Ezio Manzini describes his book Design, When Everybody Designs as a contribution to the design culture and the international debate [1, p. 5]. The subtitle An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation hints at the book’s core focus on how design expertise can support and enable social change.
The author describes the upcoming era as humanity coming to terms with the limits of the planet [1, p. 2] and explains the role of design, designers, and all humans in the global shift towards sustainability. This transition period, comparable to the passage from feudal to industrial society, requires new ways of thinking and acting. In his view, both individuals and organizations are engaged in design work, even if they don’t label it as such. As we all have the power to influence the future, also the transition towards sustainability includes everyone alike.
He pits two modes against each other: conventional mode, when one remains in a status quo, and design mode, loosely defined as a combination of a critical view of reality, creativity for change, and having a sense of the steps needed for its execution. While the conventional mode relies on tradition and established patterns, the design mode emerges when these traditional solutions no longer suffice. In this broader understanding, design becomes a universal human activity - from individuals planning their daily meals or organizing their living spaces, to organizations developing complex projects like urban developments.
This broad definition calls for a new separation of professional design. Manzini uses the terms diffuse and expert design to distinguish between the natural human capacity to design (diffuse design) and the professional practice of trained designers (expert design) while emphasizing that both play important roles in social innovation. [1, p .31]
Manzini sees social innovation as the future of design and highlights its potential to change the world. However, he claims that to do so, new practices have to emerge. He describes design as a practice that emerged from industrial design, later heavily influenced by the technological progress of the last century. In the future, he expects that social innovation will be what the majority of design activities aspire to achieve. [1, p. 29] This shift represents a fundamental change in how we think about design, moving from a focus on products and services to a broader consideration of social systems and relationships.
Social innovation will stimulate design as much as technical innovation did in the twentieth century, and at the same time social innovation will be what a growing proportion of design activities will be seeking to achieve. [1, p. 55]
Manzini defines [[social innovation]] as new ideas that both meet social needs and create new relationships or collaborations. Unlike traditional innovation focuses primarily on technological advancement, social innovation emphasizes human relationships and community capabilities. In short, these are innovations that both benefit society and enhance its capacity to act. [1, p. 11]
This brings us to the crux point of the book - how expert designers can support social innovation. Rather than creating finished solutions, Manzini argues that designers should focus on building frameworks and “enabling ecosystems” that help communities develop their own solutions. He introduces the concept of “small, local, open and connected” (SLOC) as a model where small-scale innovations can spread, combining local action with global impact. [1, p. 178]
Initially, I chose this book expecting concrete strategies for promoting design thinking among non-professionals and scenarios of how such a world might look like. However, I discovered that my understanding of social innovation was wrong - I expected it to describe large-scale societal changes, rather than Manzini’s focus on empowering grassroots organizations and activists.
While Manzini’s theoretical framework is fascinating, my reading experience suffered from a lack of case studies. His predominantly philosophical approach, particularly in the dense early chapters, often leaves the reader wanting more real-world examples to understand how social innovations actually develop. The additional text boxes scattered throughout chapters, rather than providing clarifying examples, tend to repeat points and disrupt the flow, making the reading experience more difficult than necessary.
The layout, and academic language, combined with the abstract nature of the discussion, often made it difficult to maintain focus and track the main argument in each chapter. While the distinction between diffuse and expert design is frequently cited as the book’s key contribution, one wonders if maybe everyone else also struggled with paying attention to the bigger picture after the second chapter.
Despite these limitations, and although I found it difficult to fully embrace Manzini’s optimistic perspective while fighting with my own climate anxiety, the book offers interesting insights. It has deepened my understanding of design as a practice, seeking sense beyond finicking about pixels and it has complemented the information science course. Though challenging, Design, When Everybody Designs ultimately succeeds in provoking thought about design’s broader role in social change.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet has been consulted for phrasing suggestions, structural organization and feedback.
[1] Manzini, Ezio, and Rachel Coad. Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation. The MIT Press, 2015. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt17kk7sv. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.
Book review for ISKM02: DISRI