Abstract for: Designing tools for Systemic Design: identifying structural Leverage points

Systemic design is a methodological framework that emerged from the need to articulate systems thinking and design thinking to consider the potential effects that designs can have on a system. Although there have been great advancements towards this articulation there are still opportunities for improvement in incorporating System Dynamics tools in a more rigorous manner. We present some tools for identifying systemic leverage points. Systemic design has useful tools for visualizing complexity, but tools for identifying systemic leverage points were missing. The purpose of the tool we present here is to identify systemic leverage points and to promote creativity in thinking about possible interventions that consider the structure of the system. We designed tools for identifying structural leverage points that directly affect the stocks and flows structure and the feedback processes of the system. The tools for identifying structural leverage points invite to: - Think in systemic interventions through connecting structure with behavior. - Add inflows or outflows to stocks to reinforce their positive effect on the behavior of the variable of interest, or to reduce their negative effect on the variable of interest. - Be creative in ways to operationalize leverage points. - Leverage system change on virtuous loops that produce desired behaviors and limit the effects of vicious loops. Systemic design has the potential of being enhanced by a more rigorous application of System Dynamics concepts and we believe that there is immense potential for designing tools that promote this. In the case of the tools presented here this rigor is evident in the recognition of leverage points related to stocks and flows and loop dominance, which systemic design does not usually take into consideration.