Applied Design Research: The Societal Impact

Applied design researchers are at the forefront of initiating and executing projects to catalyze societal change. But how exactly do they accomplish this? What are the various ways in which design research can contribute to societal transitions? How do these researchers bridge different system levels through their projects? How do they formulate research questions and deliver outputs that leave a lasting impact on society? How do design researchers navigate the delicate balance of incorporating different worldviews into their projects, while also considering their own perspectives? This book provides insightful answers to these questions, drawing on the expertise and experiences of established design researchers in the field. Applied Design Research: The Societal Impact discusses the transformative power of design research in driving societal change. This publication offers valuable insights into addressing pressing global issues such as the circular economy, healthcare challenges, and sustainability. The book explores the multifaceted role of design in influencing various levels of systems, including materials, products, services, and socio-technical ecosystems. Examining the underlying theories of change illuminates how design interventions can spark significant ripple effects within broader societal change processes. Through a collection of practical examples and case studies, this book showcases how applied design research can yield tangible and enduring societal impact. The book's Open Access format ensures widespread dissemination of knowledge, making it accessible to a diverse audience of designers, researchers, and policymakers worldwide. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Sweet Spots and Orchestrations: Examining the Societal Impact of Applied Design Research. Part 1: Theory of Change. 2. Framing the impact of Applied Design Research as Enhancing Practice Communities’ Solution Repertoire. Is it helpful? 3. The Impact of Technology Maturity on Determining Urgent Research Questions. 4. Co-Designing Potential Boundary Objects to Open Patient Perspectives and Redressing Power Imbalances in Mental Healthcare Design Studies. 5. No, I Don’t Know Either - New Rituals for Collective Learning: The Design Process as a Temporary Boundary World. 6. Impact by Toolkits as Generative Knowledge Carriers in Healthcare. Part 2: Connecting System Levels. 7. Leverage Points Revisited: How Social Designers (Can) Apply Systemic Knowledge to Make Impact. 8. Harnessing Retail Staff as Sustainable Fashion Influencers: A Pathway to Systemic Societal Impact Through Applied Design. 9. Unravelling Lifeworlds: Farmers and Consumers of Black Pepper. 10. My Life as a Living Lab Coordinator. Part 3: Balancing Worldviews. 11. Research Culture Clash in Behaviour Change Design: Three Dilemmas for Behaviour Change. 12. Harmonizing Worldviews: The Transformative Powers of Artistic Research within Design Education. 13. Navigating Inclusion and Ethical Challenges in Co-Creation. 14. Matching and mismatching worldviews entangled in art – applied design research in “hip-hop dance” towards impact. 15. The Use of a Research Paradigm Workshop for Embracing Different Worldviews in Practice-Based Research. Part 4: Beyond Solutionism, design without end. 16. Design in the Real World: Facilitating Collective Learning Through Design. 17. An Acupuncture Approach for Societal Change: Reflections on the Make-Ability of Society. 18. Design is Not the Answer! Reflective Practices and the Social Field: A Case Study in Amsterdam Gaasperdam. 19. Crafting Conflict: Designing Meaningful Interactions in a Smooth Society. 20. “You Press the Button, We Do the Rest” – How to Cede Agency to the More-Than-Human? 21. Epilogue: Embracing Design as a Collective Learning Journey.

About the Author :
Dr. Koen van Turnhout is a professor of Human Experience and Media Design at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The research group focuses on User Experience (UX) professionals. Koen did his doctorate research at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, with interdisciplinary design research into speech interaction in a social context. His current research is aimed at the methodology of design (research) and the designing of data-driven smart products and services. Koen is the chairman of the Design Science Research Group, a community of practice for design-focused research, and of CHI Netherland, the professional association for human-computer interaction professionals. Dr. ir. Peter Joore, professor of Open Innovation at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences in Leeuwarden, Netherlands focuses specifically on design processes in which different types of actors, across sectoral boundaries, work together to solve complex societal issues in a living lab environment. They were trained as an industrial designer at TU Delft, the Netherlands, where they also obtained their Ph.D. After graduation, they worked as a designer at several companies before joining the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), after which they transitioned to higher education in their current role. Their expertise in facilitating collaborative innovation across traditional boundaries makes them particularly valuable for projects requiring multi-disciplinary approaches to innovation and problem-solving in real-world contexts. Dr. ir. Remko van der Lugt is a professor of Co-Design at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Netherlands. His research focuses on involving users in collaborative creative design activities, enabling them to participate as experts in their experiences. He has a particular interest in systemic design, combining systemic work and design thinking to deal with complex challenges in unique ways. He received his Ph.D. degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and his Master’s degree in Naval Architecture from the same university. He received a Master’s Certificate in Creative Studies from the Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College, State University of New York. Dr. ir. Liliya Terzieva is a professor of Designing Value Networks at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. She holds a Ph.D. in the field of Economic and Organizational sciences of Leisure, Hospitality, and Tourism. Her work focuses on entrepreneurial learning, value creation, leadership, innovative education and learning, development and quality assurance in tourism and leisure, entrepreneurship, strategic design, imagining, institutional capacity building, and organizational development. She is a member of the editorial board of various journals and a partner and member of the Worldwide Association of Female Professionals and works as an external evaluator and co-creator of projects funded by the EU. Dr. Troy Nachtigall is a designer, design researcher, professor of Fashion Research and Technology with AMFI at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), both in the Netherlands. Troy studied industrial design at TU/e, completing a master’s and Ph.D. as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow, following a career in fashion design in NYC and Florence, Italy. This combination of practice and academia provides a strong foundation for first-person research through design in computational design and product-service ecosystems and post-industrial personalization using living labs to open new frontiers for Fashion and Design.