"Young, Homeless & Out of Reach: How to Connect with an invisible Group"

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Yoora Ha, Yasmeen Bazian, Changyue Gao, Xiaowen Zhu MA Service Experience Design and Innovation London College of Communication, UAL

SEDSCI Research Report 2018-19

Young, Homeless & Out of Reach: How to Connect with an Invisible Group

Young, Homeless & Out of reach

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Acknowledgement Sincere thanks to our interviewees especially to Ellen, Milo and Paul who agreed to share their rough sleeping experiences with us and to provide feedback on our prototype. Thanks to our co-design participants and for the energy and dedication they brought to our workshop.

Finally, thanks to Cordula Friedlander, Adam Thorpe and Elsa Bardout for their continuous feedback throughout this project.

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Disclaimer

Summary

Names of some of the interviewees have been changed to protect their identity. The views, thoughts, and ideas expressed in this report belong to the authors.

The aim of our project “Young, Homeless & Out of Reach: How to Connect with an Invisible Group” is to design a service that helps connect young rough sleepers to the help they need in a safe, quick and simple way. The report aims to demonstrate our design approach and the service design methodologies and tools we used to develop our service “Cody”. Sections 01- 04 of the report describe our design approach using the Double Diamond method.

At the time of writing this report, we had produced a prototype for our service “Cody” and had done the first round of testing with users and service providers; this is detailed in section 03.

The feedback from the first round of testing was valuable and will help us improve our service. Our goal is to move into the iteration phase with a high fidelity prototype and continue to test and iterate.

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00 Introduction

03 Develop

05 Conclusion

.1 Context

.1 Ideation and Inspiration

.1 Reflection

.2 Problem statement

.2 Co-design workshop

.2 Conclusion

.3 Value Proposition

.3 Service Concept Development

.4 Design Approach

.4 Feedback and Iteration

01 Discover

04 Deliver

User journey map samples

.1 Primary Research

.1 Final Output

.2 Secondary Research

.2 Service Scenario

Co-design materials and results

+ Appendix In-depth interview guide and text

.3 Stakeholder Map .4 Service Blueprint

02 Define .1 Findings and Insights .2 User Personas and Journey maps .3 Problem Analysis and Service Gap .4 Workshops and Further Interviews .5 Define Questions

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00 Introduction

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0.1. Context

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0.1.1 Background The number of rough sleepers in London has increased in the last few years. In response, the Living Centre (London Borough of Camden) has asked UAL MA Service Design students to use service design methodology to engage stakeholders and to carry out research in the London Borough of Camden to better understand the experiences of rough sleepers, what current support is in place and more importantly to find out what they need, giving them a voice and finding new ways to

0.1. Context

support people off the streets.

0.2. Problem statement

The Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority have published

0.3. Value Proposition

the rough sleeping plan of action in June 2018. The plan outlined the actions planned, building on the existing frameworks and ser-

0.4. Design Approach

vices and providing an essential reference and perfect starting point for this project.

0.1.2 Challenges 1

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Young people were not adequately addressed in the Mayor’s plan.

There’s a lack of effective collaboration and exchange of information between the different organizations dealing with rough sleepers.

A lack of understanding of the gaps in current services, the untapped assets (time, people, facilities, utilities) and where these gaps and assets meet.

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0.3. Value Proposition Our solution is designed as a low barrier to entry service that we called “Cody” to help young homeless people who are currently rough sleeping access immediate accommodation through the help of a virtual outreach team.

Our solution will also provide young homeless people with access to the information they need regarding short-term and long-term accommodation and options to access basic needs such as shower, food and storage facilities.

“Cody” will provide a one-stop shop for young homeless people where all the information they need is aggregated within the platform. “Cody” includes an interactive feature where young homeless people can chat to a bot that will help them navigate the information and match them with the right service based on their needs.

Young homeless people often do not know where to go for help and some resort to hacking services such as dating apps that are not designed for them putting themselves at risk of physical and emotional harm.

Unlike other available homeless information services such as homeless link, Cody offers ease of use, simplicity, instancy, and interactivity with its users.

0.2. Problem Statement

Young homeless people want a safe place to sleep but they often don’t seek it through statutory services rather they use disparate channels seeking instancy, independence, control and normalcy, however these solutions are not sustainable because they are short-term, unsafe and therefore may put them at risk of abuse or ending up on the streets.

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0.4.1. Methods and Tools

0.4 Design Approach

Our design approach was based on the double diamond method and was divided into four distinct phases: discover, define, develop and deliver.

Below is a summary of the activities carried out in each of the phases.

Define During this phase we focused on interpreting our findings, identifying themes, framing the opportunity and finally setting our design challenge.

We used personas to help us tell stories and complete our project plan.

Discover

Develop This phase marked the beginning of our service concept development. We had several ideation meetings including a co-design workshop with participants from multi-disciplinary backgrounds.

We developed our solution “Cody� and began the process of testing and iterating with service users.

Deliver

This was our information and insight gathering phase where we carried out fieldwork, conducted interviews, and did secondary research. Some of the tools we used to organise our findings were: stakeholder mapping, user journey mapping and location mapping.

In this phase we are hoping to secure partnership with our primary stakeholders (refer to stakeholder map) and with tech developers to design and pilot a high fidelity prototype.

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0.4.2. Risk Assessment

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Challenges recruiting users for co-design workshops and user testing Our user group, who we’ve identified as young rough sleepers including

0.4.3. Risk Mitigation

HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED ROUGH SLEEPING OR SOFA SURFING? We are group of service designers working on solutions for youth homelessness.

