Coupling design education and public policy

As design extends its reach across industry there is more of a need than ever before for entrants to the field to hone in on specific areas of expertise or “genres” within the profession. We view our role as a school to determine which of those genres ought to be extended. Given the ever increasing array of global, complex challenges to solve, social innovation is high on the list of priorities.

The Institute of Design has long been involved in projects and research that fall under the “social innovation” camp with work ranging from that funded by the Gates and MacArthur Foundations to support digital learning amongst under-resourced public school students to designing new protocols for social service agencies. In 2001, creator of structured planning for complex systems design, Charles Owen, led a team of design students collaborating with Kent Law in a project to reduce procedural barriers to access for self-represented litigants.

More recently, in Detroit we have partnered with Recovery Park, an organization that aims to employ the formerly incarcerated and utilize abandoned land while establishing a sustainable agricultural industry for the city. In Chicago partners include the City, the Chicago Loop Alliance, Ceasefire, Department of Cultural Affairs and over a dozen large healthcare organizations contending with chronic, systemic issues like asthma. In 2014, students developed the BarnRaise event in order to collectively devote two and a half days per year to a local community problem in partnership with non-profits. The model has since spread to cities like New York, San Francisco, and Edmonton, Canada. Graduates of our program have started consultancies devoted to non-profit and social good.

Governments recognize the potential of design to inform new policy. Design methods guru and ID faculty member Vijay Kumar sits on the International Advisory Board of the Muhammad Bin Rashid Center for Government Innovation. The UAE Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Cabinet Affairs established the committee to promote its position on the global map of government innovation.

There has been a clear uptick in the coupling of design with social innovation. Ala IDEO.org, most major design firms have an arm devoted to this type of work, or at least a policy freeing employee time for pro bono work. Leadership of many of top firms have departed from for-profit consulting work to devote themselves to work in emerging markets emphasizing social impact.

But have we been overly optimistic about design’s ability to “make a difference”? How many of the solutions designers conceive actually end up being implemented? Of those that are put into action, would they be objectively categorized as major game changers or merely incremental?

The Institute of Design has been grappling with the question of how we can prepare our graduates to be truly effective in the social good realm. Our Strategy Tour research expedition to Detroit uncovered several previously uncategorized models of social innovation that suggest diverse ways to structure such organizations.

Veterans of this space suggest that deep industry knowledge and immersion into government agencies and non-profits are necessary conditions of successfully implementing real change within The System. Co-founder of Greater Good, Sara Aye, says, “human-centered design is a powerful toolkit for addressing not only business problems, but social problems. If you’re a designer looking to make a meaningful difference in our world, it’s critical to start with a deep understanding of the social sector.”

We are now formalizing a certificate option for students who wish to develop deeper expertise in social innovation through the pursuit of certificates like Non-Profit and Mission-Driven Management, Economic Development and Social Entrepreneurship, and Public Management. Students who obtain these certificates will gain cross-disciplinary knowledge of how public policy and philanthropy work, or how non-profits are structured, financed, and measured for success.

Shanti Mathew, ID’s first recipient of the Public Management certificate, recognizes that “if I’m going to be embedded in a sector or field as complex as government agency or services there’s a lot I need to learn [about government, comparative political administrative systems, how government agencies are structured, how programs are evaluated].”

This exposure will help her advocate more effectively for design and give her credibility to “talk about it in a way that adds value and that can build a bridge. That’s the kind of collaborative relationship we are looking for in this new world economy.”

In establishing the certificate model, Academic Dean Matt Mayfield notes that it reflects our commitment to a “non-insular”, multi-disciplinary approach, whereby designers have more potential impact by intersecting with cohorts in other industries. “We pride ourselves on engaging other fields to shed light on challenges, regularly seeking out partners who can help us create the most robust view of a problem space.”

Sylvia Cheng, pursuing the Economic Development and Entrepreneurship certificate this year, echoes these sentiments. The certificate is a way of “differentiating myself by getting educated in subjects I’m not as well-versed in, where design thinking has an important emerging role.”

Rather than bringing in adjuncts to teach these classes, we are leveraging talents and assets across the university and giving our students an opportunity to share their point of view outside of the ID bubble. The classes required to obtain public policy certificates are taught by the Stuart School of Business.

The need for designers to dive deeply into the inner workings of adjacent fields where they have the potential to be impactful is not limited to the social innovation sphere. Mayfield has established a partnership the IIT’s School of Applied Technology to offer certificates in Web Design and Application Development and IT Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. These are particularly interesting given the strong demand for design professionals in computer related fields.

We are invigorated by this move to elevate our students’ toolkits and extend the professional value they can deliver.

Listen to full podcast with Shanti about her pursuit of design in public management here: