Equipping students with a systemic design lens

After acquiring the interpretive vision of Josina Vink and the models she proposed to analyze and shape social structures to realize long-term change, and then, after gaining the ‘systemic nature’ of the circular economy with Erwan Mouazan, it’s time to dig deeply into the Systemic Design. Sine Celik, one of the directors of the Systemic Design Lab and the coordinator of the Systemic Design Master’s course at TU Delft, is here for the occasion.

As we have already mentioned, service designers are increasingly involved in design initiatives that contribute to tackling complex societal challenges, related to domains such as health and wellbeing, safety, and inequality. We will light on this topic during this last lecture, with the ultimate purpose of creating positive impacts, in the meshes of the systemic net, and spreading valuable influence on communities and societies.

Thanks to the contribution of this module, students are getting familiar with how to apply their skills to complex societal challenges by combining the distinctive strengths of designers’ skills and building on them. Thanks to the hands-on approach that the Specializing Master in Service Design promotes, students are studying, through practical experimentation, principles and practices from systems thinking, complexity, and designing for change. In particular, they are participating in various activities to explore what it means to perceive the world systemically, while they are learning about the theoretical background of the practices and principles they are using.

Thus, together we will reflect on the role of service designers who aim to contribute to making our complex world a better place!