A framework for teaching Design for Social Impact
It is often at this point that the notion of Wicked Problems as discussed earlier, comes into full force. The identified problem areas seem interconnected and often share a causal relation to each other.
Designers interested in the notion of Social Design need to be aware of the Analysis – Paralysis [Ed Yourdon] [25]. This common known term describes the state of an analysis process that does not make any – or just a small – progress because of the claim to construct a perfect model of the system. The deeper and further we go, the more we face the wideness and complexity of this topic. One should know when to stop looking for further information on the different parts of the Social Space.
At this point Designers should understand one very key aspect of the Social Design space. One should understand the need to concentrate the work on something specific amongst the identified problem spaces, for it is impossible to improve the whole Social Space in one project.
Exemplar Research
Exemplar Research calls for looking at similar work being done in the field. It could be a direct relation to the work within the Social Space or an indirect relation. Conducting interviews with an open mind, with professionals and organizations of this area helps to seek inspirations and exchange thoughts and also validate the findings from the above exercise in finding the problem spaces. Meeting with professionals can occur in various ways. Going to an NGO office to interact with its employees is a great thing to do, but sometimes difficult. Fortunately, there are new ways of acquiring knowledge, and we used them as much as possible. Some of them are recorded videos of work and other written project reports. It is also used to know about real stories from experience, which later serves as huge motivation. Their inputs also help in making decisions when stuck with Wicked Problems.
Secondary research allows designers to come out of their fool’s paradise and as a result adopt a more pragmatic approach to their design creation. It provides them with new insights, gets an idea of what works and what does not and stays in touch with reality. The inputs from the individuals and organizations also serve as good advice.
Project findings from secondary research
Using post-it notes we mapped out the primary education system in Bihar. Understanding wicked problems, required us to add to this problem space: the factors from society, the taboos, the issues of poverty, the problems from improper healthcare. We interacted with the Parikrma Foundation, the NGO Pratham Books, the Akshara Foundation, Sikshana Foundation, and spoke to a few social entrepreneurs. We met several of them, presenting our project, our expectations, and discovering theirs. We got to know their values and what they focus on.
We kept in mind that our focus will be on improving the education in rural Bihar, so our research was to be done in that way. At all point we were validating our assumptions on the Social Space and checking the validity of the example in hand in the context of Bihar. The areas where we felt the designer could help we were as follows.
a/ Improve the quality of the teaching
b/ Make the school more attractive
c/ Reduce the school’s material and financial issues
d/ Involve children into their own education
e/ Enhance the involvement of the village’s community
f/ Develop alternative learning methods
g/ Propose adult education classes
This process of meeting the organizations and individuals happened a couple times. We went back to discuss the problems we had defined, and whether they were aware of it and had tried to solve them, and if they had any advice for us. Their experiences indirectly also helped us choose one to focus on.
After that, we went back another time with several concept ideas. Again, we asked for their opinion about the consistency of these ideas and they added a very valuable input. Another set of meetings was necessary to discuss the details of the chosen concept we were developing. The professionals gave us very specific inputs on how people would be likely to react when facing our product.
‘THE’ PROBLEM YOU WANT TO SOLVE
As is the case with the Wicked Problems [4,5,11,19] identifying the core is difficult. Rittel & Webber talk about the characteristics of Wicked problems and its solutions: The solutions to wicked problems are not true or false; they can only be good or bad and There are no complete list of applicable “moves” for a solution to a wicked problem. There are always more than one explanation for a wicked problem, with the appropriateness of the explanation depending greatly on the individual perspective of the designer.
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