If you are available to chat to us and give us feedback about our potential solution, please get in touch. Your feedback would be extremely valuable.

Any information you provide will remain anonymous.

sofa surfers ages 16- 21, are hidden i.e not visible on the streets and reluctant to use any official services created to help them due to a myriad of reasons including feelings of shame associated with the stigma of homelessness.

Youth safeguarding issues prevented us from speaking or interviewing

contact: y.bazian0820181@arts.ac.uk Small rewards is giving for participants

any young rough sleepers currently in the care of youth organisations.

As a group we had to use our personal networks to recruit young rough

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sleepers for interviews. We also used ads offering compensation for

Difficulty engaging primary stakeholders especially youth organisations in Camden

users to test and provide feedback about our service prototype.

Short staffing, busy schedules and lack of urgency prevented youth

It was very important for us as a team to provide transparency and

organisations in Camden from being an active participant in our design process.

0.4.4. Transparency

visibility for everyone involved in the design process particularly our users, interviewees and co-design workshop participants. Setting expectations at the beginning of every action or activity we carried out helped us establish trust with our participants which resulted in more engaged participation.

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0.4.5. Project Management

Research Journey

Design process

What did we do?

Focus

Our ways of working were “agile”.

secondary research, and were able to au-

We were a highly interactive team,

thor and edit reports and presentations.

met regularly and had frequent team

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Discover October

Secondary Research

#Rough Sleeping

Fieldwork

#Camden

Interview

Stakeholder Mapping

User journey Mapping

#Understand User

#Analyze Stakeholders

#Experience

Understanding the service ecology in Camden

Visualizing the rough sleeper’s experience and find out service gap

Diagram of the service ecology in Camden

Mapping of rough sleeper’s experience and service gap

What was the purpose

Understanding the definition and the problems of rough sleeping

Observing Camden borough

Researching rough sleepers’ situation, needs and expectations

Outcome Of the research

Detailed information about general rough sleeper situation

Basic information about the rough sleeper situation in Camden borough

Primary research results from rough sleeper

As a multidisciplinary team, we managed

retrospectives. Instant messaging played a

to divide tasks according to skill level

key part in ensuring our

while ensuring that all members had vis-

communication was always unified.

ibility and an equal input on the outcome

Document sharing through google

of our service. Below is a diagram indicat-

drive was instrumental in ensuring all

ing our project timeline.

members had access to all primary and

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Define

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Next steps

Develop November

December

Research Analysis

Insights Problem statement

HMW Questions Development

Concept Ideation

#Pain Point

#Organize Information

#Listening

#Inspiration

#Generate Concepts

Understanding the situation of young rough sleepers and analyze pain points

Understanding the service gaps between young rough sleepers

Taking presentations to gather some insights and knowhow to deal with the project

Understanding the context of careleavers and prevention in terms of young rough sleepers

ideas and thinkings from other people

User needs analysis and possible solution assumptions

services

Understanding the service gaps between young rough sleepers services

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January

Secure partnership with service providers Fill in information gaps about processes

Persona Development

Pain points analysis

Research Report

Coming up with few ideas based on the user pains and gains

Initilal concept of our service

Co-design Workshop

Concept development

Prototyping

#Collect Ideas

#Improve Concepts

#Prototype Concept

#Feedback

Developing service design concept

Making high fidelity prototype for User testing

Getting feedback from the stakeholders and target user group

Further thinking of initial concept

Repeatly Prototyping of our service

User feedback

Collecting ideas and feedback from partipants

co-designs with participants who have career backgrounds

User Testing

Iterations

Final report

Continue to test and iterate with users and stakeholders

#Improve #Document User Experience Project

Enhancing the experience of our service

Documenting our research results and design achievement to share with other

Final verson of our application

Final report

Partner with developers to design a high fidelity prototype ...

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01 Discover 1.1. Secondary Research Rough sleeoing and Couchsurfing Current solutions Existing available initiatives and services Target users Opportunities

1.2. Primary Research Field trips Interviews

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1.1.1 Rough sleeping and Couchsurfing Couchsurfing: The New Homeless

“The best thing we can do is to prevent rough sleeping in the first place.”

“41% of young people have stayed with friends on floors or sofas for at least one night (excluding after nights out or due to travel difficulties)”

“Sofa-surfers at greater risk of suicide and selfharm than those on street”

Rough Sleeping Strategy, 2013

BBC, 2017

The Guardian

What is Rough Sleeping?

The stark fact is that rough sleeping is harmful and dangerous, and the longer someone stays on the streets, the more harmful and dangerous it becomes for them.

1.1 Secondary Research

Rough Sleeping Strategy, 2013

“While rough sleeping is far from the only form of homelessness - many individuals and families may have a roof over their heads yet no home to call their own - it is its most visible manifestation.”

BBC, 2017

The Hidden Elements

“The feelings of shame and “I tried to get in a hostel embarrassment associated but they said I was too with homelessness are only young…you had to be over perpetuating the hidden 24, things like that, and I issue as people fail to talk was 16 so I was sleeping about it or seek help. rough in the wheelie bin.”

Young people staying temHarvey, 2011 porarily with friends or friends’ families…don’t always identify themselves as ”research has found that homeless“ people who become homeless at a younger age are Kesia Reeve, 2011 more likely to face longterm difficulties.”

Shelter.org

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1.1.2 Current Solutions Homeless on Tinder

”Homeless youth desperate to find somewhere to sleep at night are turning to dating and hook-up apps.”

