Design When Everybody Designs

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Design, When everybody designs: An Introduction to Design for Social
Innovation

Author: Ezio Manzini
Translated by Rachel Coad
The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
© 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ISBN 978-0-262-02860-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-262-32864-7 (retail e-book)

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I can hear your thoughts. To be honest, I was thinking that such a boring book before
starting to read it. Then what happened? Before talking about the book, I should mention
that his mantra is “we are all designers” and here is some information about content
(includes details, also).

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Preface

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Ten thousand years ago, in Mesopotamia; architectural design and the furniture design
came up with architecture…
Five thousand years ago, in Sumeria; graphics and then cuneiform… Afterwards, the
improvement of humanity has accelerated. However, it has not started neither ten
thousand years ago, nor five thousand years ago. When we make a time travelling to 2.5
million years ago, we will see that human beings were designing tools before walking
upright. Today, when we look through our prehuman ancestors, it is obvious that it is/was
the design made us human.
It was the year of 1548 when design was defined in a dictionary -Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary- as a verb: “to conceive and plan out in the mind; to have as a specific
purpose; to devise for a specific function or end.”
After a half century, it was also defined as a noun in the same dictionary: “a particular
purpose held in view by an individual or group; deliberate, purposive planning; a mental
project or scheme in which means to an end are laid down.” in 1588. In both definitions,
purpose and plan are under the spotlight.
“Today, we design large, complex processes, systems, and services, and we design
organizations and structures to produce them. Design has changed considerably since our
remote ancestors made the first stone tools.” mentioned Ezio Manzini.
Per him, design has had a tremendous change since the first stone tools.
Herbert Simon defined the design “[ devise] courses of action aimed at changing existing
situations into preferred ones”. In this manner, design is not just a general and abstract
method for working. It also takes concrete form as furniture design, textile design,
educational design, process design, etc. Always there have been problems and challenges.
Manzini defined these problems clearly and according to him, the skills that solve the
problems cannot be developed by simple practices; they require a higher level of
professional practice and knowledge. At this point, behaviorist approach are applicable
(Norman, 2010). Also, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary focuses provide a professional
perspective and solution to these challenges.
It is hopeful that mentioned in the book, “Our goal as editors is to develop a series of vital
conversations that help designers and researchers to serve business, industry, and the public

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sector for positive social and economic outcomes.” In today’s world designers care more
about the issues of people and the world. This reminds me of “Human centered design”.

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Some content

“In a world in rapid and profound transformation, we are all designers.” says Manzini, and
adds, “all” obviously includes all of us, individuals but also organizations, businesses, public
entities, voluntary associations, and cities, regions, and states.” He is frankly right about this
issue and he states that design is putting one’s ideas into action.
He says the design scenario built on a culture which is local and global (cosmopolitan
localism) . He combines his thoughts and findings with modern world’s issues such as
politics, culture, economics, and developes a different point of view, a different perspective
to “design” and its future. He described the word “local” as an interface that we see the
world from where we are. It is mentioned that the entire society should be considered as a
huge laboratory of social experiment. And even though the book benefited from different
disciplines, it is not an actual interdisciplinary based one. For the very reason, this book is
for everyone who wants to dive deep into the design issues. That’s why it talks about
problem solving within the scope of social innovation and cultural dimension and all based
on the author’s experiences. The purpose is to create an ecology for design that is open to
the world and local. Also the author wants and believes that this book may contribute to
Italian design culture and its history. Manzini touched upon a social point of view and he
brings a new perspective to “design” merged with economics via the countries in crisis, and
technical systems via the development and the society’s exposing into it. For instance, he
states that a crisis not only includes solutions, but also a new and hopefully wiser
civilization. He talks about distributed systems which are defines by Chris Ryan as
“infrastructure and critical service systems positioned close to the resources”. Manzini says
distributed systems and social innovation are engaged and distributed systems cannot be
implemented without social innovations and these distributed systems include “distributed
infrastructure, distributed food networks, distributed fabrication, and distributed economy.”
He talks about a design hypothesis: “something that is not yet a reality, but that could
become real if the necessary moves were made” and quotes from the Indian writer
Arundhati Roy: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can
hear her breathing” (Social Forum, Puerto Alegre; 2001). He thinks that by a new culture
and practice, social innovation has the potential to change the world. He agrees with

