SOCIAL IMPACT-ORIENTED PROJECTS & DESIGN THINKING: A STUDY ON SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

The world is facing social problems unmet. Governments, institutions, companies, organizations and individuals are concerned about these problems by creating social impact. Social entrepreneurship and social innovation are ways in which social impact can be achieved by providing solutions to unmet social needs. Design thinking is also the method to solve problems within the framework of designers’ way of thinking. So, it can be mentioned that they are to create solutions. While social problems surround the world so much, the ways to find solutions should work together more. This study first focuses on literature to show the intervened relationship between social impact-oriented projects and design thinking while approaching problems by defining notions. In the research part of the study, the depth-interview method is used to understand social entrepreneurs’ journey while establishing their projects and creating social impact. Then these interviews are coded and findings are defined according to these codes. The interview results are tabulated according to the entrepreneurs' processes. Although design thinking gives us some stages, it is also seen that social entrepreneurs have different inputs in real life experiences. While personal stories and experiences greatly influence social enterprise journeys, the involvement of stakeholders plays a crucial role in amplifying these initiatives and driving progress. The findings show that the real-life experience may differ from the defined process depending on today's conditions and inputs. There is an opportunity to define design thinking recommendations focused on social impact, even if there are commonalities between their experiences and design thinking. So, social impact issues should be announced more and social impact creators like social entrepreneurs should be listened more to define processes to define the relations.