Design as Social Capital. All good design leads to Social Capital. It is at the core of everything we design. Some call that process the user-centred design and some as human-centred design. The notion of social capital relies on building solutions that are based on Reciprocity, Trust and Cooperation. A lot of the population in India still does not have access to the basic amenities in life, and when we talk of building solutions that are going to be useful in these contexts, the Social Capital is something that one cannot ignore. When working in the development sector, towards creating solutions that have high impact and are long lasting, one should seek help from Social Capital. These are the Slides from my talk at the UX India 2016 conference, where I put out an open call to the UX community to leverage the notion of Social Capital and build highly impacting solutions.

1. DESIGN AS SOCIAL CAPITAL
@kshitiz , UX India, Hyderabad, 21st October 2016

2. @kshitiz
CURRENTLY
Managing Trustee @ Happy Horizons Trust
Dean / Director @ L’école de design Nantes Atlantique (India Studio)
Principal Designer @ Happy Horizons Consulting
PREVIOUSLY
Director, The Design Village
Design Manager & Strategist, Kuliza Technologies
UI Designer at Motorola, Infosys
STUDIED AT
BDes, Communication Design, IIT Guwahati, 2005
MS, Interaction Design, Indiana University, 2009

4. 64 % of India’s population still
live in the rural areas

5. 52.1 % of people in rural India
choose open defecation

6. 39% of Indian children under the
age of 5 show stunted growth

7. 1.83 million children under 5 years
of age, die each year in India.

8. India faces shortage of nearly
1.4 million trained teachers

9. 50% Class 5 students
can't read Class 2 books

10. Dropout rate at primary level is 4.3%
At high school level is around 42%

11. 47% of girls in India are married
before their 18th birthday

12. Around 69% child marriage in Bihar!

13. We are a country
filled with
wicked problems!

14. How can Design
really help ?

15. Finding solutions
is tough!

16. As we move to a more connected
world, full of gadgets and
systems, today we designers
question the very foundation of
these new systems and solutions
we are building, for its ability to
solve a problem and a potential
to create long lasting impact.

17. I want to change
the world fallacy!

18. Not very financially
rewarding

19. Short term vs
Long term impact

20. Seek help from
Social Capital

22. ‘Social Capital’ is the
network of relationships
among people who live and
work in a particular society,
enabling the society to
function properly.

23. The 3 pillars
Reciprocity
Trust
Cooperation

24. More challenges for designer
How may we create large scale impact through our solutions

25. Participatory Solutions
How do we build design solutions that engage all stakeholders

26. Experience driven world
Experience leads to satisfaction leads to happy customers

27. All good designs lead to
social capital

28. Deep rooted in
enhancing User Behaviour

29. Social Capital is critical for
Social Innovations

30. Our society were built on
Social Capital

31. How can technology, design,
business work together?

32. Leaders need to find ways to
work with this Social Capital

33. Some pertinent
challenges

34. Knowing the target audience
Who are you designing for ?

35. Understanding Social
The biggest irony of the smartphone is that it has made us anti-social

36. Being human centric always
Technology as an enabler

37. Keeping stakeholders happy
Tougher than you think!

38. Need vs want
People do not know what they want. How to identify what they need?

39. Going by crowd behaviour
Getting influenced easily

40. Work at Happy Horizons Trust
Using the Social Capital to work on Education for development.

41. You cannot build a skyscraper
on a weak foundation.

42. The problem space
How may we improve the quality of education in India

43. Creating local leaders
To help in building the social capital within the community

44. Storytelling to engage
Nothing excites a child and societies, more than stories

45. The society cannot progress without this
Women empowerment

46. Encourage students to speak up and ask question
Develop critical reasoning

47. Design & Creativity
Focusing on skills enhancements

48. Crafts to enhance motor skills
Have fun while you learn!

49. New mediums for learning
When you see movies as a part of school education!

50. Tehchnology when needed
Digital Literacy, Career Guidance Services

51. System design thinking
Involving stakeholders for a systemic change

52. Learnings along the way

53. Get into countless arguments for this one. Design is a process too.
Design is not cosmetic work

54. Building social capital is tough
Social Innovations require more energy and passion

55. High glamour solutions fail fast
Building trust takes time

56. Have a global perspective, local approach
Understand local lifeworlds

57. Social Capital is a long term investment
Sustainability is important

58. Collaboration is key
Teamwork is crucial to the success

59. Build inclusive solutions
Engage with different stakeholders over time

60. Be a reflective practitioner
Think about the impact of your solutions from time to time

61. Spread happiness
Nothing is more satisfying!

62. If I got a $ for
every smile we
generated, I would
be a millionaire!

63. Design in India.
Design for India.
Design by India.
Design with India.

64. Don’t take
Social Capital
for granted!

65. Thank you
kshitiz@happyhorizons.org, @kshitiz , +91 9535 20 6828
Images ©Happy Horizons Studios, Icons © TheNoun Project