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Anthony Giddens (a British sociologist) who told that the more tradition is weakened, the
more individuals find themselves having to negotiate and choose— from a multiplicity of
possible options and referents— what lifestyles to adopt. According to Manzini Design Mode
is a combination of three gifts of mankind: critical sense, creativity, and practical sense. He
says, “Today the importance of design is widely recognized not only by enterprises but by
all stakeholders” but I don’t agree with him at this point. I think it is early to think in that
way. Those are the stakeholders who settle the rules of “design world”.
And a redefinition for design: “What does design do?”. The answer is “It collaborates
actively and proactively in the social construction of meaning.” Another question is “What
do we expect design to do?” which means “What motivates the designer?” and “What are
the expectations?” As it is mentioned before, design appears to adapt to a new situation or
when a problem needs a solution. These questions based on looking for solutions. Then the
word and the process of design come up. He distinguishes clearly between diffuse and
expert design by simple examples such as : everybody runs but not everybody takes part in
a marathon. As it is obvious on the cover of the book, “Design, When Everybody
Designs”. By defining problem solving and sense making, and between expert and diffuse
design, Manzini provided a design mode map for the readers:

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“Social Innovation” in design is another issue. It goes toward expert design from diffuse
design because many people collaborate actively to solve problems and create new forms
of organizations by social networks and these people are accompanied by expert designers
in the design process. This means they are creating a new co-design process and in this
networked society, all design processes tend to be co-design processes by today’s biggest
communication medium World Wide Web, which connects the entire world and turns all
design processes to co-design processes. Two types of coalitions are mentioned in the
book: work in coalitions which means triggers and facilitators, and work for coalitions
means collaborating with other experts. He offers a description for design:

Design is a culture and a practice
concerning how things ought to be in order
to attain desired functions and meanings. It

takes place within open-ended co-design
processes in which all the involved actors
participate in different ways. It is based on

a human capability that everyone can
cultivate and which for some— the design
experts— becomes a profession. The role of

design experts is to trigger and support
these open-ended co-design processes,
using their design knowledge to conceive
and enhance clear-cut, focused design

initiatives.

Yes, I mentioned the importance of social innovation before and let me use an example
from Manzini. He talks about a social innovation design on Everyday life projects portion
and says: a company named Participle Ltd in the UK developed an organization called
Circle which provides support to elderly people by local neighborhood helpers and
professional social workers. The first prototype was launched in Southwark in 2009. It
includes a horizontal model; p2p collaboration and mutual help, and vertical collaboration:
voluntary and paid work. This is really a good example of design for social innovation.

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Also, there is an open-ended co-design process which means every design process is part of
a larger design and create new knowledge which is transferable from one project to
another. Manzini gives a definition of design for social innovation. He says: “Design for
social innovation is everything that expert design can do to activate, sustain, and orient
processes of social change toward sustainability.” To be honest, when we take a look at the
definitions, we will see that they are similar and the main purpose of it to solve a problem,
to make a change.
OK, we kind of talked about what is design, social innovation, and design process for social
innovation thus far. Now, let’s see what it is not.
Because the definition of design for social innovation is wide, we cannot say that every
design is a social innovation, since social innovation requires sociotechnical transformation
and should solve a problem by making a social change. Social change toward
sustainability… Explaining the design for social innovation via simple and real life examples
is a comprehensible and effective way if it is for everyone (Design, When Everybody
Designs).
Facilitators, activists, strategists, cultural promoters, and design experts - as a must… these
design initiatives play a significant role on this wide design world. I should add he says that
design experts foster the social conversation with their specific culture, and they can
criticize to provide a meaningful co-design process with all values and ideas. The answers
of “Where and how is the needed design knowledge produced?” and “Where and how will it be
produced in future, given that the demand for it will inevitably grow in the transition toward
sustainability?” questions require design research networks such as online global
platforms, digital platforms, and etc. thus, we should thank to the Internet. In this design
research networks design schools have a tremendous potential with participants’
enthusiasm and experience, so it is not just social innovation or something. Attention
please!

