Heroic journeys: On design for empowerment and narratives of social change

Can empowerment be designed? Designers often claim to empower people and communities they engage with as their ultimate aim. However, a more nuanced discussion on how empowerment by design is articulated, facilitated and achieved through design projects is lacking. In this paper, we reframe the notion of empowerment in design for social change by drawing from social and political theories, and participatory research. We position design research and practice as inherently political, proposing Design for Empowerment principles and a framework co-created with community organisers and social designers through participatory design workshops. Through this approach, we advocate for a shift in designers’ focus from project outcomes to human development, the implementation of power analysis and the adoption of narrative devices to facilitate the elicitation of diverse stories of change in socially engaged design practice and projects.