social design toolkit

maricarmen sierra dmba / may 2012

SOCIAL DESIGN TOOLKIT

Our objective: support and inspire change-agents to advance collaborative community design.

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COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

SUSTAINABILITY

DESIGN THINKING

RESILIENCE

COLLABORATION

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE


Urban cities are dynamic and �uid centers for pleasure and productivity as well as magnets for crime, disease and poverty. We know you are trying to change how we live inside cities. As a change-agent we want to help you achieve better, greater and smarter systemic solutions. Our objective is to help you advance a collaborative community design process by helping you understand real human needs and translating them into meaningful and resilient solutions.

How can social design help create a more human-centered city? How can we engage the community to help redesign itself? We believe design thinking principles can be applied to advance a Participatory Community Revitalization process. Trust, Collaboration and Resilience are the key values needed to make social design truly impactful. This toolkit puts together successful examples of frameworks, methods, templates to inspire you to coordinate a collaborative design process.

Our study example is Central Market (CM) area of downtown San Francisco, a neighborhood that’s transforming it’s essence and becoming a new destination for the tech scene. However CM also suffers from historic social urban blight. The community desperately needs to transform how it functions. Lack of opportunities, crime, drug abuse, food dessert and no community engagement are all patterns that need radical change. Throughout this document, we share different techniques we used to best reveal a sustainable solution based on the meaningful common experiences of the neighborhood. One that can bring economic and cultural inclusion and ultimately create more resilient community opportuni-ties.

PREFACE

DESIGNPROCESS

SOCIAL

WHAT IS

WHAT COULD BE

WHAT WORKS

MAPPING THE LARGER SYSTEM

IDENTIFYING INTENT

WHAT WORKS


Why Social Design ToolkitCities are living ecosystems that need and share resources from each of its parts. These interdependent exchanges have ripple effects.

This toolkit is meant to help you get real. We will help hone in on your intent and guide you through the steps of a Participatory Community Design process. You'll learn to collect insights from the community and translate their voices into actionable ideas to revitalize and increase resilience. Share this toolkit and you will be able to:

Gain a holistic view of the systemIdentify real human needsCome up with deep insightsIdentify opportunities to arrive to collective solutions Measure economic and social impactLearn to engage stakeholders and communicate with vibrancy


Mapping The Larger SystemCities are living ecosystems that need and share resources from each of its parts. These interdependent exchanges have ripple effects.

Community design is a result of zoning laws designed by legislators, low-density buildings designed by develop-ers, marketing strategies designed by ad agencies, tax breaks designed by economists, credit lines designed by bankers, low-nutrient food designed by hamburger chains. The interactions between all these systems are compli-cated and hard to understand, but they are not the result of chance. So there has to be ways to improve them.

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If you are involved in community design, you need to have sensitivity to con-text, relationships and consequences in order to understand how a community can adapt to our changeable future.

Use the Stakeholder Pentad to make a map of the larger system you live in to understand what types of exchange you could foster. The line represents a structure inherent in the relationships between stakeholders that enables them to be in harmony.

Move from point to point along the connect-ing lines of the star. Always start with the customer - the people who will receive your service and then move to co-creator; the range of people that will make your service happen.

Then move to the third point; Earth - our living source of energy and materials. From Earth move to communities; the local people and institutions that are affected by your presence.

Finally move to the investors who supply the �nancial capital needed for organizations to evolve. Essentially look for new opportunities on how to engage these stakeholders as partners and collaborators in a mutually added-value kind of relationship.

TARGET AUDIENCE

PENTAD DIAGRAM FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT [APPENDIX 1]

CO-CREATORS

EARTH COMMUNITIES

INVESTORS

[APPENDIX 2- EXERCISE FOR A PENTAD]


“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world., Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

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IDENTIFYING INTENTWrite down your intent and measure the projected impact from your efforts. In order to deliver a service which truly satis�es the need of the community, it requires that you make a constant assessment of your projected impact. You need to aspire for something that is disruptive, but simple and real enough to be actionable.

Helps you to truly understand why you are doing this and how will you make an effective impact. We recommend you start by doing a thorough assessment of your real intent of change.