(Daily Mail, 2018)

Hostels and Shelters No Second Night Out Homelesslink Youth Organisations Street link Street Outreach Camden Safer Street …

”Most of the time, Richard didn’t tell his Tinder dates about being homeless and he’d pretend his house was too crowded to have visitors. He didn’t tell his workmates either, and to this day only a few close friends know of his two months sleeping rough.”

(ABC, 2017)

Further Evidence In 2018, Centrepoint, a charity in the United Kingdom which provides accommodation and support to homeless people aged 16–25, ran an aware-

1.1.3 Existing available initiatives and services

ness campaign about the dangerous choices some young rough sleepers have to make to avoid sleeping rough on the street.

MEALSS

HOWERS

LAUNDRY

C4WS

St Mungo’s

Camden council

1.1 Secondary Research

Centerpoint

New Horizon

London Cyrenians Housing

Onehousing

Viridian

SHP

Sapphire Independent Housing

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SPORT

HEALTH CARE

JOB ADVICE

GENERAL ADVICE ON BENEFITS

EDUCATION

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1.1.4 Target users 56%

53%

51%

45%

live in virtual world

digital

Generation Z anonymity

privacy prefer images to words

Fear and isolation affected rough sleepers’ health and wellbeing. Those who shared their experiences with us often linked the incidences that took place with negative patterns of behaviour such as alcohol and drug abuse.

1.1 Secondary Research

For many people who took part in the survey and interviews, their experiences took a toll on their mental wellbeing pushing some to question the relevance of their existence and undermining their confidence to move on from their circumstances.

Shocking stories of young rough sleepers August 13th, 2018 Young People’s Experiences of Sleeping Rough highlight the terrible hardships that increasing numbers of young people sleeping rough in England endure every night, and the challenges they face in escaping homelessness.

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6%

abuse violence

being sexually assaulted

being

being verbally abused

personal belongings stolen

GENERAL ISSUES FACED BY ROUGH SLEEPERS

Depaul UK welcomes the Government’s new rough sleeping strategy, but it is clear from our findings that more affordable accommodation urgently needs to be made available to young people and greater investment in emergency accommodation is required.

In the 40 local authorities with the highest number of 18-to-25-years-olds sleeping rough, government figures show 225 young people were sleeping rough on a single night across these areas, but only 57 private rented rooms were available to young, single people claiming housing benefit Rough sleepers reported how living on the streets meant living in fear and having to navigate constant risk and uncertainty about their safety. This was largely caused by the dilemma of who to trust and whether to remain hidden or close to busy areas.

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1.2.1 Field Trips Walkabout in Somers Town and St Pancras areas

Purpose Observed and documented our initial impressions of the area.

Identified a few significant locations where rough sleepers stay Used sketching to help us understand the context rough sleepers are in Mapped out landmarks and local services in the area Observations Young rough sleepers were not visible during our walkbouts Most rough sleepers were staying near Tube stations, parks, outside, the british library fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and supermarkets.

There were quite a few local charities and churches that provide homeless services, training and emergency help for homeless people in Camden

1.2 Primary Research

Concentration of rough sleepers was in public parks

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1.2.2 Interviews with sofa surfer

Ellen , 24, Sofa Surfer

First Interview with Ellen 2018-10-25 During our first interview with Ellen we focused on establishing trust and building rapport. We introduced our project, research aims and asked for her consent to use her story and experiences as a point of reference for our project.

Interview highlights: Ellen was very open to sharing her story with us as she felt that no one really cared to listen to her.

“I became homeless when my family asked me to leave after I came out as a transgender’ “I’ve been sleeping on my friend’s sofa for a while... the landlord is not aware, so we have to keep it on the downlow” “I’m struggling with work and study...I work three days a week to pay for my tuition, my sex reassignment surgeries and my living expenses” “I’d be glad to share my story and experiences with you, I didn’t think anyone would care”

1.2 Primary Research

Our interviews with Ellen provided us with important insights about the life, needs, and pain points of young rough sleepers.

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Exerpts from the interview:

In-depth Interview with Ellen 2018-11-08 This interview was more structured and lasted for two hours.

The insights that came out from this conversation helped shape our next research phase.

Q

Can you tell me about the first time you had to sleep on a sofa?

A

It was three years ago, actually I cannot remember everything that happened that day, but there is one thing that I still remember to this day which was: I believed I will only sleep on a stranger’s couch for a few days, and I told myself I won’t tell anyone(also because I had no one to tell). To be honest, at that age I couldn’t handle my new circumstances, I couldn’t come to terms with my new situation, so i just kept telling myself..it’s just a temporary thing, it will pass..

Q

What did you do when you couldn’t find a place to sleep?

A

Between sleeping on sofas, I’ve had to spend nights in train stations, tube stations where there’s warmth. I also slept on the night bus for a short period of time.

Q

Where did you find your first sofa to sleep on?

A

I found it on couchsurfing.com. I had no experience at the time and that was the only way that I knew to find a temporary place to sleep, so I signed up for the service for the first time.

Q

Generally speaking, how does sofa surfing make you feel?

