AbstractSocieties maintain many systems that help order individuals' activities. Some are technical, some economical, etc. Systems designed to remove or prevent social ills form a special class. They restrict or enhance certain types of collective competence: To help solve, variedly and flexibly, individuals' problems. Finding ways for systematic enhancement turns out to be difficult. In this paper the concept of a support system is described, as a research tool to strengthen such collective competence. The concept focuses on the users of systems. How can they achieve or increase specific forms of collective competence—either by themselves, or helped by research? The paper stresses a design point of view in research, which is user‐oriented and application‐d