Design Matters: Aradhana Goel, Patrick Burgoyne, Aldo Cingolani & Nacho Carbonell

'Designers must become a part of solving systemic societal problems,' Aradhana Goel, the founder and director of design firm IDEO's Mumbai office, told a packed auditorium. Goel was one of three speakers from across different parts of the design world who came together to address that all pervasive question: why design matters.

For designers like Goel, who works at one of the most influential design firms in the world, design is important not only because of aesthetics, but because it has the potential to ignite social change.
"Our nation is an emerging nation," Goel said. "Design should actually be a part of solving systemic issues -- issues like education. We have a lot of problems with quality education -- why aren't designers part of that conversation? That's a very important question, why aren't we at the policy level?"

In the US, IDEO is involved in product design, branding and organizational design, among other things. Goel gave three examples of how IDEO is making an impact there -- a Bank of America campaign aimed at helping women save money; a Red Cross campaign aimed at bringing in new donors; and a campaign aimed at curbing unplanned pregnancies among young women and teens.

The Indian branch of IDEO is involved in the same kind of work, but Goel explained that there are hurdles to making an impact here. "Indian designers come to the table too late and are often cut out of conversations about the direction a given campaign is going to take, " she emphasized. "We need to elevate our design quotient here. We need to be part of systemic challenges. We are a nation that is building itself, these are the questions we should be part of. We should be talking about affordable housing, we should be talking about financial inclusion. How can we actually come up with solutions where the people at the bottom of the pyramid can also participate in the growth of India, in the opportunities that the new India is providing us."

For the other members of the panel, which included Aldo Cingolani, an industrial designer who now serves as the chairman of design firm Rossana Orlandi in Italy, and the Spanish designer Nacho Carbonell, (named Designer of the Future by Design Miami Basel -- Switzerland), design matters for a host of other reasons. "Design is helping us to adapt," Carbonell said. "Without adaptation we would die. Adaptation is this phenomenon that every living organism has to go through to survive their environment and context."