Design for Social Changes : Social Media as Communication Platform through Product Design Innovation

Mustaffa Halabi, Khairun Nisa and Hands, David James (2017) Design for Social Changes : Social Media as Communication Platform through Product Design Innovation. In: 4D - Designing Development Developing Design International Conference : Conference Proceedings. Kaunas University of Technology, Design Centre, Kaunas, pp. 114-124. ISBN 9786090214114

Abstract

The increasing interest in technology gives rise to the acceleration of product evolution and development. As a consequence of demographic transformation, social media is a key mechanism for identifying emerging trends and sources of innovation for companies, also as communication platform for companies to use product design innovation for social change in Malaysia. This paper discusses how product innovations influence behaviours using social media and give rise to the exchange of economic value and improve consumers’ lives in Malaysia. As such, a focus group approach is used in order to refine social media associated with product design innovation and having impact on social change in Malaysia. Results show a number of perspectives of social media on the social innovation phenomena through the perspective of product design innovation, which cover aspects of purchase decision and purchase behaviour. The focus of the results in this paper is on allowing designers to integrate key insights of the impact of social media on consumers as a design- based approach to business development within the creation of product innovation and also on how social media use design can assist in the transformation of social changes in Malaysia. The paper includes implications for social media as a communication platform through product design innovation and affecting social change in Malaysia. Thus, it may benefit marketers seeking to optimise the empowering and socialising components of their social media strategies. This paper fulfils an identifies the need to study how social media may affect real-life consumer behaviour and the purchase decision process.