Before you set out on a journey to explore your contribution to the system (city, commu-nity or neighborhood), think why would you like to do things differently as compared to the existing programs. This could be based on your own:

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH: Frame a simple mission statement. Reformu-lating the traditional mission statement to three simple components is the key. This will be the overarching theme that will guide your research and strategy development.

Values

Outcomes

Process

Level of Engagement With Stakeholders

A TARGET POPULATION1

A VERB2

OUTCOME[IMPLIES SOMETHING TO MEASURE]3

EXAMPLE -Create job opportunities for San Francisco low income population.


WHAT IS...Two phases will mark your exploration: Primary research is direct interaction with community members and may include street intercepts, expert, individual or group interviews. Secondary research investigates earlier sources, competition, uses government or public data and real/ �ctional analogies. Use what’s out there and build on the shoulders of giants!

Get an accurate up to date understanding of your community’s most desired meaningful experience living in the area, as well as their biggest pain points.

Look at this list of universal human needs [APPENDIX ] and follow these steps.

STEP 1Craft your questionnaire to answer “What are the essential experiences people want in this community?”

STEP 2You want to interview at least 15 people and practice active listening skills. Go in pairs and try to �t-in by dressing neutrally.

STEP 3Record responses and photos if possible. People aren’t accustomed to talk about their deep needs and experiences so use the “ex-perience cards” in the following page to help them identify theirs. (see de�nitions in Appendix 4). Appropriate visuals make it easy for respondents to choose their desired feel-ing for the area.

State your objective clearly, be easy to talk to and listen with your heart. Once you create trust, most people are happy to talk about themselves. After talking with one self-described ‘homeless hermit’ for a few minutes, he felt our honest passion and eventually per-formed a 15 minute long mime of living on the streets. Community, Beauty and Security were the most meaningful experiences residents are looking for. And the combination of the three tend towards Harmony, a vibrant and peace-ful cohabitation. This insight inspired every part of our design process.

CENTRAL MARKET EXAMPLE


WHAT IS...EXPERIENCE CARDS

WONDER

ENLIGHTENMENT

TRUTH

BEAUTY CREATION HARMONY

REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHMENT

JUSTICE SECURITY

DUTYCOMMUNITY ONENESS

VALIDATION FREEDOM


WHAT COULD BE...Brainstorming is one of the most fun parts of following a design process but needs to preparation to shine. The art lies in setting constraints, getting a variety of ideas and framing questions relevantly. A stimulation starting point could be:“In this dif�cult climate, X needs a way to ______ in order to ______.”

Focusing on the community needs as a guide, brainstorm with your team about which might be 2-3 ideas to test with the community. Use this chart to vet your ideas and see how feasible, viable and desirable are your ideas.

TIPS

1) Write down everything: Get Dry Erase pens and lots of sticky notes to record one Idea per note.2) Have some fun, get active and get loose!3) Create visuals like journey-maps or diagrams to explain a day in the life of X . This is an indispensable task.

Comfort with ambiguity and change during this phase is a valuable skill. In community design you’re looking to change behavior, beliefs and/or actions on the broadest over-lap possible. To try to understand better how to segment your target population, you can focus on their state of change. How willing are they to adapt to change. Have they started thinking on changing a behaviour? what is stopping them? what can accelerate their adoption of change?

Through out our several brainstorming sessions we found different ways to understand the CM residents better.

We played roles to understand how willing would these individuals be to engage with each change. Thanks to an empathetic approach, we were able to construct 4 segments: Idlers, Settlers, Tippers and Changemakers.

Based on their needs (community,beauty, security=harmony) and their willingness to adapt and engage with change.



WHAT COULD BE...PERSONA AND JOURNEY MAP

Latin American woman, CM resident 32 Years old, married, one kidWorks as receptionist at a Hotel in CM Goes to Episcopal Church for her communityWishes to have better opportunities for her kidShe lives here because of affordable housingDoesn’t feel safe while walking back home late at night.

