Since the beginning of Monnou, our work has been focused on making Design a practice that helps us, as businesses, organizations, and society, live more sustainably and with well-being. This is how we have been supporting people and teams from different organizations and projects in realizing transformation paths toward sustainability.

But we might ask ourselves, what is Design, and how does it help us live more sustainably? This is the subject of Pedro’s doctoral thesis.

First, we need to dismantle the idea that Design is only about shaping products and creating nice graphics. Design, in reality, is an inherently human and strategic activity for any organization or group, and for society. We talk about “strategic design” because, in reality, what we are designing is not new products or communication campaigns. These could be the result of a design process, but they are not the only possible outcome.

Strategic design is a creative activity aimed at innovating in any field. Not only to create new products or communications: it also involves rethinking services (intangibles) or the very way we live as a society. Examples of things that can be designed or redesigned are:

  • The public transportation service in a city.
  • Public healthcare.
  • The way a company in the automotive sector addresses its customers’ need to get from point A to point B. The traditional solution is to sell them a car (a product that is designed), but it could be solved in many other ways.

So, what does this have to do with sustainability? But first… what is “sustainability”?

We understand sustainability as something closely related to the “Triple Bottom Line.” This means maintaining a balance between:

  • The economic aspect (how much money we spend and how much we earn).
  • The social aspect (the well-being and development of people).
  • The environmental aspect (impact on other living beings and the planet).

If we compare a company to our home or family, sustainability is about making sure everyone is happy at home.

To explain this domestic analogy: in our family, we could be concerned only with how much money comes into the house. This is undoubtedly important, but money is just the foundation for other things. There should be good relationships in the house, we should be able to enjoy activities together that we like, we should have good health and education, and we should be able to develop as individuals… Also, it’s important that we take care of our surroundings, the nature around our home, and the well-being of other people. If we don’t do this, we won’t be able to enjoy all of the other things. If we focus only on how much money comes in or out and neglect everything else, we won’t be happy. And if we’re not happy, what is the point of that economic balance?

To make such a transition, we need creativity to innovate and not repeat things the way we are already doing them. And that’s exactly what Design is about. Therefore, this doctoral research aims to create a theoretical model on how Design can contribute to this ongoing transformation. Based on that theory, it will also provide a practical methodology to achieve it.

What techniques can we use to conduct this research?

Literature review.

The first thing we need to do is understand what has already been done or is currently being done on this topic. What theories and methodologies already exist, how are they applied, and what results do they have?

Semi-structured interviews.

Next, we dive into field research, into the streets, to understand how other people and organizations are designing their paths toward sustainability. What situation do they start from, what are their circumstances and perspectives, and what methodologies or processes are they using?

And then? As we develop our own methodology at Monnou, it’s important to test it and validate it in practice. For this, we can use some techniques:

Focus groups.

One way we have found to validate our methodology, detect improvements, and continue developing it is through focus groups. That is, gathering several people in a group interview to discuss, in this case, the methodology itself.

To do this, we typically run a workshop with these people to experience the methodology as closely as possible to the real practice.

Ethnographic research.

Ethnography involves immersing ourselves in the real context we are studying, learning its culture and behavior through active observation. This allows us to draw insights and conclusions.

With Monnou, this is easy because we are continuously involved in real projects with companies, startups, public institutions, technological institutes, universities, associations… We are immersed in the context of these people and organizations on a daily basis.

What do we expect to find from this research?

We would like to deepen our understanding of the factors we must take into account when designing anything to effectively achieve this transition. It’s about identifying what works best to design this transformation to the Triple Bottom Line.

Thus, at the end of the thesis, we hope to have, first, a mental model that will allow us to understand how to approach this social transformation from a Design perspective. And based on that, a solid and effective methodology for designing this transformation. In other words, a kind of plan to put this theory into practice.

And all of this… what is it for?

For us, but also for many others, this research will have a very clear practical use. First, it will give meaning to all the things we do as Design practitioners for Sustainability. Those methodologies we use, those theories we believe in…

Then, giving shape to this will provide us with a philosophy, tools, and methods that help us be agents of change. It will make it easier for everyone to contribute, with a very conscious creation and planning practice, to this transformation toward sustainability.