Filed under: made me think, service design | Tags: mental well being, mindapples, project, social design
I have spent this afternoon exploring a fantastic project called Mindapples.
“Mindapples is a social movement to promote individual self-management of mental wellbeing. The original “5-a-day” campaign encouraged people to take care of their physical health through simple daily activities, and we want to do the same thing for mental health. We aim to create a stigma-free public debate about mental wellbeing, simply by asking everybody the question: “What’s your five-a-day?”
There is something so real and genuine about this initiative. The team are using the web to draw together a community of knowledge about what works for ordinary people.
It is a question everyone can answer and an issue I believe is close to the hearts of many. I would love to get involved and contribute to the success of this project!
Visit the website to learn more and share your five a day. Here are mine;
- Twice a day, I look up at the sky for a few moments.
- I dance when no-one is watching every day.
- I say hello and smile to a stranger in the street every day.
- I laugh out loud everyday.
- I say/type/write or think the words I love you everyday.
Via Spark
Filed under: service design | Tags: amsterdam, service design network, conference, engine, birgit mager
I have spent the last few days at Europe’s first conference dedicated to Service Design. I was also lucky enough to see beautiful Amsterdam in the snow..
In the 168people crowd there were many familiar faces; it was nice to finally put faces to names I have gotten to know. The presentations were all good, some were excellent… Oliver King, co-founder of Engine, most definitely stood out from the crowd.
I left inspired although I have to say I didn’t learn anything new; this was a missed opportunity for show casing and bench marking. I was hoping to learn about successful Service Design projects from the business world, the private and public sector.
I would have liked to learn more from Shelley Evenson from Carnegie Mellon University who discussed Service Innovation within Health Care. She described design as a ‘catalyst for change’, reinforcing the importance that designers adopt a ‘fearlessness of really listening’.
I believe our job now is to develop new ways of communicating Service Design to the public. We need to spend less time talking to ourselves and each other. There is still too many fruitless conversations spent defining disciplines and labeling people; it doesn’t matter how we define it. It is how we do it that counts!
This will require painting the bigger picture; conveying the strong connection to business, strategy and the importance of diving into the customers world.
For me, the last few days proved that the demand for Service Design is growing. It definitely is an emerging field and more people are curious… I hope to stay in touch with the interesting people I met. As Birgit Mager concluded “We need to spread the word. Let’s get started and do it, getting better and better everyday.”
My plan now is to get out into the world and do just that.
Filed under: amsterdam adventure, service design | Tags: amsterdam, service design network, service design conference
I am off to Amsterdam this morning for the Service Design Conference! Really looking forward to being back in the wonderful city and meeting DesignThinkers again! Be back in a few days with photos and news :)
Filed under: service design | Tags: engine, service design, social innovation lab
“Kent County Council and Engine Service Design have been supporting teams of innovators across the county in using new tools and techniques to deliver better services. Local Government Channel explores the difference these innovations are making.”
Engine are opening the minds of ordinary citizens, creating opportunities for learning through doing.
Filed under: made me think, service design | Tags: design thinking, paul hughes, sketching
“Design Thinking can be understood as a series of overlapping and interconnected principles that revolve around a unified concept of holistic thought and action.”
A fascinating collection of sketches and insights on design thinking from Paul Hughes.
Filed under: service design | Tags: teamwork, the real work experience, thinkpublic, workshop
Yesterday I spent the day at Glasgow School of Art. I met lots of new interesting people and was in the midst of the exciting second stage of the Real Work Experience.
Our team was made up of product designers, industrial designers, PhD students, undergraduates and post graduates.
The day consisted of brainstorming, debate and discussion. We asked ourselves questions such as
What currently exists for design students and graduates who are looking to work outside traditional design roles? Where could social design have an impact?
Scenario building and prototyping led to our group building the framework for a brilliant idea! At the heart of the discussion was the passionate belief in collaboration.
Our ideas were focused on filling the evident gap in design education; providing students with varying levels of genuine experience. The main focus of our idea was providing a support network.
Raising the profile of the design industry was a top priority enabling consistent involvement with communities; members of the public as well as designers.
I quickly realised the importance of reworking the attitude of competitiveness and focusing on the value of the whole process.
You can see my photos from the day on Flickr. Check out the rest of the Real Work Experience catalogue here.
