Principles for Complex Social Systems. Translational Systems Science Series, Vol. 1: Social Systems and Design. Springer Verlag, 2018. p. 123

10. Ibid. p. 125

11. Nussbaum, Martha. Creating Capabilities: the Human Development Approach. Belknap Press, 2011. p. 20

12. Michaels, F.S. Monoculture: How One Story Is Changing Everything. Red Clover, 2011. p. 7

13. Johnson, Mark. Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. University of Chicago Press, 1994. p. 198

14. Margolin, Victor. Design for a Sustainable World. From: The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design and Design Studies. University of Chicago Press, 2002. p. 92-105

15. Ehrenfeld, John. Flourishing: A Frank Conversation About Sustainability. Stanford Business Books, 2013. p. 83

SECTION ONE INTRODUCTION

1. Farson, Richard. The Power of Design: A Force for Transforming Everything. Greenway Communications, 2008. p. 24

2. National Human Genome Research Institute (2018, Nov. 20). 2000 Release:Mouse Sequencing Consortium. Retrieved from: www.genome.gov/10001345/importance-of-mouse-genome

CHAPTER ONE

1. Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin, 2011. p. 498

2. Wahl, Daniel C. Designing Regenerative Cultures. Triarchy Press, 2016. p. 27

3. Meadows, Donella H., and Diana Wright. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Pub...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Copyright Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Section One: Interdependence, and Why Social Innovation Matters
• Section Two: Designing with Mindfulness, Balance, and a Commitment to Justice
• Section Three: An Emerging Design Agency in Social Innovation
• Appendix
• Notes
• Index