Service design for collaborative housing

Abstract

THE SOCIAL FACTOR Anyone who knows anything about cohousing gets that the greatest wins are from the social dynamics of communities; more than they are of passive-haus construction, of modular builds, or rooftop gardens.

SOCIAL DYNAMICS CAN TRANSLATE INTO SERVICES We tend not to think of these social dynamics in terms of services. But when we co-design how we want to live as a community, we’re actually donning the hats of service designers.

“A service is a regulated form of co-production of benefits between two or more parties, aiming at solving a certain problem through the application of knowledge and skills. A service results from an interaction and is, precisely, a form of social interaction.” (Anna Meroni).