Human-Centered Design for Social Entrepreneurs

My team—a RISD designer, two social work students, an acupuncturist and I—applied human-centered design to a challenge developed by Acumen and IDEO.org. The experience confirmed my suspicions about design thinking: it's powerful, it's fun, and it's me. We developed this short presentation to narrate our design process.

We addressed the challenge that many social entrepreneurs reach a "stuck" point where they're making an impact but not making an income. At the same time, companies are eager to make a positive social impact. We quickly developed a low-resolution video prototype of a service that applies a sponsorship business model (delivered through an online matching application) to address this issue.

Next steps (none are currently planned) would include repeating the design process with corporate social responsibilitly or philanthropy personnel.

If you'd like more details about this project, contact me.