Everything we make has an intent, an output, and ultimately has consequences on how others live. At different scales, therefore, the products and services we design affect individuals, communities and societies. In the past decade, we as designers have started becoming aware of this perspective, and we have tackled projects with the desire to tackle some of the wicked problems we see around, and to have a positive impact. Both commercial companies and non-profit organisations have realised how powerful this combination of design approaches and impact-driven projects can be. However, we are still building our toolkit, still failing often (sometimes in a painfully slow fashion, without realising it). We are still trying to understand how to be catalysts for social change when the scope for our work is confined by performance indicators that stop at 'profit growth for the quarter'. Starting from a series of case studies, the talk wants to collect some of the successful (and less so) stories of the past few years, and inspire a perspective to start talking about meaningful design and about the impact that innovative projects have - over time.

1. DESIGNERS
AS CATALYSTS
OF SOCIAL
CHANGE
FRANCO PAPESCHI
@BOBBYWATSON
#SOCIALIMPACT #DESIGNFORCHANGE

2. DESIGNERS
WILL NEVER BE
CATALYSTS
OF SOCIAL
CHANGE,
UNLESS...

7. 7
Palo
honeywell
FROG + JLR / DIGITAL UX / DEC. 9, 2014 / PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIALFROG + JLR / DIGITAL UX / DEC. 9, 2014 / PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL 7
/ DEC. 9, 2014 / PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL 7

8. BURKINA FASOSENEGAL
MALI
LIBERIA GHANA
KENYA
CAMBODIA
CHINA

15. http://gobackpacking.com/photo-absolut-petrol/

17. 17
LIMITED RESOURCES, HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
WHAT IF SOME OF THESE
COMPLEX ISSUES COULD BE
MITIGATED BY IMPROVING
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE
OF SYSTEMS, SERVICES &
SOLUTIONS?

18. 18
REALITY IS MESSY AND
UNPREDICTABLE.
LEARN TO LOVE AMBIGUITY
AND “NON-LINEAR PATHS
TO CHANGE”.
*MARIANA AMATULLO | DESIGNMATTERS

19. 19
CHALLENGES
INCLUDING
PEOPLE
GETTING LOST
IN COMPLEXITY
ADDING VALUE

20. 20
CHALLENGE #1: INCLUDING PEOPLE
SCALE, INTERCONNECTION
AND DEPTH OF PROBLEMS =
ALONE IS A NO NO

21. 21
FROM SUPERHERO
TO CATALYST

22. FROM SUPERHERO
TO CATALYST
22

23. 23
HUMILITY.
EMPATHY.
SHARED CULTURE.

24. 24
PARTICIPATORY
RESEARCH

25. 25
STORYTELLING

27. UNDERSTANDING
SOCIAL STRUCTURES

28. 28
ACTIVATE COMMUNITIES.

29. INSPIRE LOCAL
CHANGEMAKERS

30. 30
COLLECTIVE
ACTION
TOOLKIT

32. 32
ABSTRACTION AND JARGON
ADD BARRIERS TO ACTION
CHALLENGE #2: GETTING LOST IN COMPLEXITY

33. governance empowerment
capacity-building stakeholder Global south
civil society disadvantaged development
excluded beneficiaries impact field trip
donors change
baseline power analysis low overhead
microfinance ICT4D PPP (public-private
partnership) root cause sensitize scale-
up ownership pro-poor mHealth mEdu
mLife mAgri participatory decision-making
inclusive capabilities self-sustainability
33
DO YOU SPEAK NGO?

34. progressive disclosure emergent
hierarchy stakeholder call-to-action content
strategy awareness engagement
advocate click-through persona
archetype scenario
o.o.b.e.
blueprint insights concept strategy
design user user-centric trigger grid
module intent composition sketch
workaround studio quasi-ethnographic
storytelling MVP
customer development immersive
responsive flat white space 34
DO YOU SPEAK DESIGN?

35. 35
DESIGN THINKING & DOING,
TOGETHER.
IN-FIELD PROTOTYPING.

36. 36
A PROTOTYPE IS
WORTH 1000 REPORTS

37. TECHNOLOGY
PROBES

38. RADIO MARCHÉ

40. 40
THE POWER OF SHOWING THE
INVISIBLE FORCES THAT
HOLD COMPLEX SYSTEMS
TOGETHER.