A

My feelings change a lot from time to time: Sometimes, Sofa surfing makes me depressed, because you always feel like you are under somebody else’s control and mercy, you will never feel like you can be yourself. Other times, I feel ok, it looks like I have developed strength to deal with my current situation, Sometimes, I feel grateful for every single thing in my life for no reason, I cannot explain the reason, it is too complex. But I have to say...for me, sofa surfing is the most acceptable way of rough sleeping

1. Intro yourself and build Rapport: 1. Intro yourself and build Rapport: I would start by thanking Ellen for taking the time to speak to you. And tell her that you really I would start by thanking Ellen for Ellen takingknows the time speak to you. you really appreciate it. I don’t know how well you,tobut maybe youAnd can tell tell her her that a little about appreciate I don’t howtold wellher Ellen tell hermakes a little you about yourself, but iit.think youknow already thatknows in youryou, firstbut call.maybe (Up toyou youcan whatever yourself, but i think you already told her that in your first call. (Up to you whatever makes you comfortable) comfortable) Then shift the focus to her: Then shift the focus to her: “How are you doing today?” How was your day?”

“How are you doing today?” How was your day?”

2. Intro the project: 2. Intro the project: As part of my service design masters program, I’m working with a group of students to help find As part for of my service design masters program, I’m working withtoa focus group our of students solutions rough sleeping (homelessness) in London.

We want researchtoonhelp thefind solutions rough sleeping (homelessness) in London. want to focus our research on the most hiddenfor form of homelessness which is couch surfing.We We’re hoping to speak to people most hidden form of homelessness which is couch surfing. We’re hoping to speak to people who have experienced couch surfing and their circumstances.

We want to understand their who have experienced couch surfing and their circumstances. We want to understand their needs and what kinds of services we can design to help them. needs and what kinds of services we can design to help them.

3. Seek Stories: 3. Seek Stories: Evoke specific stories to learn about what your interviewee does, and more importantly, thinks Evoke learnthe about interviewee does, and more importantly, thinks and feels.specific We arestories talkingtoabout pastwhat and your present, not the future. andyou feels. talking about theyou past and the future.

“Can tellWe me are about the first time had to present, sleep onnot a couch?

“Cando you tellremember me about about the first time you had to sleep on a couch?

“What you that (day)?”

“What doyour you remember that (day)?”

“What was experienceabout with couch surfing like?”

“What was your experience with couch surfing like?”

What was your worst experience with couch surfing?”

What was your worst experience with couch “Could you tell me about a time where you hadsurfing?” to leave a place where you were sleeping on you tell me about a time where you had to leave a place where you were sleeping on the“Could couch?” the couch?”

“What did you do?”

“What did you do?”

4. Talk about feelings: 4. Talk about feelings: “Walk me through how you . . . (made that decision, completed that task, got to a place, etc.).

“Walk meyou through howatyou . (made that decision, completed that task, got to a place, etc.).

What were thinking that. .point?”

What you that? thinking “Why dowere you say . . .at that point?”

“Why you say that? . . .

“Tell medo more.”

“Tell me more.”

“How did you feel at that moment, when ____ happened?”

“How did you feel at that moment, when ____ happened?”

“Could you tell me why is that important to you? What emotions do you have (about that)?”

“Could you tell me why is that important to you? What emotions do you have (about that)?”

Interview Guide with Ellen

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1.2.3. Interviews with Service Providers

Interview with Megan at New Horizon 2018-11-12

Interview with Julia at The Jobcentre 2018-11-15

New Horizon Youth Centre is a day centre working with young people who are vulnerable, homeless or at risk helping them to Create Positive Futures.

We spoke to Megan, a staff member at New Horizon, who helped us understand the services they provide.

Quote from the interview: “Most of the rough sleepers are very keen to find a job and make a living by themselves, they don’t want to be dependent on others or become others’ burden”

Quotes from the interview: “Young people are very transient” “70% of young people who come to us are sofa surfing” “Young homeless people are worried about how they are viewed amongst their peers... it’s important to address challenging the stereotypes...”

“Many young homeless people have had negative experiences with councils”

Schools’ Welfare Teams

Colleges’ Welfare Teams

Soical Workers

Street Outreach

Prison Outreach

LGBTQ+ Services

Local Council

Police

Referels

Word of Mouth

C4WS

Pret A Manger

Empolyment Partnerships

New Horizon

Housing Partnerships

Night Stop

KX Recruitment Origin Housing

Services

Life Skills

Nurse

Housing Advice

Employment Advice

Food Emergency Lunches Shelter Breakfasts

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Showers

Storage

Laundry

Personal Development

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02 Define 2.1. Findings and Insights 2.2. User Personas and Journey maps 2.3. Problem Analysis and Service Gap 2.4. Workshops and Further Interviews 2.5. Define Questions

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2.1. Findings and Insignts

2.1.1 Findings

1 in 5 young people have had to sofa surf

Only 24% of young people in homeless -ness services knew where to go for help 2015, Centrepoint

2015, Centrepoint

Family breakdown is the #1 reason for youth homelessness

93% of young people felt that no-one cared about them while they were sleeping rough

“Everyone of these young rough sleepers owns a smartphone” Phil Kerry, New Horizon

2015, Centrepoint

“Have you seen any young rough sleepers on the streets?

Good luck finding them” Staff member, New Horizon

“I want control and visibility over where I sleep”

2015, Homelesslink

“Sofa surfing is the most acceptable way of rough sleeping”

“Young people have so much pride in their appearance” Phil Kerry, New Horizon

Ellen, Sofa Surfer

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In young rough sleepers’ own words

Ellen, Sofa Surfer on using couchsurfing.com to secure a bed

“It was probably one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever done,”

“It’s hell, it’s living hell. Sleeping rough is hell and in all fairness I don’t think sofa surfing is much better.”

