Society develops as human beings innovate. Whenever it is expected to solve social problems more effectively and sustainably to generate new ideas for solutions is in demand – this is so-called “social innovation”. You may have a clearer understanding of the concept after going through the two typical social innovation projects below.

 Project A: “Out of the box” –the easiest mobile phone manual book


Photo source: Special Projects  (www.special-projects-studio.com/out-of-the-box/)

Mobile phone has simply developed into a piece of necessity of everyone’s daily life, but there are still people, especially the elderlies, find it particularly frustrating to understand the language in the digital world. “Out of the box” is just the special project to solve the problem by looking at it in a different way – to develop a better manual book. 

These new manual books, which were clearly written and kept to a friendly and non-technological tone, actually contain the phone. That means, the phone slots into the book and becomes the center of attention, with arrows point to the exact locations the user should press, revealing the elements of the phone in the right order, helping the user to set up the phone, and thus avoiding confusion and eliminating the feeling of being lost in a menu. From a user-centred angle, the book even works for “baby learner”. 

Project B: Jacket x shoulder bag x sleeping bag for homeless people


Photo source: The Empowerment Plan (www.empowermentplan.org)

You may have no idea that 1 in every 42 people in Detroit, USA is homeless. But as a design student in the city, Veronika Scott was keenly aware of homeless people suffering from lack of shelters during the relentless winters. She well researched and invented a special coat to provide the much-needed warmth: the coat is designed to be self-heated, waterproof, and transforms into a sleeping bag at night, and a bag when not in use.

The coat’s design is improving all the time according to the research results of user experience. It not only won her a 2011 International Design Excellence Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America, but also innovated her to start the Detroit Empowerment Plan, which became a non-profit organization later, hiring 10 homeless women and empowering them with a more sustainable life. 

These two projects succeeded not only by thinking on users’ side to fully understand their social needs, but also by innovating with a practical approach. They remind us the two vital necessities of social innovation: creativity and sustainability, both of which are crucial in tackling social problems and mobilizing changes in all societies, including Hong Kong.