What counts when counting gets complicated?

Abstract

Abstract: As increasingly, social and economic value is vested in intangible assets and concepts of sustainability and ethical practice expand the scope of corporate responsibility, traditional methods of evaluation, based on simple quantifiable measures, become insufficient to capture the essence of more complex, qualitative opportunities and risk. This paper reflects on the development of a series of conversations between professionals from Design and Law exploring the potential of design methods to address these issues. Senior personnel from education and industry in design, law, fashion and luxury goods, came together to identify the issues and work towards more sustainable, ethical and profitable ways to evaluate complex futures. This process negotiated the traditional power structures of business by framing the agenda through a Design Thinking lens, where the constraints of Law were reframed by Design as opportunities to bridge the gap between disciplines, often separated by the demands of day-to-day delivery.