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Here is another example:
“Tyze is a service enabling personal, private, secure online networks that coordinate care and
contribute to improved health and social outcomes and their primary beneficiaries are people
undergoing treatment for critical illness, seniors, and people with disabilities.”This social
venture launched in Vancouver and then moved to UK. Manzini adds, “Tyze brings everyone
on to the same page to create the best possible outcomes and to highlight reciprocity,
exchange and meaning.”

Which is another excellent design for social innovation, and then he explains why did he
choose Tyze as an example. At this point, he says it (Tyze) lies at the intersection of two
lines of innovation: one is driven by traditional grassroots organizations confronting new
problems and getting connected. The other is driven by social networks supported by
digital platforms, which are bridging digital and physical space and meeting real people
with real-life problems, says Manzini. But what is “Grassroots organizations” or just

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“grassroots” ? it is a new term for me and probably for those who reads the book. It was
described “The common or ordinary people, especially as contrasted with the leadership or
elite of a political party, social organization, etc.; the rank and file.” in Dictionary.com . in the
design world, the goal is to solve grassroots problems (everyday life problems) via
creativity and knowledge provided by design research networks. Another term that
Manzini used in the book is “social networks” which is not a strange term for almost
everyone. The first ideas were proposed in 1995 and it was 2003 when My Space and
LinkedIn were launched. Then others followed, such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, etc. it seems by the technological improvements, this digital journey has moved
and will be moved toward an incredible virtual reality and a brilliant future.

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Top- down vs Bottom-up… Because social innovation has a broad definition, he wanted to
include a polarity to make the events -the process and participants- clear. If they are
experts, political activists, or decision makers in the innovation process, it is largely top-
down. If those who are in the process are people of the community, it is bottom-up.
He prefers to define collaborative organizations, which are a must for social innovation, by
two symmetrical sociocultural trajectories: one is “rediscovery of collaboration” in both
mature modern societies and recently modernized ones.” and the other one is “social
leapfrogging”, which means -per him- a direct jump from a traditional community to a new
form of collaborative organization. It is observable by “emerging” (new developing)
countries. The traditional social forms turn/move to new forms which is called social
leapfrogging such as China, Brazil, or Africa.

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Collaborative association is a group of people who work together to create a solution (co-
producers) to a problem like transforming an abandoned plot to a shared neighborhood
garden and they hang out in that garden. And he says a collaborative organisation is a living
form and needs an enabling ecosystem and a supportive environment to become
successful. Manzini, who put the collaboration into an important role, gives another
definition for collaboration from Richard Sennett’s book Together: The Rituals, Pleasures,
and Politics of Cooperation. According to Richard Sennett, collaboration occurs when people
encounter and exchange something in order to get a benefit, in other words, they create a
shared value. By the encounters, active involvement and collaborative involvement come up.
He mentions Lao Tzu’s wisdom word “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a
man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

It means giving people long-lasting well-being capability makes them deal with problems
and they become a part of the solution -active involvement. However, in today’s world
solely the capability is not enough. Modern world’s problems require more professional
equipment -in the meaning of knowledge and medium which comes through active
involvement.

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Somehow, this reminds me of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times movie. The main character
Little Trump was battling with the technological/modern machinery stuff. Unlike making
people active, in the movie, the machines were making them more passive, even they were
getting meal.

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Sennett assumes human beings as social animals and adds, ““mutual support is built into
the genes of all social animals; they cooperate to accomplish what they can’t do alone.” when
he is talking about collaboration and he observes that “modern society is de-skilling people
in practicing cooperation.” And it is necessary to be at one with others for collaboration
but this limits everyday personal freedom. For instance, community gardens… People
agree on to create a garden and they collaborate by their skills and knowledge, on the
other hand, to take care of the garden they have to take some responsibilities and spend
time and effort to keep the garden alive and clean. Briefly, if you want to get involve the
community, you have to accept the rules and make self- sacrifice.

