Social Design Site

Original article at http://www.socialdesignsite.com/content/view/171/73/

Socially responsive design can be defined as design which takes as its primary driver social issues, its main consideration social impact, and its main objective social change.

The DAC Research Centre philosophy is based on the understanding that design should address security issues without compromising functionality and other aspects of performance, or aesthetics. DAC practice may not simply be socially responsive and may be better defined as market interventionist socially responsive design.

In everyday language, secure design has to be user-friendly whilst abuser-unfriendly; but it doesn’t have to look criminal or even ugly.

DAC’s uniqueness extends the concept of ‘user driven innovation’ to that of ‘user/mis-user and abuser driven innovation’. It engages with these via the stages of Research, Observation, Visualization, Evaluation, Implementation and Testing.

Then it is delivered using a series of iterations based on:

* ‘research and create’
* ‘create and consult’
* ‘create and test’

The approach to research gathering and management is always multidisciplinary and inclusive. The DAC team is composed by a multidisciplinary group of professionals from different design disciplines, artists, researchers and criminologists. In this way it addresses:

* Crime issues
* Human and user-centred ideas and issues
* Abuser unfriendly ideas and issues
* A Practice led approach
* Expert Review

The Design Against Crime approach aims to ensure efficacy of solutions prior to advocacy and market introduction. In order to catalyse, and in some cases create products, environments and services that make life easier for individuals and communities and harder for thieves.

Some of the Design Against Crime projects that are ideal examples of its philosophy are:

– Bike Off! Holborn Gateway Project (funded by Transport for London / London Borough of Camden)
– Grippa. Anti Theft Furniture Accessories (funded by the AHRC)
– Stop Thief! Anti Theft Furniture
– Karrysafe. Covert Couture and Anti theft Stealth Fashion Design

In addition to developing products, DAC also has an ongoing and growing interest in developing resources and methodologies to specifically help designers address socially responsive issues.

Some of these can be listed as:

http://www.inthebag.org.uk
http://www.bikeoff.org

Design Against Crime Research Centre has additionally been supported, in various occasions, by the British Government and the UK Design Council.