For generations design was thought to be limited to the arts and architecture, but now design is increasingly important in technological tools such as cell phones and computers, and in everyday items such as bottles, chairs and pens.
Now it’s time for non-profits, schools and ministries to begin to see design and design’s impact on technology and the environment as critical to successful outcomes.
Certainly there are many who challenge this assumption as frivolous and wasteful, yet design (a thoughtful plan and purpose for the spaces and things that fill the spaces) cannot be separated from the service social services provide.
For example, imagine a classroom full of clutter, dirty, with little natural light and stale air. Even the best teacher would be challenged to maximize learning in such an environment. In some ways this was the challenge we faced in our Challenge Learning Center a few years ago. The classroom was set up largely in what I term a “lecture format”, with plastic chairs and tables. The Rescue Mission, committed to designing spaces that inspire and provide places for people to heal, redesigned the learning area to to help people with different learning styles to maximize their learning experience. The difference is amazing, as is exampled by the above shown picture. The design change allowed our great staff to maximize the learning experience and a resulting improvement in outcomes is a testament to the power of great teaching, and great environment.
While many people in social services and non-profits see cost and resources as barriers to designing their learning spaces and service centers, many improvements can be made without extra-ordinary cost measures.
Here’s a few things everyone can do:
1. Edit the Clutter. Spaces have a way of accumulating furniture, bulletins, stacks of paper and so forth that often get in the way of the function of important tasks. Many times we become blind to the amount of clutter that has accumulated around us. In addition, people seldom challenge their work surroundings, assuming that the furniture, signage and items that fill a work space were pre-ordained. Often, this isn’t the case.
2. Set a Standard of Excellence. Your place of work, the place where you serve others, should be a place that speaks to the dignity and importance of those you serve. This is especially important when serving the poor and those overlooked by society at large. Social service providers should provide clean, inspiring places to create positive outcomes for their clients.
3. Create Spaces for a Purpose. Design is often as simple as knowing how you will use a space, and filling and creating a place where that purpose can be best fulfilled. If a room is a catch-all for everything, you will likely be able to do very little in that space.
4. Creative People. Get some people, either volunteer or staff, that are creative and have authority to help create the color, textures, art, plants and atmosphere necessary to have a clean, inspiring environment.
What do you think? How important is your work space? Do you work better in cleanliness and a well-designed space? Is there some reason that non-profit’s cannot implement good design?
David Curry