Richard, Rough Sleeper on hooking up with someone on Tinder for a place to sleep

Craig, Rough Sleeper

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2.1.2 Insights

Young homeless people do not know where to go for help.

Some are hacking services that are not designed for them to secure their basic needs such as a place to sleep and access to a shower.

To avoid sleeping rough on the streets, some young homeless people resort to sofa-surfing or matching with strangers on dating apps in exchange for a bed to sleep on.

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Youth outreach teams have a hard time locating young homeless people on the streets as they are the most hidden homeless group Like all other young people their age, young homeless people live in a digital world; they rely on technology for information and communication.

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2.2. User Personas and Journey maps

2.2.1 Ellen

Ellen,24

Background

Family objected and disowned her She still has no contact with her family

University student

She wears perfect make-up everyday when she goes out

Working part-time at a bar Using couchsurfing.Com for sofa-surfing more than 3 years

Transgendered at the age of 20

Spends her savings on transgender operations

Gain Points

She needs a safe place to sleep She wants to be respected by her hosts She wants to use a service she can easily access

“...For me, couch surfing is the most acceptable

She wants to build a good relationship with her hosts

way of rough sleeping, although there is a risk that I

She hopes to have an equal relationship between service providers(host) and service users(surfer)

will meet someone who is rude or mean to me, there is also a chance that I can meet someone who is nice and who gives me hope...”

Pain Points

Usually, it takes quite long time to find a suitable host where she can feel safe The nature of sofa-surfing, however, often presents her with an unequal situation and puts her into a vulnerable position She feels she is required to fit in and hold back on her own needs, being on alert and having to anticipate her hosts’ reactions

sofa-surfers feel ashamed while they experience sofa-surfing, because they feel the unequal power between them and the service providers(host) Sofa-surfing cannot be a solution for accommodation (the hosts and the surfers regard this as a place to stay temporarily, cannot be permenant) -> but she is considering sofa-surfing as a convenient solution until she can afford a place to rent (disregarding the risks to her mental and physical wellbeing)

Ellen’s sofa-surfing Journey

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Ellen refuses services provided from the government such as shelters because she wants the freedom to choose where she sleeps and who she sleeps with

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2.2. User Personas and Journey maps

2.2.2 Kate

Kate, 18

Background

British Didn’t do well at school Weak bond with family

No occupation

Always expected she would get kicked out

Problem Child

Drug user, smokes and drinks alchohol excessively

Gain Points

She wants to be seen as cool It’s important to her to look good all the time She doesn’t want to work for money. She expects someone else’s help

“... When I changed my profile on Tinder “looking for one night stand”, there were so many offers.

Maintaining her relationships with her group of friends is very important to her

And then I thought ...I don’t need to worry about where to sleep anymore...”

Pain Points Kate’s Journey Map

To keep up her image, she needs to carry her heavy belongings and needs money to buy items She is in denial of her emotions/feelings and therefore doesn’t seek help from her local authority Keeps resorting to strangers to secure a place to sleep putting herself at risk of physical and psychological abuse

Sofa surfing provides kate with a sense of normalcy.

She is ashamed to tell people that she’s homeless and therefore distances herself from engaging with any services that are designed to help homeless young people such as youth centres.

Her perception is that she is able to control her homelessness through finding a place to sleep without identifying as being a homeless person.

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2.2. User Personas and Journey maps

2.2.3 Sam

Sam, 20

Background

Low-income family background Had a fallout with his mother and was asked to leave Has a few friends

No occupation

He is an only child Intovert, suffers from social anxiety

Gain Points

He is reserved and doesn’t like to talk about his situation to other people

“... I asked my friend if I could stay only a few nights

He doesn’t want to feel like a burden

on their sofa until I figure things out. I went to a nearby Church but I saw so many old homeless people, so I didn’t go in. I wasn’t sure where to go..”

Sam’s Journey Map

He need a safe place to stay that is familiar

Pain Points

Staying at his friend’s place makes him feel like he’s a burden He doesn’t think that he’s eligible for housing He feels intimidated to connect with local authorities/community services He needs to find the next sofa to sleep on after his friend asked him to leave

Some young sofa-surfers don’t know how to connect with services that are available to young homeless people and therefore feel abandoned by their communities Young sofa surfers need a low-entry barrier to access information and services without feeling intimidated by the rigidity of the service process

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2.3. Problem Analysis and Service Gap

Many young homeless people don’t know where to go for help.

Information about their options is scattered across different websites.

Information available on the Camden Council website is difficult to navigate and hard to read especially for young people with no experience and a very short attention span.

Only 24% of young people in homeless -ness services knew where to go for help

2015, Centrepoint

“It’s impossible to find information” Milo 21, Sofa Surfer

Solutions such as Homeless Link lack interactivity and Street Link lacks instancy due to the high-barrier to entry; users have to “log-in” before they can get access to the service.

Young homeless people often need line up outside youth centres e.g New Horizons to make an appointment to speak with an advisor.

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“Word of mouth is the number one way people get referred to us”

2015, Centrepoint

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User Online Pathway

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Shelter

Centrepoint

homeless link

homeless link

The Camden Council New horizons

The Camden Council

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Street link

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A need for an instant solution to their homelessness and to avoid sleeping rough on the streets some young people are driven to make dangerous decisions such using dating apps.

Current user pathway to services

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2.4. Meetings and Further Interviews

“We need to talk about rough sleeping” Event 2018-11-29 This was an event open to the public organised by Sarah Elie.

It provided a platform for us to share our research topic with members of the public and solicit feedback on some of our initial ideas in an informal manner.