However, there are risks on collaboration. Sometimes people identify themselves by their
ethnicity, religion, or the group that they belong to -such as gangs, mafia, etc. which may
cause losing collaborative skills -closed organizations.

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In this collaborative world, relationships and social ties are inevitable. Granovetter
categorize these social ties into three: strong, weak, and absent. To built a strong tie takes a
long while, but weak ones are built in a snap.

Since this is a collaboration, it requires relationships and empathy. “All actual life is
encounter” says Buber and he categorizes this encounter in two forms: I- Thou and I- It
relationships. We are human beings and we are all in interactions with others which is
kind of risky, and relational encounters and experiential encounters come up b these
interactions. Buber says wisely, this polarity represents the contrast between “thou” (good
one) and “it” (bad one).

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Participant Involvement shows multiple ways that users might be involved to achieve a
goal/result.

Participant Map: PM
A: Low involvement of both
B: Low involvement of users
C: Intense involvement in practical activities to carry out with collaboration with others
D: Intense involvement in practical activities to carry out individually

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Interaction Quality Map: IQ
A: Low relational intensity and weak ties.
B: High relational intensity and weak ties.
C: High relational intensity and strong ties.
D: Low relational intensity and strong ties.

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Let’s have a look to Park Slope Food Coop as an example.

Established in 1973, it is a member-owned and operated food store. Members work
together in the frame of trust and responsibility -cooperation and teamwork. They must
work 13 times in a year. Each time takes 2 hours and 45 minutes once every four weeks. As
we see in this example, it requires collaboration, relationships, interactions and brings
some responsibilities. Otherwise, it couldn’t have been here for 43 years.

Participant Map for Park Slope Food Coop

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Interaction Quality Map for Park Slope Food Coop

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Rearranging the numeric data, reinterpreting the qualitative information, locating the
information that they got geographically, and building visual taxonomies they
(DensityDesign- Design Department of the Politecnico di Milano) visualize and unveil the
connections in a complex system. This is sort of making what they got as information/data
tangible.
A great example of it (making tangible by mapping and place making) is Green Map
System which has started in 1995, in NYC and spread to 885 cities, towns, and villages in
65 countries. It is said “Its general aim is “to connect the booming ‘go local,’ green
development and ecotourism movements, empowering widespread participation in critical
local environment, climate and equity issues worldwide.” this is a hopeful project for our one
and only Earth. While the network improved, in 2009 the Open Green Map was launched
and it is used in 40 countries now. Also, there is another way, called amplifying which
highlights less known cases and make them effective and more capable of sparking social
conversation. Amplifying draws attention to those less known projects which is a useful
way to run them.

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I really like and find really helpful to collaborate with others: storytelling method. We can
empathize with the characters and understand the situation clearly than it is presented in
any other way.I want to use directly what Manzini said about it:
“A specific structure of narrative with a specific style and set of characters and which includes
a sense of completeness. Through this sharing of experience, we use stories to pass on
accumulated wisdom, beliefs, and values.”
It is not just written information that has been transmitting to next generations. People
were communicating before the invention of writing and conveying the knowledge to
novice ones, so storytelling is old as humanity. There is a digital storytelling method which
is common and provides to restructure and reidentify the ideas by short videos based on
life stories. These methods make the solutions more understandable and attractive than
other ways.
These stories might be a mix of reality and imagination which is called hybrid realities.
To build a collaboration people should have some common standpoints and scenario
building is an effective method to make it happen. In this context, it means a communicative
artifact produced to further the social conversation about what to do to provide an
effective co-design process. Speaking of social conversation let’s have a look to Visual Tools
for Social Conversation. Manzini categorizes them in three: conversation subjects (seminars,
workshops, etc), conversation prompts (communication artifacts), and experience enablers
(prototypes, small-scale experiments, or even full-scale pilot projects).