TIME

Makes Breakfastfor her Kid

8:00 am 8:30 am 9:30 am

TakesKid to School

Buys Groceries

Walks to Work(Hotel)

Walks in Park

Goes To Church

Prepares Dinner

Makes Sure No Homeless Person isat her Doorstep

HIGH

LOW

EMOTIONS

5:30 pm 6:30 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm 8:30 pm

PERSONA

BERTHA’S JOURNEY MAP THROUGH THE DAY

BERTHA



WHAT WOWS...Social Prototype: After having brainstormed and created your segments, you need to tell compelling stories to further validate your concepts with the community. Now it’s time to prototype.

Identify mutually bene�cial strategies for all stakeholders involved and com-municate them clearly, with empathy, and compelling visuals.

Your solution doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be expressive and it needs to be quick. Our motto is “Fail early and Fail fast.” Get feedback on a quick visual prototype. Are you addressing the pain points people identi�ed? Does it solve a deep need in a meaningful, sustainable way? How many people are affected?

Most importantly look for understanding, desire and joy in the faces of your audience. Make the presentation personal, tell a com-pelling story throughout and give some easily remembered phrases from your research.

Have you visualized a better future together? Lead with your true heart and watch resis-tance dissolve. End with a call to action because your audience will become the hero of your project.

Our team was formed by Urbanists, Designers, Anthropologists and Busi-ness Consultants.

We all did sketches of our ideas (whether drawing in squiggles on paper or crunching numbers in Excel) and pitched to each other on our vari-ous sessions.

Collectively we created one solid con-cept to further validate with the com-munity members.



WHAT WORKS...DISTILLATION AND FOCUS ON CONCEPT DEVELOPMENTHosting a workshop to present your concept gives you the opportunity to hear the voice of your community. Sometimes the best ideas are born in a collective discussion.

Bring a diverse group together and hear in their own voice how desirable the concept you are proposing really is.

To validate your concepts, invite as many voices you feel will add diversity, perspective and constructive feedback.

Suggested number of participants may vary depending the size of your location, staff size and your community. We recommend around 12 to 40 people.

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SESSION

* Create Hospitable Space * Explore Questions That Matter * Connect Diverse People and Ideas * Encourage Each Person's Contribution * Listen Together for Patterns, Insights and Deeper Questions * Make Collective Knowledge Visible


WHAT WORKS...

1. Separate the group into tables of 4 to 6 people and ask them to share what resources, channels and capabilities they can contribute to help you on your challenge/vision. Fill out post-it’s with one answer at a time and leave them on a big white sheet of paper in the table. (20 minutes)

2. Ask each table to mix around and exchange places with other tables. Ask them to review the post-it’s from the previous round and add some new ideas. (Do two more rounds of 20 minutes if the crowd is bigger).

WORKSHOP SESSION PATTERN FOR EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION

SESSION 1: Engagement, sharing and collaboration

OFFER CHANNELSRESOURCES POTENTIAL

1. Present your ideas and insights from the research. Ask each table to ideate how could the collective resources, channels and capa-bilities could help improve the delivery of that service.

This is the point where the collective intelli-gence could really help hone in on a better solution. You may need to pivot so be open to accepting constructive feedback.

SESSION 2: Interlinking and cross-pollinating ideas:

ON BOARD STICKY-NOTE PROCESS COMBINING RESOURCES, ETC TO FACILITATE COLLECTIVE COLLABORATION

IDEATION PANEL

OFFER CHANNELSRESOURCES POTENTIAL


When approaching future partners or patrons to support you with resources, inform theabout your community design process. The fact that you have based your design on real needs and then validated your concepts with the community members adds credibility and relevance.

This is a learning prototype. Let’s keep learning, adapting and iterating together while we try bringing meaningful solutions to our communities.

CONCLUSIONS


1. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PENTAD CUSTOMERS / TARGET AUDIENCE: They are the integrators of your output and make their own value from it.CO-CREATORS (employees, contractors, suppliers, etc): They contribute with value and discover meaning for themselves while doing so.EARTH: Principal supplier and recipient of everything.COMMUNITIES: The social context where organizations operate.INVESTORS: They contribute social capital.

