Center for Social Innovation

Published: April 17, 2011 Download  1 hour 01 minutes, 28.1mb, recorded 2010-10-06

Traditionally, designers have focused on enhancing the look and functionality of products. Now they are using design tools to tackle complex social issues -- to find ways to provide low-cost health care, implement clean water systems, distribute mosquito nets, and get out the vote. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jocelyn Wyatt, social innovation lead at the award-winning consultancy IDEO, describes her organization's efforts in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to use design thinking, a problem-solving system that is grounded in a client's or costumer's needs. Design thinking, with its focus on local expertise to uncover local solutions, allows high-impact solutions to bubble up from below rather than being imposed from the top. It provides both a way to create and sustain broader social inclusion.

Jocelyn Wyatt leads IDEO's social innovation domain. She helps build social enterprises and advises businesses in the developing world, using design thinking and market solutions. Previously, she worked in Kenya as an Acumen Fund fellow and in India as VisionSpring's country director. She also did international training, project management, and business development for Chenomics International, a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Resources:

• IDEO, a design and consulting firm that takes a human-centered approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow.
• Design Thinking for Social Innovation, an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
• Open IDEO: An Open Innovation Network, a virtual hub where people can create solutions to some of the world's toughest challenges.