THEROLEOFDESIGNASACRITICALFRIENDTOVOLUNTARYCOMMUNITYSECTORORGANISATIONSDr.LauraWarwick

TheValueofDesignforServiceApproachtoDevelopPublicServicesintheVoluntaryCommunitySectorTheaimofthisresearchprogrammewastoexploretherolethatDesignforServiceapproachcouldplayinhelpingorganisa:onsunderstandtheirservicesfromtheircustomers’pointofview,par:cularlyduringthecurrent:mesofausterity.

ThirdSectororVoluntaryCommunitySector:‘Non-governmentalorganisa:onsthatarevalue-drivenandwhichprincipallyreinvesttheirsurplusestofurthersocial,environmentalorculturalobjec:ves.Theseincludevoluntaryandcommunityorganisa:ons,chari:es,socialenterprises,coopera:vesandmutuals’(HMTreasury,2007:5).DesignforServiceapproachDesignersdrawonanarsenalofdedicatedtoolstoactasfacilitatorandprovoker(Tan,2012,p.167),tobothenableactorstoco-create,andsupportthevisioningprocessbypromp:ngmoreradicalthought(Manzini,2011).

Thefacts

•53%oftheVCScommunityinNorthEastEnglandhavesufferedareduc:oninfunding•40%oftheregion’sVCSorganisa:onsaremakingredundancies,andalmosthalfaredecreasingthenumberofservicesthattheyprovide.•21%willormaycloseinthenext12monthsBut...•Over70%ofVCSreportedasizeableincreaseinservicedemand•35%ofVCSorganisa:onsareplanningtodeveloporexpandtheirserviceofferingsinthenext12months.

(VONNE,April2014)

Methodology•  ThreeprojectseYngs(chari:es)compriseoneexploratorycasestudy•  Hadtobearegisteredcharitywithanincomefromcharitableac:vi:esbetween

£200,000and£500,000peryear•  8weeks,full:meanddatacollectedinsamewayineachseYng

CharityA–Impact•  Focus:healthandwellbeingservicesinnewgeographicalarea•  BIGLoaerygrantworth£425k•  AnewwellbeingservicerolledoutacrosstheTynesideregion•  Ashicinorganisa:onalculture,newpoliciesandnewprocess

CharityB–Impact•  Focus:Improvingthemembershipservices•  BIGLoaeryGrantworth£190k•  New,simplifiedmembershipstructure•  Improvedcustomercommunica:on

CharityC–Impact•  Focus:Improvingcustomerexperienceforcentrevisitors•  £1.7millioninArtsCouncilgrants•  300%riseintheirannualpassupgrades,whichequatesto£52,500ayear•  Ashicinorganisa:onalculture,newpoliciesandnewprocess

ImpactsofDesign:

»Financialgains(designdirectlysupportedtheorganisa:onstosecure£1.2millioninfundingandwasusedasevidencetosecureafurther£1.5million);»Morecustomer-focusedservices(eachcharitydevelopednewservice(s)thatweres:llinuse12monthspost-collabora:onandthattheyhadchangedthewaythattheyengagedwiththeircustomers);»AndorganisaEonallearning(twoofthechari:esmadechangestotheirpoliciesandprocesses).

OrganisaEonalimpact:Service-levelvs.TransformaEonalEvidenceoftransforma:onalchangeinCharityAandC,butnotinCharityB

Yes, new policies and federation

Yes,toolkit

Yes,new delivery

Yes, ‘thinking

differently’

New awareness

New capacity

New organisational standards

New community of designers

Charity A Charity B Charity C

Yes, but no permission

No

No

Yes, but no permission

Yes, new policies

Yes,partnership

Yes,new focus

Yes, ‘thinking

differently’

Newques9on:TheValueofDesignforServiceApproachtoEnableOrganisaGonalTransformaGonintheVoluntaryCommunitySector

Thedesignershouldactasa“criEcalfriend”toVCSorganisaEons

CostaandKallick(1993)definea‘cri:calfriend’inaneduca:onalcontextas:“AtrustedpersonwhoasksprovocaGvequesGons,providesdatatobeexaminedthroughanotherlens,andofferscriGqueofaperson’sworkasafriend.AcriGcalfriendtakestheGmetofullyunderstandthecontextoftheworkpresentedandtheoutcomesthatthepersonorgroupisworkingtoward.Thefriendisanadvocateforthesuccessofthework.”(Costa&Kallick,1993,p.50)

CriEcal=challengeFriend=trust

ProposingalternaEvevisions

-  Reflec:ononthestatusquo,whichcreatedthe

basisfortheco-designac:vity;-  Presenta:onofalterna:veserviceandsystem

visions;-  Reflec:ononindividualandorganisa:onal

prac:ces,whichresultedinneworganisa:onalvisions.

