Afterword
Social Design: The Good? The Bad? The Ugly?
Social Design: The Good? The Bad? The Ugly?
Addini Jalani, 2022
This design reader seeks to challenge the notion that social design is inherently good due to the nature of its practice. As designers should take a more critical look at the design practices we are promoting, even if it aligns with what we consider to be morally good. We learn how social design can be wielded as a tool of oppression, by thriving in spaces the perpetuate inequality and shut down voices of local and traditional expertise as a form of colonialism. In a bid to chase certain idealisms that social design wants to achieve, it instead actively participates in the act of performative activism that serves no one except those who profit.
Taking a critical stance does not only entail searching for the negative aspects of a practice, but rather it is a much-needed process to uncover useful information and insight that could have been overlooked. These become opportunities that we can develop - as designers - to improve the systems in which social design functions in.
To conclude this reader, I implore for designers to always question and critique our design practices, whether we hold a perception bias in the practices we engage in.
Taking a critical stance does not only entail searching for the negative aspects of a practice, but rather it is a much-needed process to uncover useful information and insight that could have been overlooked. These become opportunities that we can develop - as designers - to improve the systems in which social design functions in.
To conclude this reader, I implore for designers to always question and critique our design practices, whether we hold a perception bias in the practices we engage in.