The need of documenting and evaluating change in Social Design has been a recurrent issue addressed through a number of publications in Journal of Design Research. What has been pointed out is that design researchers need analytical tools, methods and frameworks that enable them to evaluate the impact of a given social design project.

In this article – co-authored with our research colleagues from the Netherlands – Valentijn Visch and Ed Tan, we offer a method of analysis that enables design researchers to delve into the complex field of identity navigation to assess what kind of qualitative change it may result in for the people we design for. Through this we show how an interdisciplinary merging of social design and narrative theory can increase understanding of how vulnerable families navigate personal and shared identities.

See: Knutz, E., Markussen, T., Visch, V. and Tan, E. (2020) ‘Family narratives and identity navigation in social design: a method of analysis’, J. Design Research, Vol. 18, Nos. 5/6, pp.388–409. Link here.