“I’venevereventhoughtaboutitbeforeandnowI’mlike‘whoahcontroversial!’but,yeah…Ifeellikeit’salightbulbmomentreallyisn’tit?”

Usedesignasbothmethodologyandmedium

-Engageprojectstakeholders;-Communicateideasinawaythatcreatedsharedunderstanding;-Provideopportunityforprojectstakeholderstoshapeandcontributetotheco-designac:vity;-Rootchangeinuserinsight;-andPromptreflec:ononthecurrentservicedevelopmentprocess.“Onethingwefoundreallyvaluablewasyourabilityasadesignertoencapsulatequitecomplexideasinverysimplediagrams.Thatwasreallyvaluableforallthetrusteestounderstandwhatweweretryingtodo.”

IdeasthatareeventuallyinsEtuEonalised

-  Radicalnewserviceproposi:onsaspartofthe

organisa:on’soffer;-  andamorecustomer-focused,collabora:veservice

developmentapproach.

Whatistrust?

Mayeretal.’s(1995)modeloftrustisthemostwidelyacceptedintheliterature.Theysuggestthreeaspectsofperceivedtrustworthiness:AbilityIntegrityBenevolence

Ability

“Groupofskills,competencies,andcharacteris:csthatenableapartytohaveinfluencewithinsomespecificdomain”.-  Casestudies-  Drawingconnec:ons-  References-  Beingpro-ac:ve“Overperformedinstantly”(i-18)

Integrity

“Involvesthetrustor'spercep:onthatthetrusteeadherestoasetofprinciplesthatthetrustorfindsacceptable.”-  Beinghonestandopen-  Involvingeveryone-  Beingclearaboutwheredesigncouldhelp-  Workinginawaythatmatchestheorganisa:on’smissionandvision

“Shereallygotusveryquickly…[Ihave]neverseenanybodygettheorganisaEonasquicklysothatwasasurprise,reallybrilliantsurprise”(i-20)

Benevolence

“Theextenttowhichatrusteeisbelievedtowanttodogoodtothetrustor…thatthetrusteehassomespecificaaachmenttothetrustor”-  Helpingoutinotherareas(scrubbingtables,conver:ngPDFsetc.)

-  GeYngtoknowtheteame.g.havinglunchtogether,goingtoteamevents

-  Buildingpersonalrela:onships-  Beingrealis:caboutwhatdesigncando

“I’vefoundarealallyinLaura…Iknowshewouldhelpme”(i-5)

BenevolencecanonlybeapparentinhowthedesignerappliesDfS,nottheapproachitself.TrustinthedesignerismoreimportantthantrustintheapproachininiEalengagements.

WhyisthissoimportantintheVCS?-  Resource-poorcontexts-  Passionatepeople,ocenwithlivedexperience-  Ocenworkinginpartnerships-  Needtocreatemomentumandvaluequickly

(in service delivery and in service design)

Service level

Becoming a ‘friend’

DfS as a ‘critical friend’

Bui

ldin

g a

rela

tions

hip

Co-creation of value

Permission

Confidence

Trust

Dem

onstrating value of DfS

Systems level

AbilityIntegrity Benevolence(in DfS and Designer) (in Designer)

Increased reach of DfS

Knowledge

Creation of alternative perspectives

Becoming a ‘critcal friend’

Radical ideas which are eventually

institutionalised

Use design as methodology and

medium

Propose alternative visions

Project set-up

Community level

(in service delivery and in service design)

Service level

Becoming a ‘friend’

DfS as a ‘critical friend’

Bui

ldin

g a

rela

tions

hip

Co-creation of value

Permission

Confidence

Trust

Dem

onstrating value of DfS

Systems level

AbilityIntegrity Benevolence(in DfS and Designer) (in Designer)

Increased reach of DfS

Knowledge

Creation of alternative perspectives

Becoming a ‘critcal friend’

Radical ideas which are eventually

institutionalised

Use design as methodology and

medium

Propose alternative visions

Project set-up

Community level

CriEcal=challengeFriend=trustDesigner’sneedtodemonstratetheirability,integrityandbenevolencetobeabletohavethetrustoftheteaminordertoco-createanythingofvalue.

Thankyoulaura.e.warwick@northumbria.ac.ukl.warwick@mind.org.ukwww.laurawarwick.co.uk