2. EXERCISE: After mapping this 5 stakeholders, draw all the various relationships that happen or may need to happen in order for your service to be delivered successfully in the community. Re�ect on the connections and the purposeful activities of all.

4. MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES DEFINITIONS:What types of meaningful experiences do people value? In the course of helping companies develop products and services that suit their markets, every year we interview over 100,000 indi-viduals from countries and cultures around the world. In these interviews, we’ve found com-monalities among the meanings people feel strongly about, whether we’re studying the adop-tion of new software in Poland or the purchase of toothbrushes in Florida.

We’ve compiled a list of these meanings, but it is far from exhaustive. We’ve found potentially dozens of types of meaningful experiences and at least as many possible ways to characterize them. What we concentrate on here are 15 of the meanings that emerge most frequently in these interviews and appear to be universal among people’s values. While the relative impor-tance of these meaningful experiences might vary and their interpretation could differ slightly, all cultures seem to recognize their signi�cance. This is good news for businesses, because it means that there is a certain constancy among human needs that transcends the distinctions of culture and language.

(Since none of these meaningful experiences is more or less important than any other, we’ve presented them in alphabetical order)

APPENDIX


1. AccomplishmentAchieving goals and making something of oneself; a sense of satisfaction that can result from productivity, focus, talent, or status. American Express has long bene�ted from transmitting a hint of this meaning to its card holders by establishing itself as a credit card intended for those who are successful. Nike relies on the essence of this meaning for many in its “Just Do It” cam-paign.

2. BeautyThe appreciation of qualities that give pleasure to the senses or spirit. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and thus highly subjective, but our desire for it is ubiquitous. We aspire to beauty in all that surrounds us, from architecture and �ne furnishing to clothing and cars. Enor-mous industries thrive on the promise of beauty stemming from shinier hair, whiter teeth, and clearer skin. Beauty can also be more than mere appearance. For some, it is a sense that some-thing is created “correctly” or ef�ciently with an elegance of purpose and use. Companies such as Bang & Olufsen audio equipment and Jaguar automobiles distinguish themselves through the beauty of their design.

3. CommunityA sense of unity with others around us and a general connection with other human beings. Reli-gious communities, unions, fraternities, clubs, and sewing circles are all expressions of a desire for belonging. The promise and delivery of community underlies the offerings of several successful organizations including NASCAR with its centralizing focus on car racing and leagues of loyal fans that follow the race circuit, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their Harley Owners Group (HOG), and Jimmy Buffet with his dedicated Parrotheads. These businesses attract and support user communities who embody speci�c values tied to their products and services.

4. CreationThe sense of having produced something new and original, and in so doing, to have made a lasting contribution. Besides driving our species to propagate, we enjoy this experience through our hobbies, the way we decorate our home, in telling our stories, and in anything else that re�ects our personal choices. Creation is what makes “customizable” seem like a desirable attri-bute, rather than more work for the buyer, for example, making the salad bar a pleasure rather than a chore.

APPENDIX


5. DutyThe willing application of oneself to a responsibility. The military in any country counts on the power of this meaning, as do most employers. Duty can also relate to responsibilities to oneself or family, such as reading the daily paper to stay abreast of the news. Commercially, anything regarded as “good for you,” including vitamins, medica-tions, Cross-Your-Heart bras, and cushioned insoles relays some sense of duty and the satisfac-tion it brings.

6. EnlightenmentClear understanding through logic or inspiration. This experience is not limited to those who meditate and fast, it is a core expectation of offerings from Fox News, which promises “fair and balanced” reporting, the Wall Street Journal, which many consider the ultimate authority for business news, and the Sierra Club, which provides perspective on environmental threats and conservation.

7. FreedomThe sense of living without unwanted constraints. This experience often plays tug-of-war with the desire for security; more of one tends to decrease the other. Nevertheless, freedom is entic-ing, whether it’s freedom from dictators, or in the case of Google, the freedom to quickly search the Web learning and interacting with millions of people and resources.

