Step 3 | Identify the Stakeholders
Identify the stakeholders affected by the project. This is not limited to “end users,” but might also include: Customers Manufacturing workers Transportation specialists Waste Disposal workers Community leaders Regulatory boards Trade Unions Suppliers Investors Creditors Etc. Knowing who is affected by problems will help you pinpoint who to work with to find possible solutions.
Step 2 | Identify the Constraints
Design constraints are limitations imposed on possible design solutions. These include limitations that are out of your control (such as those imposed by stakeholders, the development organization, or by external regulations) as well as ones that are self-imposed as a way to improve design. For example: What are the time and resource limitations? Are you working within local or state government restrictions? Are there certain must haves that your project[...]
Step 1 | Identify the Problem
Loosely define the problem you are trying to address. This will give your project direction, but it is important not to be overly rigid. The more you discover, the more your problem definition is likely to shift. Begin by identifying “pain points” that need to be addressed. A pain point is a specific problem that a prospective stakeholder is experiencing. These can be as diverse and varied as stakeholders themselves, and[...]
Participatory Design Thinking
~ 8 minutes The products of design have the capacity to alter the ways people interact with and interpret reality, and the majority of designers are influenced by cultural experiences that differ from those of stakeholders. For instance, if designers educated at metropolitan universities were to design for farmers in rural areas or even at-risk youth within a 10 minute drive of campus, they would lack fundamental understandings about these[...]
The Dimensions of Culture
The six dimensions of culture were first posited by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede in his seminal book, Culture’s Consequences, in 1983. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory describes the reciprocal effects of a society’s culture on the values and behaviors of its members. If used uncritically, these dimensions of culture can be hierarchical and reductive—so we must not attempt to validate Hofstede’s findings, but to use them as a model for[...]
The Social Design Workflow
The Social Design Toolkit offers a new design workflow that combines methods from Cultural Anthropology, Design Thinking, Participatory Design, User Experience Design, and Cultural Dimensions Theory. However, instead of investing itself too heavily in any of these, this workflow attempts to liberate its methods by providing opportunities for these disciplines to overlap. The following steps will walk you through this process (click each step to view in detail): Phase 1[...]