The MOST

ELEGANT SOLUTION .. .

is the one

you already know.

i am a

Subversive agent

Stealth leader

solutioneer

my practicelies in unveiling

the Latent potential in a problem space.

I lead through empathy.

I operate beneath the tumult of the ideation process to foster creativity.

I provide responsive constraints.

REVEAL

TRANSLATE

MOVING FROM AMBIGUATY TO CLARITY

Wicked problems are complex, that much is obvious.

The trick to tackling the truly wicked conundrums lies in breaking them apart into their most basic pieces and separating out the essential information from the clutter.

I work to translate the ambiguity of the problem space into a clearer picture from which to start the ideation process.

INTERPRET

DECODING FINDINGS

Workshops are great. So is design-led research, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t know what you’re looking at.

I can tell you what your findings mean and why they’re important.

articulate

THE ELEGANT SOLUTION

You know when a solution just fits. But sometimes the ideal resolution can be elusive.

I resolve the tension between the practical needs of a problem space and the aesthetic desires of potential outcomes, by bringing perspective, empathy and active listening to the ideation process.

translating

advanced concepts

to foster innovation

Moving quickly

to create a

minimal viable product

How do you democratize innovation? What do we even mean by “innovation” anyway? How can we make it accessible to anyone who has a great idea and the ambition to launch it into the world? These were the questions thrown at us by ThoughtWorks a leading global software innovation consultancy.

Using Agile Methodology, our team created an online platform designed to help trail-blazers, great and small, identify what type of innovator they are, to match them with the resources to help them grow their ideas from concept, to prototype, to launch, and to connect them to a community of like-minded self-starters.

When we started working with ThoughtWorks, we were able to tackle a very large concept by first creating parameters for our problem. We began by breaking apart what it means to innovate, and who innovators really are.

Through user-journey mapping and personas we were able to create a clearer picture of what the project demanded. Our insight was that everyone has an innovator inside of them. Some of us have the resources to make our ideas happen, and some of us don’t know where to start. But all of us have the capacity to bring great ideas to light.

With that in mind, we used Agile Methodology to iteratively create a minimum viable online resource that allows users to pinpoint their innovator type based on five characteristics via a survey. From there users are provided with tailored resources designed to foster the innovation process.

By paring down the breadth of the problem space, and focusing in on user needs, our team was able to create a product that ThoughtWorks is continuing to develop.

TRANSLATE

new experiences

to INTERPRET

unexpressed desires

illuminating the

dreams of a communitY

How do you change a park’s reputation?

Soundview Park, located in the Bronx, right across the river from upper Manhattan, is a beautiful park whose checkered past is keeping it from fully being utilized by the residents in the surrounding neighborhood.

However, recently the New York City Park department invested in substantial upgrades, including a waterfront bike path that runs the length of the Bronx River.

However because of the park’s bad reputation and since the upgrades are located deep in the park at the water’s edge, not many community members were using them. Through a series of multi-media investigations involving audio, video and craft-making, we were able to focus in on the reasons why neighboring residents weren’t seeing the park as a place for family fun.

To really explore why Soundview Park was not being used by residents, we designed a series of interactive narrative-based probes created to gauge the community’s feelings, past, present and future, about the park.

The first of these was a participatory storytelling activity deployed at an annual park event. We recorded fictitious open-ended-stories about the park, centered on themes of environmental engagement, cultural activities and volunteering. Potential park visitors were invited to listen to the recorded stories, then share their hoped-for endings on pre-printed post-cards.

Through this activity we discovered, that community residents wanted to use the park but were held back by negative perceptions of the area, on the park’s rocky recent past.

Our participatory storytelling research, not only allowed us to discover the reasons why neighboring residents were not using the park, but also challenged them to shift their perception of what the park is today and what it can be in the future.

INTERPRET

Revealing

unrecognized assets &

increasing retention

The Red Cross has a history of acting quickly and efficiently in times of disaster. They have long track record of on-board volunteers quickly and deploying them to help those who need it most. What they have been less successful at is retaining many of those volunteers once the crisis is over. We worked with the Red Cross to create a multi-faceted solution that fits simply within their existing volunteering structure to meet both the needs of volunteers to have a meaningful experience and those of the Red Cross to create a deep base of experienced volunteers.

Our solution for the Red Cross began with looking at the on-boarding process for volunteers. After speaking with Red Cross representatives we realized the orientation process for people who volunteer spontaneously does not take into account their innate and professional skills. We therefore created skills assessment activities designed to quickly pinpoint a volunteer’s strengths and interests.

We then addressed the period after a crisis, when volunteers are often lost. To increase retention we created a modular system that allows volunteers to further explore the Red Cross’ work with communities, and increase their skillset, by allowing them to regularly move to new assignments within the organization. With each completed assignment, a volunteer receives a badge. As volunteers gain experience and badges, the Red Cross gains a pool of experienced volunteers who they can rely on to act as team leads in disaster situations and middle management between the greater pool volunteers and Red Cross staff.

By using the mechanisms already in place at the Red Cross, we created a solution that seamlessly fills the gaps in their system while creating opportunities for growth and greater engagement with the community.

ARTICULATE

creating mechanisms to

match soft skills and

professional talents.

CONTACT ME

E-mail: danielle.christophe@ gmail.comPhone: 301.704.7236