41. 41

42. 42
ITERATE
THROUGH
SHARED
MENTAL
MODELS

43. FIELD TRAVEL FIELD OFFICE GENEVA
ACTIVIST POTENTIAL
HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATION
VICTIM / WITNESS
Journalists, NGOs,
Human Rights Organizations
SOCIAL & OPEN
MEDIA
INVESTIGATOR
interviews &
site visits
witnessing &
capturing
experiencing &
witnessing
analysis &
reporting
analysis &
reporting
ANALYST
UN CASE
DATABASE
EARLY WARNING
OFFICER
HUMAN RIGHTS WEBSITE
(PUBLISHED REPORTS)
Collecting
Accessing
Collecting
Collecting
Holding /
Accessing
Holding /
Accessing
Holding /
Accessing
Using
Using Using
Holding / Sharing Holding / Sharing
Sharing
Holding
Sharing
Sharing
SharingPRIVATEDIGITALINFORMATIONFLOWSPUBLICDIGITALINFORMATIONFLOWS
Sometimes even a pen and a block for
notes can attract attention and result
in security concerns.
Investigator
Field Office / Field
LOCATIONS
ARCHETYPE
Hi, my name is
Fabienne
KEY TASKS
Identifying human rights issues
Using information from different types of sources,
including the media and civil society
Gathering information on al-
leged human rights violations
Interviewing witnesses and others and visiting sites
Drafting reports
Analyzing and organizing gathered information
Ensuring advocacy with relevant
authorities
Following up cases with authorities at the local and
national levels
KEY NEEDS
Simplicity & Reliability
People with low technical background can use it in
barren environments
Mobility
solutions have to be portable, long lasting and energy
efficient
Confidentiality & Security
Both of the information and the identity of the victims
and sources
Communication
Storing/transferring data and information to col-
leagues
KEY TOOLS (TODAY)CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Pen, block, phone, GPS, Radio, laptop,
voice-recorder, video recorder, Lotus Notes,
database, satellite phone,
FOCUS
Providing first hand evidence for human rights violations
through interviews and site visits.
Between field office and incident locations.Trips vary in
length and distance,but can take several days.
MOBILITY
LOW HIGH
Confidentiality and security has to be ensured during
and after the collection of information.
NEED FOR SECURITY & CONFIDENTIALITY
INFORMATION LOAD
LOW HIGH
Besides information from interviews and site visits that
accumulates over time, they scan news and media
daily.
LOW HIGH
ICT ACCESS
Low bandwidth and sporadic access. No access in
the field.
LOW HIGH
UN + ICT | GENEVA 2013 MAY 29th & 30th
FIELD OFFICE
INVESTIGATOR
GETTING INFO ABOUT
INCIDENTS
TRAVELLING
TO LOCATION
INTERVIEWING
INFORMANTS
FIELD OFFICE
DOCUMENT &
ANALYSE
DRAFT & SEND
REPORTS
FIELD OFFICE
STAYING IN A
FIELD CAMP

44. 44

45. 45
PROJECTS ARE FOR OUTPUT,
NOT FOR OUTCOME
CHALLENGE #3: ADDING VALUE

46. 46
LONGITUDINAL
ENGAGEMENTS.

47. 47
GSMA MOBILE FOR DEVELOPMENT mAGRI
2 YEARS+
6 COUNTRIES
GHANA, MALAWI, SRI LANKA,
BANGLADESH, MYANMAR, PAKISTAN
mAGRICULTURE SERVICES
mAgri

48. 500 MILLION
UNDERSERVED
SMALLHOLDER
FARMERS
NO ACCESS TO
CRITICAL INFORMATION,
FINANCIAL SERVICES
AND MARKETS
THE OPPORTUNITY

52. 52
ADD VALUE.
DESIGN THE MISSING
COMPONENTS

53. VIRTUAL TUTOR &
TEACHER ASSISTANT
108K ACTIVE USERS /
MONTH

55. 55
MINIMUM INTERVENTION.
MAXIMUM OUTCOME

56. DESIGNERS
WILL NEVER BE
CATALYSTS
OF SOCIAL
CHANGE,
UNLESS...

57. DESIGNERS
WILL NEVER BE
CATALYSTS
OF SOCIAL
CHANGE,
UNLESS WE
CONSIDER
THESE
CHALLENGES...
how to include
people in the
design effort
how to reduce complexity
how to add value

58. DESIGNERS
WILL NEVER BE
CATALYSTS
OF SOCIAL
CHANGE,
UNLESS...
Use open research methods
Activate communities
Prototype your way to meaning
Mentor, review, follow, adapt
Create minimum impactful interventions

59. THANKS!
www.frogdesign.com/frogImpact
franco.papeschi@frogdesign.com
@bobbywatson