Dealing with dilemmas: participatory approaches in design for social innovation

Abstract

In recent years, design for social innovation has emerged
\nas a new research field. Design has been acknowledged by
\npublic agencies and NGOs as one of the tools to tackle the
\ncomplexity of social issues. However, critical voices have also
\nbeen raised about the limits and gaps of design applied in
\nthis field, emphasizing the need for connections with other
\ndisciplines involved in social innovation. These critiques
\nstress that designers engaged with social issues need to reflect
\non their weaknesses in order to avoid to ‘reinvent the wheel’
\nand being naive. With a background in participatory design
\nwe have developed some practical approaches that we present
\nin this article as a possible way for dealing with the
\nweaknesses of design when applied in social innovation.