A framework for assessing the social impact of design

How can designers assess the social impact of their practices? The objective of the paper is to provide the foundations for the adoption of impact assessment and evaluation, especially the social one, into design practices. The paper provides an exploration of the possibilities for assessing design initiatives, the existing connections, main contributions and the potential implications for design practitioners and researchers. After a general introduction to impact assessment and evaluation, it provides an overview of what it means to assess and evaluate impact, an overview of the state of the art of Impact Assessment over the social dimension in the Design practice and research, and finally it proposes a framework for navigating, selecting, and adopting impact assessment methods and approaches in design projects. Three directions emerge: Impact Assessment for Product/Service Design, for Design for Social Innovation and for Design for Policy Making.