Designing social enterprise

Among the reading list for social enterprises, green companies and non-profit organizations there is a growing number of design books offering advice on these topics. Look at the websites of large (and some small) creative agencies such and you will see details of green projects. Read the best design blogs and you will discover stories of social enterprise. It seems that the design world is seriously moving in on social enterprise. And this is a good thing.

'What does the world of design have to do with social enterprise?' you may ask. A profession that puts the visual at the heart of its practice surely cannot guide organizations doing work on topics that are tough, dirty and sometimes downright ugly? However, looking closer, it makes a lot of sense. There are many parallels between design practitioners and social entrepreneurs. Designers are creative and lateral thinkers. They are presented with tasks which they must solve using these skills. Social entrepreneurs are also creative thinkers who see opportunity where others may not and seek solutions through unorthodox methods. Designers must understand the needs and the desires of the people that they are designing for. Similarly for social entrepreneurship to work a large degree of empathy and understanding is required to ensure the enterprise benefits those for whom it sets out to help. A large part of a designer's brief will be to ensure that their product or campaign equates to financial success. For a social enterprise to succeed it must be able to sustain itself economically.

One creative agency that is making big strides forward in its contribution to social enterprise is IDEO. This global design consultancy has an enviable client list which includes Apple, Nokia and Toyota, to name but a fraction. It is ranked among the ten most innovative companies in the world and is credited with some of the most successful contributions to design thinking. Last year IDEO released their Human Centred Design Toolkit. It was funded by IDE as part of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. IDEO developed it in collaboration with non-profit groups ICRW and Heifer International. This guide draws from the processes used and by IDEO when approaching their own projects. Human-Centred Design is a process which has been used for many years now with great success. What IDEO have created is a guide, specially adapted for use by NGOs and social enterprises.

The toolkit is not a 'Here's what to do' instruction manual, rather a tried and tested methodology. What IDEO have always done very well is pick apart challenges so as to find the areas of possibility and create spaces for lateral thinking and innovation. They create clear steps to help realign thinking. Messy and unpromising product or system challenges are broken down into bitesized chunks. Then worked through systematically. With IDEO's Human Centred Design Toolkit they provide a methodical approach that takes the user through simple steps. This way NGOs and social enterprises can have a system by which to break down complex challenges. The toolkit is available as a free downloadable pdf.

Design and social enterprise do make good bedfellows. However, this is not to suggest that designers have all the answers. What I have previously talked about is the high level of creative thinking from social entrepreneurs and their enviable ability to see potential where others may not. The trend that I am seeing is that creative professionals are drawing inspiration from the world of social enterprise. For the creative industry this means that more designers are delving into the world of the social enterprise making design more sustainable and responsible. For social enterprises this means they can tap the thinking and methodology of the design world improving on the success of creative solutions and new ideas. Of course collaboration between the two is the best answer. It would seem certainly that the design world is moving in towards this conclusion.

Photo credit: Marc Fonteijn