• 089899 - USER AND SOCIAL INNOVATION

User and social innovation
by Francesco Morace & Future Concept Lab

Course objectives
At work, in the streets, at home, in their leisure time, people of all ages and with different cultural backgrounds, seem willing to be involved, even through small actions, thus becoming producers of change. This type of empowerment marks the birth of new forms of active interaction with both final products and design process, reshaping the outline and boundaries of the design field, questioning the role not only of designers but also of decision makers. After the phase of product personalization and experimentation, the new challenge in different business sectors is the direct interaction of people in the creative process.
The course will propose:
▪ A new awareness amongst designers, coming up against people as producers of change
▪ A systematic reading of social change by material culture observation
▪ Tools and methods that allow students the on-going monitoring of people behaviours and expressions in order to anticipate social change.

_Creativity
_Human centered design and behaviour analysis
_ The new consumer comunication process
_User innovation
_Social innovation

Format and Procedures
The course is divided among lectures, group learning projects and case study analysis and student presentations. A set of readings accompanies many of the topics. Guests will be invited.

Our Assumptions
The success of a class depends on both the teacher and the learners accepting and fulfilling respective responsibilities. In that regard, I expect you to come to class having completed the assignments and prepared to participate in discussions.

Tentative Course Schedule [based on a graduate level course that meets once a week for four hours]:
May change to accommodate guest presenters & student needs.

Lesson 1
Content presentation and introduction of creativity as the base for innovation.
Content presentation and introduction of 4 Paradigms of Social Innovation and change
Lesson 2
The Interplay between Creativity Issues and Design Theories.
Creativity and the individual. (Motivation, Intellectual Abilities, Values, Personality).
Lesson 3
Intercultural dimensions and cultural differences in creativite and innovation processes
Lesson 4
User’s innovation and different research methods to understand (listen to), involve (ask) and co-create (build) with him/her. From market research to participatory research and research for Design
Lesson 5

User Innovation: the importance of product/service creation by users. The open Innovation Area.

Lesson 6
Future Vision Workshop 1

Lesson 7
Collective creativity: the wisdom of Consumer crowds. The working consumer
Lesson 8
Social Innovation: what it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated.
Lesson 9
The importance of Societing, and the relationship of global and local.
Launch of Social Innovation Factor Project Coolhunting brief.
Lesson 10
Presentation of the Consum-Authors, and a specific focus on consumer profile and groups of people. The producers of new behaviours acquire great importance, that depending on age and country, can become drivers in the global economy and intergenerational society.
Lesson 11
The International network of correspondents and the coolhunting as an alternative research activity for the identification of emerging daily life actions that represent innovation for Consum-authors.
Lesson 12
Presentation regarding the Social Innovation Factor Project trends identified by the students through interviews and filed research.
Lesson 13
The 4P tool for scenario development (people, places, plans and projects).
Lesson 14
How to use the 4P tool for developing project scenarios in order to create coherent design scenarios.
Lesson 15
Future Vision Workshop 2

Final Exam week

The exam consists in:
- 2 project works

- a written exam with 2 open ended questions