Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Machine Learning. All big topics regarding impact on the future of technology for businesses, education, governments, and NGOs. Today, the opportunities for uncovering patterns in behavior go way beyond simple vanity metrics. As strategic designers, we need to understand what we have at our disposal from which we can learn about our end-constituents. As business leaders, we need to consider the interdependence we have with not just our suppliers, employees, and clients, but also society and the environment. In this talk, we’ll look at ways to push the boundaries to learn how we might leverage the data sciences to quantify – and learn – how we impact the “greater whole” with the products and services we design.

1. @chrispalle
@wisdomandcraft
wisdom
+ craft
Design to
change a LifEBig Data for Mission-Driven Initiatives
(NYC)

2. – R. Buckminster Fuller
If humanity does not opt for
integrity we are through
completely. It is absolutely
touch and go. Each one of us
could make the difference.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rbuckmins153436.html#j7tfWPtGrKrH4y9S.99

3. Sustainability
(before moving on, what’s the first thing we think of?)

4. Sustainability
People
PROFITSPLANET
social
economicenvironment

5. Sustainability
People
PROFITSPLANET
social
economicenvironment
(first thing most people think of) (often not a consideration)
(forgotten, unless you’re involved)

6. Corporate Social
Responsibility

7. Corporate Social
Responsibility
As a concept, this sounds good and makes sense, but many companies think
Philanthropy is sufficient or it’s just Compliance & Risk Management; that is,
protecting their tails.

8. Greenwashing

9. Greenwashing
Just a Few Examples:
Hidden Trade-Offs (production of eco-friendly while destroying something else)
Misleading labels and an over abundance of labels
Irrelevance - “CFC-Free” CFCs are illegal; like saying a tree is “green”

10. Environmental full-cost accounting
Non-Direct Costs
Environmental + Social CostsTransaction Costs
Opportunity Costs
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/characteristics-full-cost-accounting-system-41699.html
A consideration of the ripple-effect a
purchase or profit venture has on the
environment and surrounding
communities
Costs associated with owning
a product or service after the
initial expenditure.
Costs of not pursuing an expenditure in
favor of another.
Inability to pursue an investment because
of the decrease in available funds.
Overhead and support costs
such as legal counsel,
training, etc.

11. 11
Product Stewardship Ethical Consumerism
ensure that those who design,
manufacture, sell, and use
consumer products take
responsibility for reducing
negative impacts to the economy,
environment, public health, and
worker safety
http://productstewardship.us/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=231
‘Positive Buying’ - favors the purchase
of satisfactory products and services
‘Negative Purchasing’ – avoiding
products that are unsatisfactory
And company-avoidance – avoiding
companies with offending products
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/topethicaltips/whybuyethically.aspx

12. 12
Whole-Life Cost
(Aka Cradle-to-Grave)

13. What is a B-Corp
Certified to meet rigorous standards
of social and environmental
performance, accountability, and
transparency.
Committed to the health of
relationships and interdependence
we have with our communities,
environment, vendors, and
customers.
http://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps

14. 14
Frameworks

15. 15

16. 16
Unhappy Designers
Boundaries with perceived
limitations

17. 17

18. 18

19. 19
Most Control
Least Control
Most
Aware
Least
Aware
Pre
Parallel
Engaged
POST
wisdom
+ craft

20. 20
Design Research Framework™

21. 21
Alex “Sandy” Pentland
"Alex Pentland, MIT (3238517166)" by Robert Scoble from Half Moon Bay, USA - Alex Pentland, MITUploaded
by Magnus Manske. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Alex_Pentland,_MIT_(3238517166).jpg#/media/File:Alex_Pentland,_MIT_(3238517166).jpg
Incentivizing the network -
Generically, 2x - 4x more efficient over
the incentivizing the individual
Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMBl0ttu-Ow

22. 22
“Choice Architecture”
We should assume people will make errors, they
choose the path of least resistance, and don’t
follow instructions
Help people with decision-making by mapping
complex options to more simpler terms.
Selfless Default Settings
Reduce Options; promote healthier choices
Avoid Attribution Overload and TMI
Clear Feedback of impact from choices made
http://nudges.org/

23. 23
Measuring Impact?

24. 24
“Metrics matter…grant-making decisions
rely on the detailed expertise of program
officers as well as numerical calculations.
Metrics are always under revision, a
virtually never-ending project.”
*(Prev. Significance Labs)

25. 25
Reducedarrest: Prevention of first-time arrest (as a result of
parenting improvement by high-quality programs)
Dental care: impact on earnings, adults
Education: Attendance—impact of asthma treatment on
parental, productivity
Eviction prevention: Decreased juvenile delinquency

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28
Conclusion
We as design and business leaders have the ability to create
environments and ecosystems that affect lives.
The data is out there, but it’s not yet easily usable as
information. While it may not be the sexiest of endeavors, by
challenging the technology to provide the feedback from our
design decisions, we learn how we can affect change and make
impact through the products and services we create.
And if we know just how much we do impact the lives of others
around us, it just might make us consider the choices we make.

29. wisdom
+ craft
29
Thanks!
Cue dialogue
@chrispalle
@wisdomandcraft