8. HarmonyThe balanced and pleasing relationship of parts to a whole, whether in nature, society, or an individual. When we seek a work/life balance, we are in pursuit of harmony. Likewise, when we shop at Target for a toaster that matches our mixer, we are in pursuit of harmony. Much of the aesthetic appeal of design depends on our personal desire for the visual experience of harmony.

9. JusticeThe assurance of equitable and unbiased treatment. This is the sense of fairness and equality that underlies our concept of “everyman” or Average Joe. It helps explain the immense popu-larity of the Taurus and the Camry, the ranch house, Levi jeans, and white cotton T-shirts—all products with a simple, impartial appeal to a very broad audience.

APPENDIX


10. OnenessA sense of unity with everything around us. It is what some seek from the practice of spirituality and what others expect from a good tequila. Although we don’t normally think of them as a company, the Grateful Dead sustained its revenues for decades building an experience that con-nected with its fans’ desire for oneness. Similarly, organizations that connects their members into nature or a broader sense of the world, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the United Nations, are capable of evoking a meaning of oneness.

11. RedemptionAtonement or deliverance from past failure or decline. Though this might seem to stem from negative experiences, the impact of the redemptive experience is highly positive. Like commu-nity and enlightenment, redemption has a basis in religion, but it also attracts customers to Weight Watchers, Bliss spas, and the grocery store candy aisle. Any sensation that delivers us from a less desirable condition to another, more pleasing, one can be redemptive.

12. SecurityThe freedom from worry about loss. This experience has been a cornerstone of civilization but in the U.S. in particular, acquired increased meaning and relevance after 9/11. On the commer-cial side, the desire for this experience created the insurance business, and it continues to sell a wide range of products from automatic ri�es to Depends undergarments to credit cards that offer protection from identity theft.

13. TruthA commitment to honesty and integrity. This experience plays an important role in most per-sonal relationships, but it also is a key component of companies like Whole Foods, Volkswagen, and Newman’s Own, all of which portray themselves as simple, upright, and candid.

14. ValidationThe recognition of oneself as a valued individual worthy of respect. Every externally branded piece of clothing counts on the attraction of this meaningful experience whether it’s Ralph Lauren Polo or Old Navy, as does Mercedes Benz, the Four Seasons hotel chain, and any other brand with status identi�cation as a core value.

APPENDIX


15. WonderAwe in the presence of a creation beyond one’s understanding. While this might sound mystical and unattainable, consider the wonder that Las Vegas hotels create simply through plaster and lights. Disney has been a master of this experience for decades, and technology companies rou-tinely evoke awe as they enable their users to do what seemed impossible the year before.

APPENDIX

- Business in the Community. (2011). Retrieved August 24, 2011, from Community Footprint –Presentation: http://www.bitc.org.uk/community/community_footprint/presentation.html- Rowson, J., Broome, S. and Jones, A. (2010). Connected Communities. London: RSA.- In the Bubble, Designing a complex world. John Thackara - Responsible Business, Carol Sanford- Design for Growth, Jeanne Liedtka

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- SROI Framework: http://www.gsvc.org/ - Service Design Tools: http://www.servicedesigntools.org/ - Community Footprint: http://www.thersa.org/projects/connected-communities

OTHER RESOURCES


WHAT WOWS...BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

What are the most important costs inherent in our business model? Which Key Resources are most expensive? Which Key Activities are most expensive?

Through which Channels do our Customer Segments want to be reached? How are we reaching them now?How are our Channels integrated? Which ones work best?Which ones are most cost-e�cient? How are we integrating them with customer routines?

For what value are our customers really willing to pay?For what do they currently pay? How are they currently paying? How would they prefer to pay? How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues?

For whom are we creating value?Who are our most important customers?

What type of relationship does each of our CustomerSegments expect us to establish and maintain with them?Which ones have we established? How are they integrated with the rest of our business model?How costly are they?

What value do we deliver to the customer?Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve? What bundles of products and services are we o�ering to each Customer Segment?Which customer needs are we satisfying?

What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require?Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships?Revenue streams?

Who are our Key Partners? Who are our key suppliers?Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners?Which Key Activities do partners perform?

What Key Resources do our Value Propositions require?Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships?Revenue Streams?

Day Month Year

No.

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