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Examples for each:

Conversation Subjects

Design activism touch points: Teasing urban interventions
City Eco Lab, Saint-Étienne, 2008

Six families live in Saint-Étienne. It visualizes short food networks, slow mobility,
consuming water, and energy sparingly. The result is like images were like little “photo
novels”.

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Conversation Subjects

Alternative visualizations: Solution cards
VAP Urban Hitchhiking, Brussels, 2008

It is a simple hitchhiking club with a membership card that ensures recognition and
security between drivers and pedestrians.

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Experience Enablers

Concept solution prototyping: Quick experimentation
Creative communities for Sustainable Lifestyles, 2006-2010

It investigated social innovation in Brazil, China, India, and Africa. Workshops with design
schools, seminars with experts, a series of design exercises have been conducted with
students in Brazil, China, India. And Africa. They focused on some potential social
innovations and simulated to see how it could work for themselves.

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“An infrastructure, like railroad tracks or the Internet is not reinvented every time, but is
‘sunk into’ other sociomaterial structures.” says Manzini and he is absolutely right on it.
To make the design an open-ended long term process, it requires a sequence of design
initiatives. Because we are talking about a design on social innovation, I should make it
clear again that the main requirements are people and interactions between them. People
want to participate in collaborative organizations according to their willingness and
personal capabilities -personal capabilities might be cultivated or wasted, and giving a
chance to people to take part in collaborative organizations actively and reach the goal
needed some top-down actions, p2p, bottom-up initiatives.
It is known that collaborative organizations are constituted by human beings, so they are
living entities and all those interactions, communications, and design activities to solve a
problem/ reach a goal happen in these organizations. There are some characteristic
features that make these environments favourable or not: tolerance, ability to accept the
“new”; openness, different people meet and exchange experiences and knowledge, new and
creative ideas are welcome; learning capacity, design capability and ability to collaborate
according to context characteristics.
Collaborative organizations face to some problems, of course. Nothing is purely clean. They
are looking for answers to “How can the first be reduced and the second increased? How can
this organization become more effective for the people who are a part of it? How can it
become more attractive?” questions, so here, it comes...
As it was stated before, the goal is to solve a problem. People who have similar views,
values, and wishes, take a part in collaborative organizations to solve a problem. “If the
ideas are good, an innovative process starts from here and the prototypes evolve toward more
advanced ways of functioning.” told by Manzini. However, to have good ideas are not
enough for a prototype. Other requirements should be well-thought such as the cost,
involved people’s roles, and etc. during the design process. Also, it is the organization (the
rulers) who should provide a trust and a healthy relationship between participants.
Small, local, open, connected! Approximately 40 years ago, E.F. Schumacher wrote the book
called “Small is Beautiful” and today he is followed. The small was small, local was isolated,
but “today we can say that the small is no longer small and the local is no longer local, at

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least in traditional terms.” says Manzini. It was four decades ago and this is the era of
technology. Everything changes rapidly.
We all know that franchising is to get the permission by an agreement (usually paper-
based) to use a firm’s business model and brand for a period of time. But because social
franchising is a new term for me, I want to mention directly from the book: social
franchising is the application of the principles of commercial franchising to promote larger
social benefits. Manzini says “In practice, the franchisor offers others, who are autonomous
operators, a series of supports.”
Some part of these supports come through by connections: horizontal and vertical.
This environment turns to a social form by the interactions created by people and the
physical environment. They build the society all together and the collaboration happens/or
might happen in this society.
Finally, I should say focusing not only on problems but also on favorable circumstances,
such as the natural, cultural, economic, and social resources available; observing and
connecting interested stakeholders and social innovators (Manzini, 2014) are main points
of a social innovation.
As a conclusion, I’d like to say it is an effective book with many clear real-life examples for
every detailed stage of design of a social innovation. On the other hand, some people might
think that this is redundant.
The physical design of the book, for me, as a visual learner, I’d like to see more colorful
examples to provide more effective learning. Briefly, it’s worth to read and make you gain a
different perspective to the social innovation. It doesn’t happen in one day and with a
person.