Design as "transformative" in a governmental and social context - a marriage of convenience or a mutually exclusive relationship?

Abstract

This research has grown out of very broad initial questions on what kind of role design shall occupy in the future and how it is increasingly gaining ground as “transformative power” in many different contexts. The role of design as transformative here focuses on it’s ability to shape the conditions, behaviour, interaction and fundamentally alter how we view upon the society we live in. The study observes that in this capacity, design has become of special interest to the governments as well, as they seek ways to deal with the complex issues todays’ society and economy throws at them. Design in a governmental and social context has often occupied a role of an alternative approach, one that seeks to challenge us to think differently about these issues and often in such role design as transformative has become interpreted as one of the key drivers for innovation, whether it be social or economic. Yet, the question arises what exactly makes design so apt for taking on such a role? Does design fit the hierarchical and archaic structures and procedures of the governance, and how is their perception of design shaped by the discourses on design and its future role. This research aims to explore these questions by looking at the discourses on design rising from the UK Design Council and in particular from the RED unit, which worked on various “transformation design” projects within the organization in 2004-2006. As design has become evermore fragmented and increasingly blended in other disciplines, this research aims to find out what kind of relevance it is given in the UK and what kind of role the Design Council plays as the “middle-man” or a mediator between the governmental institutions and ideals they embody and the more “new” ideas of design as capable of transforming whole systems, but mind-sets. Despite the interest in what design can enable in this context, particularly the potential of service design, it is noteworthy that it is an area that has been quite scarcely explored until now. The concept of “transformation design” itself does not seemed to have expanded much beyond it’s original birth place and most claims for integrating design into governance, policy making or dealing with social issues on local level, tend appear quite optimistic and simplified. Thus, another question this research aims to put forward is what type of challenges there are in these attempts of trying to reconcile more rigid and rationally bound modes of thought that traditionally characterize the modern states and the more subjective, intuitive and creative practices of design? The attempt here is to map out these supposed polarizations and how they are dealt with in the discourses on design as transformative in governmental and social context.