Interview with Tom, a nurse from the NHS outreach team 2018-12-04 Quotes from the interview: “ It’s become very difficult to find young rough sleepers on the street, especially young women” “...so we no longer send our teams to look young rough sleepers, we wait for them to come to us through word of mouth.”

“We don’t have any digital channels to engage young vulnerable people, but of course it would be great if there would be” “I wish there was more communication between local communities and service providers”

Poster presented during the rough sleeping event

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2.5 Define Question

How might we...

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Design a low-barrier to entry tool/solution to encourage young homeless people to seek help from authorised service providers rather than go through unsafe channels to fulfil their needs

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03 Develop 3.1 Ideation and Inspiration 3.2 Co-design workshop 3.3 Service Concept Development 3.4 Feedback and Iteration

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3.1 Ideation and Inspiration

Tinder

Messenger

#Intuitive

#Interactive

#Quick

#Quick

#Easy to use

#Accessible

Couchsurfing

Instagram

#Visibility

#Visual

#Ratings & Reviews

#Easy to use

#Easy to use

#Simple

3.1.1 What they are hacking

3.1.2 What they are using

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Our service values:

Babylon #Quick #Accessible #Establishes Trust #Interactive

Easy to use Quick

Airbnb #Quick

#Easy to use #Visibility

#Accessible #Values Privacy #Safe

Accessible

#Ratings & Reviews

Values Privacy Establishes trust

Chatbots #Quick

Simple

#Safe

#Accessible

#Easy to use

#Establishes Trust

Interactive Safe

#Interactive 3.1.3 Further Inspiration

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3.2.

Co-design workshop

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The co-design workshop with participants from multidisciplinary backgrounds was organised in order to develop our rough solution.

We investigated possible touch points and considered opportunities to solve the user’s challenges.

Participants

Event date and time

Oliver

18:00-21:00 / Wed 16 Jan 2019

Paolo Fran Ruano Esteban Talavera Paul Navin

Place The St Pancras & Somers Town Living Centre

Dana Song

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3.2.1 Workshop Preparation Invite Participants

We aimed to bring together people who can help us to develop our digital platform while empathising with the young rough sleepers user group. To achieve this, we recruited participants who work in the digital industry, and those aged 16-21 through email, community groups and school notice boards We had difficulty reaching young, homeless people for the workshop, however we recruited young people who are not homeless but who share similar characteristics such as lifestyle preferences, preferred communication channels and digital media habits.

In total we invited four diverse organisations, social service providers and students to our workshop. A total of seven participants attended the workshop.

Final participants list Group 1 (Facilitator: Chang) Oliver

Student major in computer and science

Mariya

Tech specialist

Dana Song

Former social worker for handicapped child

Paul Navin

Google engineer

Group 2 (Facilitator: Yoora)

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Paolo

Product manager in property industry

Fran Ruano

IT consultant

Esteban Talavera

Google engineer

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Organise Co-design Workshop

Invite participants from multidisciplinary backgrounds

Set Co-design Chanllenge and Direction

Build workshop activities

Research activities and tools for effective and efficient co-design session

Create own tools for main activities

Test prototype

Develop prototype and Complete

Prepare Materials

Prepare Presentation

Organise Workshop Agenda

Set Workshop Principles (This is Service Design Doing p.44)

Design workshop enviornment

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3.2.2 Co-design Workshop

Tool.

Wishing This technique was designed to encourage workshop participants to let their imaginations run wild. We asked participants to think about the most unattainable, extreme, and impractical solutions they can think of to solve our design challenges.

We then put up the wishes and discussed the ideas in detail with the aim of triggering new but more realistic concepts to pursue.

Workshop Brief

We had several different challenges that encouraged participants to think about a specific functionalities to solve the challenge at hand.

1

Aim of this activity:

Design a digital outreach service that connects young homeless people with the help they need to: Access safe accommodation options 2 Access support services such as physical and mental health, legal advice, showers, free food, storage.

To generate as many creative ideas as possible To come up with specific service concepts To think about functionalities of the service

Purpose

This workshop aimed to explore protential directions: 1. Identifying Touchpoints

Sheet 2.

Wow! Brilliant !

Now let’s make the dream come true : ) 1

How will the users become aware of name of service

Think about a moment/situation. you can write down or simply draw your idea.

?

2. Scaling down the service concept 3. Investigating possible functionalities for the solution

Sheet. 1 2

1

First, name your unicorn

Hi, my name is 2

This is my challenge

“

How will they join name of service

Think about a moment/situation. you can write down or simply draw your idea.

?

your unicorn name (name of potential service)

3

Hey, your unicorn name How can you slove my challenge ? you can write down or simply draw your idea.

I don’t trust digital services that ask for my personal details

3

what does the first experience / use / interaction of

Think about a moment/situation. you can write down or simply draw your idea.

name of service

look like ?

3

How do they feel after using name of service

Think about a moment/situation. you can write down or simply draw your idea.

?

What effect did it have?

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Workshop activities & Results

Activity 1. Word Association

Activity 3. Moodboard

Purpose

Warm up exercise

Purpose

Understand target user group

Task

What comes to mind when you hear ‘Rough sleeping’?

Task

What lifestyle brands, music, products, social media platforms,

How

Individual

Material

Post-its

people, activities are important to the users?

Activity 2. Presentation

How

Group

Material

Google presentation

Activity 4. Crazy 4

Purpose

Understand Brief and Context

Purpose

Come up with creative ideas for the possible touchpoints

Task

10 mins Presentation

Task

What are the possible touchpoints to make the users aware of our service?

