Designing Interventions to Address Complex Societal Issues (Design Research for Change)

This edited volume is about the application of design-led approaches for developing interventions that have the intention of addressing real-world issues and problems.

The book documents the realities of developing and designing interventions for real people, in a real-world context. The topics covered in the book are multi-disciplinary, and include examples from health and wellbeing, education, and agriculture. The contributors provide open and honest accounts of the challenges and restrictions, highlighting the positive impact that can be gained from involving stakeholders as key voices in the intervention development process. These case studies suggest underpinning methodologies that will support the formalisation of these design-led approaches, permitting the formation of robust frameworks in the future.

The book will be of interest to scholars working in design, design research, intervention design, co-design, user-centred design, service design, digital design, digital healthcare, and evidence-based design.

Sarah Morton is a senior academic at the University of Edinburgh. She is a design engineer and ethnographer, and uses participatory, shared decision making and co-design approaches to develop interventions.