Inside out: how real-world social design unlocks student creativity

To enrich students’ understanding of how community programmes operate and connect them directly with professionals active in the field, the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Sociology and Community Studies (BSocSc(SCS)) programme has launched a new initiative this academic year, inviting industry partners to share their experiences. On the afternoon of 22 September, Good Lab, one of Hong Kong’s most active and impactful social innovation organisations, held a three-hour workshop to encourage students to change their perspective and address social problems in creative ways.

The Good Lab workshop was organised for students enrolled in “Introduction to Social Design (Course code: SSC3355)”, a compulsory course for all BSocSc(SCS) students, and an elective for students from other programmes offered by FLASS.

Mr William Sin, Chief of Innovation Strategy at Good Lab, outlined several important aspects of their work. “Good Lab advises NGOs and institutions on how to enhance their services. We strongly believe that a deeper understanding of the people one serves leads to better service. Through our training workshops on community engagement, our collaborators acquire new skills for better observation and data collection. This way, they can engage with and understand the needs of their service users more effectively,” William said.

Believing that creative minds produce creative solutions, Good Lab regularly holds workshops focused on system thinking. “We champion the power of perspective change in opening up people’s minds. Our programmes aim to empower public service providers to consider issues and challenges from the user’s point of view,” William explained. To foster a shift in perspective, various data collection and analysis tools were applied in the class. For instance, the “Five Whys” approach prompts observers to ask “whys” repeatedly to identify root causes. The class also introduced the impact-effort matrix to the students. “By comparing potential positive impact against required effort, the matrix helps people identify the best-fit solution,” William said.

After the introduction by Good Lab, the class was split into small groups, each assigned a persona. “Students need to make thorough observations before proposing a solution. To aid their observations, they were given a clue card asking them to collect information regarding environment, objects, users, activities and other interesting findings (環境、物件、使用者、活動、其他有趣觀察). By assigning each group a distinct persona, be it an elderly man, a middle-aged office worker, or a university professor, students learnt to understand a problem from a new perspective,” William explained.

Leo Luk Kam-cheong, a fourth-year student from the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Integrated Environmental Management programme, and his group adopted the role of a professor searching for a quiet space for a Zoom meeting. “We focused our observations within the library to identify a suitable space for that purpose. When we applied the newly learnt tools from the class to our observations, we gained a better understanding of the library and quickly found a quiet corner for the meeting,” said Leo. Koon Cheuk Nam, Leo’s groupmate, agreed that the impact-effort matrix is effective in choosing a solution.

Hailey So Tze-hei, a first-year student in the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Sociology and Community Studies (BSocSc (SCS)) programme also found the workshop inspiring. “The ‘Five-Whys’ framework deepened my understanding of an issue. It helped me go beyond superficial answers and encouraged me to probe for more detailed information. By repeatedly asking ‘whys’, I could uncover deeper insights from what at first seemed a straightforward problem,” she said.

Hailey has also become more aware of the value of shifting perspective after the workshop. “People are used to thinking from their own viewpoint. By putting ourselves in others’ shoes, we see the world as they do and can understand concerns we might never have considered. This helps us recognise social problems we may have previously overlooked,” Hailey explained enthusiastically. She added that looking at things from a different perspective might highlight challenges faced by people with physical disabilities, and reveal issues with unclear signage or language barriers that make it difficult for foreign students to navigate.

Dr Izzy Jian Yi, BSocSc(SCS)’s Programme Leader and Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS), thanked Good Lab for delivering an inspiring workshop. “Today’s session allowed students to experience the realities of social enterprise work. I appreciate Good Lab’s efforts in sharing techniques for digging deeper into questions and exploring different viewpoints. Many students said these strategies enabled them to think more creatively,” she said.

The SSPS professor also expressed gratitude for the faculty’s Industry Engagement Fund in supporting the initiative. “We will continue to invite industry players to share ideas and experiences. Their stories about how to overcome real-world challenges encourage our students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We believe these skills will empower our students to drive positive change in our communities through innovative solutions,” Dr Jian concluded.