1. Please introduce yourself, your role in the DRS and your research.
Mauricio Mejía: I am a Professor of Design at Arizona State University. My work is about strategic design and intentional change, with a specific interest in service design, co-design, and design futures.
Luca Simeone: I am an Associate Professor at Aalborg University, and I have conducted research exploring the managerial, strategic, and organizational aspects of design.
Sabine Junginger: I am a Full Professor of Design and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at Northumbria University with a focus on human-centered design. Design and change are inseparable for me as nobody can design anything without changing something.
2. Could you please give an introduction to your SIG, any recent events/outcomes and any upcoming events you’d like to share?
The Designing Change Special Interest Group brings together a plurality of researchers and practitioners interested in understanding how design fosters change - for example, individual behavior change, organizational change, or societal change. Members engage in the study of change theories and the analysis of approaches that support designers to be intentional and strategic about desired changes.
Historically, the SIG Designing Change had focused on Behavioral Change. We see a need and an opportunity to broaden the scope to fill a gap in design research both on a theoretical and practical level. This way, we can account for design’s role in systemic changes on different scales.
Our recent conversation session at the DRS Boston was successful in framing the scope and agenda of the SIG’s new direction. Our conversation connected international researchers, educators, and practitioners who want to contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between design and change. We were joined by Professor Jeanne Liedka, who presented us with a provocative theory that inspired a lively discussion on the value and relevance of a design-specific change theory. The insights and concepts that emerged will now form the foundation for Designing Change SIG’s new direction. Moving forward, we are planning several activities with our SIG members and those who want to join. These include:
- An online meeting to expand the DRS conversation this fall. We invite members and other interested researchers to present different positions and to engage in a discussion to reflect, assess, and expand on them.
- A viewpoint article by the co-convenors in collaboration with Jeanne Liedkta where we aim to conceptualize current designing change practices across different academic fields (especially management and organization studies but also innovation and policy).
- Several topical keynotes at the international conference What’s Around Design? in October in Portimão, Portugal, by the SIG co-convenors. This will provide an opportunity to discuss designing change in the context of environmental challenges.
- A manuscript for an edited book with contributions from select SIG members. We are in conversations with a publisher conceptualizing the direction of this book.
3. What are some of the benefits of being involved in the DRS through a SIG? How can those who are interested in becoming part of your SIG learn more?
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) allow researchers, educators, and practitioners to dive deeply into a topic of shared interest. It is not unusual for someone to be a member of more than one SIG as there are always some overlaps. Designing Change offers designers addressing increasingly complex challenges a space where they can share, reflect, assess and develop theories and practices to inform their own thinking and doing. If change is a core intention and consequence of design, we can expect design research to engage in a central debate of what works, what does not, what is design-specific, what is not, etc. Our members strive for a critical and respectful engagement with the topic through communication. After all, communication is the context for change (Barnlund).
Anyone who wants to learn more and join our SIG, please email one of us: (Mauricio Mejía mauricio.mejia@asu.edu, Luca Simeone lsi@create.aau.dk, or Sabine Junginger sabine.junginger@northumbria.ac.uk). In the meantime, feel free to join the DRS discussion online here: https://www.designresearchsociety.org/groups/behaviour-change-sig
4. Suggested papers from the DRS library.
Hammond, C., Yee, J., Junginger, S., Brooks, S., Saylor, J., and Michlewski, K. (2018) Editorial: How Organisations Employ Design as Vehicle for Change, in Storni, C., Leahy, K., McMahon, M., Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Design as a catalyst for change - DRS International Conference 2018, 25-28 June, Limerick, Ireland. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2018.78
Irwin, T. (2018) The Emerging Transition Design Approach, in Storni, C., Leahy, K., McMahon, M., Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Design as a catalyst for change - DRS International Conference 2018, 25-28 June, Limerick, Ireland. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2018.210
Mandhre, R. A., Mejía, G. M., Zheng, W., Jung, K., and Wu, X. (2024) Visioning and managing change: analyzing strategic designers' approaches in salient podcast episodes, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1106
Mortati, M., Bresciani, S., Kim, E.,and Junginger, S.(2023) Changing organizations and policies: Equipping design for systemic transformation, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.890
Mejía, G. M. (2024) Strategic Design Futures: Exploring strategy and futures to learn and practice design for intentional change, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.675
Niedderer, K., Ludden, G., Desai, S., and Hermsen, S. (2022) Design for Behaviour Change: Taking the Long View Fast, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.1075
Wang, G., and Zhu, H. (2024) Co-design towards positive change, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.153
Zohar, H., Simeone, L., Morelli, N., and de Götzen, A. (2024) Fostering Pluriversal Perspectives in Theory of Change: A Case of an Urban Regeneration Project, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.287