How

All

How

Individual

Material

-

Material

A4 papers

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Activity 5. Exploration and Inspiration Purpose

Understand service gaps and service values

Task

Expolre existing services(streetlink, homelesslink,etc.) and talk about inspirations (dating apps, online booking websites, Messenger bot, live chats, etc.)

How

Group

Material

-

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Activity 7. Storyboard Purpose

See how our service might work

Task

Draw or write a service scenario

How

Group

Material

Customised worksheet

Activity 6. Wishing Purpose

Creative idea generation

Task

think about the most unattainable, extreme, and impractical solutions they can think of to solve our design challenges.

How

Pairs or Individuals

Material

Customised work sheets

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3.3 Service Development 3.3.1 Set direction

3.3.2 Set Service Concept

1

Break down the high barriers to entry

2

Organise and simplify service processes

3

Make information more accessible

Name of ‘Cody’ The name “Cody” is Celtic in origin and translates to “helpful person”. A less commonly cited meaning for the name is “Pillow” “Cody” is a gender neutral name The name “Cody” has a friendly and casual ring to it

Voice of ‘Cody’ Friendly Young reliable helpful

Visual of ‘Cody’ Use similar colour to Airbnb Familiar User Interface Fussy, bokeh images for Privacy

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3.4.

Feedback & Iteration We’ve demonstrated or tested our prototype with Multiple advisors, service stakeholders and 3 Real Users 80

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3.4.1 Set up User Testing

Develop Testing Manual

Prepare Prototype (Adobe XD Prototyping tool)

Test Guildline

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Taget User Interviewees

Recruit Real case users

As a group we had to use our personal networks to recruit young rough sleepers for interviews. We also used ads offering compensation for users to test and provide feedback about our service prototype.

Ellen,24 Sofa surfer, rough sleeper Skpye 2019-01-24

HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED ROUGH SLEEPING OR SOFA SURFING? We are group of service designers working on solutions for youth homelessness.

If you are available to chat to us and give us feedback about our potential solution, please get in touch. Your feedback would be extremely valuable.

Prototype ver. 1.3, Showing video

Milo,20

Any information you provide will remain anonymous.

Sofa surfer, rough sleeper Interview and Test in LCC 2019-01-25 Prototype ver. 1.3, Demonstration

contact: y.bazian0820181@arts.ac.uk Small rewards is giving for participants

Paul, 23 Ex-sofa surfer, rough sleeper Interview and Test near to Victoria station 2019-01-26 Prototype ver. 1.4, Self-Exploration

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Positive Feedback “100% Beneficial”

“it looks really helpful because it’s impossible to find information”

“The user interface is very intuitive” Milo, Sofa Surfer

“I like checklist” “I would set checklist cause it’s gonna help me anyway Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

Milo, Sofa Surfer

“Availabilities”

“when I was rough sleeping I didn’t know where to go...

I wish this existed”

“There is a lot of information here, I don’t need to look any further. I think it’s giving me everything I need” Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

“How simple is it, it doesn’t leave me confused”

Milo, Sofa Surfer

Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

“I like the idea of direct message with the outreach teams joining the same messenger group, the info provided by these people is very reliable ” Ellen, Sofa Surfer

“I feel like the app is doing everything for me rather than me having to think so much. Simplifying everything.

Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

“I think you chose a good way to interact and communicate with these young people, also the emojis are definitely a very important part of their language ... ” Ellen, Sofa Surfer

“ I am actually quite surprised”

Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

“with here, referral which I thought it will take long time, I think you guys are covering that I don’t have to go to many different people. Everything is in one.”

Paul, Ex-rough Sleeper

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“ Very well detailed actually”

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Feedback for iteration “using emojis might give the impression that the situation is not serious in desperation, homeless young people might think the service is not taking them seriously.

However,I also understand that if you keep your tone light it makes people feel at ease. So it’s important to find a balance”

“Creat account and set your checklist, and maybe when in availablity with my checklist comes up, I will be notified” “Maybe, telling users that their information will only be shared when the partner organisation request it”

“Find a better way to describe words like longterm medium support, and the difference between the accommodation types “

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“it is important to promote the app, otherwise it will be hard to find (wifi, internet cafe, leaflet at centres)”

“put more focus on Emergency Access (Bed for Tonight Feature )” “the first place that I went to for help was a job centre.. it would be helpful to add a feature on how to apply for jobs...help writing CV”

“I wish there was a code that gives you credit to use for rooms instead o f a credit card”

“gyms usually have free showers it would be great to know where I can access a shower”

...

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04 Deliver 4.1 Final Output 4.2 Service Scenario 4.3 Stakeholder Map 4.4 Service Blueprint

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4.1 Final Output

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Cody Our solution is designed as a low barrier to entry service that we called “Cody” to help young homeless people who are currently rough sleeping access immediate accommodation through the help of a virtual outreach team.

Our solution will also provide young homeless people with access to the information they need regarding short-term and longterm accommodation and options to access basic needs such as shower, food and storage facilities.

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“Cody” will provide a one-stop shop for young homeless people where all the information they need is aggregated within the platform. “Cody” includes an interactive feature where young homeless people can chat to a bot that will help them navigate the information and match them with the right service based on their needs.

Unlike other available homeless information services such as homeless link, Cody offers ease of use, simplicity, instancy, and interactivity with its users.

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4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 1.

Easy to use and Intuitive

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4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 2.

Interactive and alive

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4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 3.

