Abstract
Social design has been conceptualised across multiple levels—micro social-individual, meso social-situated, macro social-structured, and even mega-utopian. However, when social issues at different levels intersect, young designers often struggle to clearly define the primary issues and practical scope—hindering their ability to serve as effective agents of social transformation. To respond to this challenge, this study first reviews macro–micro analytical frameworks in sociology and examines how social design can respond to different scales. This analytical framework is then applied and further developed through an educator's doctoral project of social design focused on improving migrant well-being in informal settlements in Shenzhen, China. This framework then travelled to the UK and was adapted for a teaching project with Chinese immigrant restaurants in Camberwell, London, where students from various disciplines applied it to explore migration-related challenges across social levels and generate design responses. This cross-national and cross-disciplinary pedagogical process underscores the need for social design educators to structure learning around concrete social issues and integrate design innovation with structured interdisciplinary approaches, enabling young designers towards a profound and achievable transformation.\
About the Authors:
Linfu Zhang is a PhD candidate in Social Design at Lancaster University, with a background in social psychology and transdisciplinary design. His research explores institutioning and social-situated design to improve the eudaimonic well-being of vulnerable groups.
Linyun Song is an artist and MA in Computational Art at Goldsmiths. Her work explores feminist storytelling, migrant women’s labor, and critical uses of digital media through sound, mapping, and participatory practices.
Xiyu Du is a designer studying Behavioural Design Science at Imperial College London. With a BA from Tsinghua University, her work explores interaction, UX, and service design, focusing on user behavior in smart products and spatial environments.
Zhipeng Duan is a designer and postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Through design research, experiments, and curatorial work, he explores how people’s nearby surroundings can become resources for action and reflection toward social change.
Iris Yiqun Luo is a PhD candidate at Department of Human Centered Design, Cornell University. She is an interdisciplinary researcher, curator, and educator from China. She explores epistemic justice at the intersection of material culture, spirituality, technology, and ancestral memories.
Contact: l.zhang47@lancaster.ac.uk