Hopefully, this workshop is the beginning of many new relationships and a platform of new opportunities. I am genuinely thrilled to be involved in a venture with so much potential!
Filed under: reading and writing, service design | Tags: public service design, the guardian
He wants the public sector to use the power of design to drive innovation. This article highlights that designers bring value through their ability to visualise and to produce new answers to difficult questions.
It is so exciting to see public service design being discussed in the media. I must agree with the author that putting the wow factor into public services is going to keep us busy for a long time! I believe recognition is the first step so we will get there…:)
Filed under: service design | Tags: design graduate, the real work experience, workshop
Here is a sneak preview of my day tomorrow. An extremely exciting video from Paul and Alice at Thinkpublic.
The Real Work Experience Workshop from thinkpublic on Vimeo.
I cannot wait to meet everyone! This is such a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with other disciplines to create a solution for a huge problem.
What do you want the Real Work Experience to be?….
Filed under: service design | Tags: design council, design week, engine, ideo, live work, public service design, what if
Designers are being sought to improve public services.
“The Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills has put forward an initial £200 000 to support the Design Council’s Public Services by Design scheme, with the goal of bringing a range of design skills to bear on the emergency services, prisons, healthcare, education and the workplace.
“I was very impressed about being in a room with policy-thinkers and designers all sharing a language and ambition. There was a lot of consensus from such a mixed group. The challenge is in shaping the culture of an organisation, not in redesigning the service, which is the easy bit.”
Joe Heapy, Director, Engine Service Design
All my favourite people are involved; Engine, What If, Ideo, Think Public and Live/Work.
What an exciting opportunity!!
Filed under: service design | Tags: global, innovation, local, project H, social design
Humanity, habitats, health and happiness.
“Project H Design is a charitable organization that supports, inspires, and delivers life-improving humanitarian product design solutions. We champion industrial design as a tool to address social issues, a vehicle for global life improvement, and a catalyst for individual and community empowerment.”
I was introduced to this fantastic project by Kate…
I am particularly interested in the innovative way this collaboration is set up and how it functions. The team is made up of ‘local chapters’.
“Project H chapters are local, city-based design “troops” working on projects in their own back yard, delivering pro bono design services to individuals, organizations, and groups in need.”
“The local-meets-global approach, supported by a committed group of volunteer designers, allows us to serve more broadly. We also become aware of new design opportunities and similarities between our own back yards and far off places. We believe chapters can deliver design that can bridges markets for wide scale implementation, beginning with our local communities.”
“Project H Design encourages the reorientation of the design industry towards a more socially-impactful and humanitarian entity through a variety of Initiatives that include design thinking, production and distribution, funding, design academics, and local chapter projects.”
I passionately share many of these beliefs..this project has really got me thinking! I will definitely be closely following Project H’s progress…I will also be exploring becoming a ‘local chapter’.
I have discovered a fantastic new blog Spark. This creation focusing on people, conversation and ideas, belongs to Sophia Parker; co-author of the public service design publication The Journey to the Interface.
Sophia was a key figure in research for my dissertation; An exploration into the evolving field of Service Design. I would really like to meet her one day…I look forward to reading her posts in the mean time :)
We are getting together Wednesday of this week..the more the merrier :) Learn more on our blog.
Filed under: design studies, reading and writing | Tags: collaboration, design studies, ideo, the guardian
The Guardian team up with IDEO to tell us why now is the time for innovative thinking and innovation. They have also revamped their website.
This collaboration is an invaluable source for the first year Design Studies students! The students are writing an article exploring the role of design and critical thinking in repsonse to what is happening in the news (focusing on the Guardian on particular).
Filed under: service design | Tags: ben reason, design thinking, healthcare, livework, NHS, service design, service thinking
In this Autumn’s edition of In View, a founder of live|work Ben Reason talks about the importance of Service Thinking for innovation in healthcare. The report focuses on patient-centered innovation.
The term ‘Service Thinking’ is described as a new way of thinking about services that starts with the individual not the organisation. A perspective that changes the way we look at the world.
“We need to support people to lead healthy lives, stay out of hospital and feel good. That requires a shift from traditional product thinking – treat the patient when they become ill; to service thinking – support the patient’s health and wellbeing.”
I am eager to read more on this phrase ‘Service Thinking’ . I am still unraveling ‘Design Thinking’…
