Reflection and Thoughts on the Kees Dorst’s Framework

Initial Questions: What works, what does not?/How might this be used to frame other kinds of design projects?

When using Dorst’s system I found our team having different approaches to the process, this is understandable because each of us came from a different background. We had to agree on an approach to use to propose a solution to the problem we were assigned which was increased crime rates in Wilkinsburg and Homewood. We decided the best approach was having the person with the best handwriting write on the board, while the rest of us discussed ideas and steps in the process. We adhered to the Dorst Frame which gave us a structured overview of a problem and helped us visualize a potential solution.

I found the approach helping us structure our thoughts in a manner, that made sense to our team members, and to the rest of the class to who we presented. I would like to try to present this approach in real life and see how the audience would react to it. When solving problems, that deal with social innovation, it is important to always keep in mind the communities and cultures that will be affected by the innovation, and the Dorst framework helps discover the potential effects.

Is this a useful framework to utilize for social innovation?

I believe that the Dorst framework is a useful framework for not only social innovation but general innovative processes because it approaches and evaluates the problem holistically. It gives the designers or problem solvers the deep view they need to come up with different and interesting solutions. It is great how detailed the process is, and how it made our team think more deeply about details not evident at first glance. It made us question our perception of the problem and consider how our conceptualization is very different from the people for who we would be solving the problem. This motivated us to make our solution more inclusive and engage members of the community in decision making because they have the most experience living in the area. If the members of the community work together with designers using the Dorst framework, it is a thought exchange and helps people understand each other and helps the designers implement a solution that works.