Design for social innovation

Design for Social Innovation is a course that explores how design can bring about systemic change. Students learned theories and methods from the social innovation design spectrum, and in groups with industry partners, created infographics to illustrate these methods and their corresponding designs. My group was paired with the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE), and we depicted Transforming Practices in our infographic. Our design focused on recognizing and registering ‘aha’-moments during collaborative sessions in this context.

This course greatly expanded my knowledge on the systemic design. I learned a wide range of methods and approaches that can be used for transforming practices, as well as the strengths and limitations of these methods, allowing me to make more informed decisions when selecting one to apply in my projects. All in all, taking this course gave me a comprehensive understanding of design for social innovation, as well as the confidence to start using these methods in my work, while being able to critically evaluate their usage.