Friendly

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4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 4.

Accessible e.g. Information about accommodation

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4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 5.

Helpful

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Service Feature 7.

Simple

4.1 Final Output

Service Feature 6.

Protect

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4.2 Service Scenario

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Ellen sleeps on the couch at her friend’s flat On her way home, Ellen connects to public wifi and gets a pop-up message about ‘Cody’

During landlord’s inspection Ellen has to put her luggage in the garage

Ellen hangs out with her friends at park until the landlord’s inspection is over

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Ellen’s friends tell her about Saver Menu at Mcdonald

Ellen is curious and wants to downloads the app, she goes to Starbucks to access Wifi and explore it further

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4.3 Stakeholder Map

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Centrepoint

Crisis

Depaul

Outreach Teams In-Link BT Schools

London wide

Cody

Colleges/ Universities

Camden

End Youth Homelessness

Mcdonald’s

User

Youth Organizations in Camden Hostels

Shelters

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The Big Issue Foundation

Pret a Manger Nightstop Camden Council

Homeless Link

Shelters

St. Mungos

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4.4 Service Blueprint

Smart phones (Mobile friendly Webpage)

Online Timetable

Possible Touchpoints

Physical Evidence

Users Actions

Message with Outreach teams

Chatbot

Checklist

Aware of the service

Start to use the platform

Set expectations Input basic info

Interact/chat with Cody (+visibility)

Get connected

Make appointments

Lines of interaction

Front-of-stage Interactions

Advertisment Blog Campaign

Manage Platform

Manage information and data

Gather service providers

Lines of visibility

Back-of-stage Interactions

Advertisment Blogging Campaign

Software Development

Engage with service providers

Lines of internal interaction

Support Processes

Create a Marketing plan

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Coordinate stakeholders

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Provide visibility of options

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05 Conclusion 5.1 Reflection 5.2 Conclusion

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This project was in many ways challenging and rewarding at the same time.

As a team we had to overcome the challenge of designing for a user group that is hard to recruit and reluctant to engage because they are hidden. Youth organisations were also reluctant to connect us with young homeless people in their care due to safeguarding and privacy issues. We also had to overcome the challenge of working without the constant involvement and feedback of a dedicated client/stakeholder.

We believe that was due to the focus of our research which required the involvement of specialist youth organisations and teams in Camden who were understaffed and had to prioritise their time.

Despite all these challenges, we managed to use our personal networks and recruiting tools to interview and test with the user group.

To move this project forward, we will need the buy in and dedication of service providers specifically the Camden Council, youth organisations and street outreach teams.

We are satisfied with the outcome of this project and hope to take it to the next round of iteration and testing.

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The feedback we received from user testing was positive and confirmed our research findings and problem statement that constituted the basis of our service concept development. Young homeless people don’t know where to go for help and try to find solutions to their homelessness through unsafe channels. What if “Cody� can be the solution they choose over dating apps.

This is the aim of our service and based on the first round of testing and feedback with young rough sleepers, it was confirmed that this service is indeed needed and will help alleviate a lot of the pain points young rough sleepers face on a daily basis.

There are still gaps to be filled and more testing and iterations to be done, but we have the reassurance from the user group that we are headed in the right direction and we have the confidence to build on what we have started.

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+ Appendixes User Journey Map Sample In-depth Interview Guide and Text Co-design Materials and Results

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Appendix A

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User Journey Map-Samantha (21)

+ Appendixes

User Journey Map Sample

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User Journey Map-Finn (18)

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User Journey Map-John (22)

User Journey Map-Ellen (25)

User Journey Map-Jenny (25)

+ Appendixes

User Journey Map-Becky (23)

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Appendix B

In-Depth Interview Guide and Text

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Indepth Interview with Ellen Chang: Hi Ellen, thanks again for giving me your time, I know you are super-busy now, I really appreciate that you are willing to share your story with me Ellen:No way, it’s me who should say thank you, thanks for listening to me complain about my life, thanks for showing me respect Chang: So, how are you doing today?

Ellen: Quite well, I don’t have work today, so I went to the university this morning after

+ Appendixes

breakfast.

Chang: Where did you have your breakfast? What did you have to eat?

Ellen: I had a half a sandwich leftover from yesterday, and since my roommates allow me to drink the milk in the fridge, I also had a cup of milk.

Chang: I’m curious you used the word “roommates” instead of “those people”. I remember last time when you talked about them, you just described them as ”those people who gave me.....” or ”those people who told me that.....”

Ellen: Hahaha, that’s true, I didn’t realized that, I think some of them are just becoming more and more important in my life, they are nice to me.

Chang: That’s great. Can you describe some of the nice thnigs they do?

Ellen: They help me a lot in many different ways, for example, one of my roommates always reminds me to hide my belongings before the landlord’s inspection. Another guy offers to do my laundry every weekend at home. I have to say this is the best sofa surfing experience I’ve had...and I’ve had many.

Chang: I am really glad to hear you say that, but it seems that you look better than the last time I saw you.

Ellen: I know, I feel better too, probably because my study and my work is going well recently.

Chang: Can you tell me about the first time you had to sleep on a sofa?

Ellen: It was three years ago, actually I cannot remember everything that happened that day, but there is one thing that I still remember to this day which was: I believed I will only sleep on a stranger’s couch for a few days, and I told myself I won’t tell anyone(also because I had no one to tell). To be honest, at that age I couldn’t handle my new circumstances, I couldn’t come to terms with my new situation, so i just kept telling myself..it’s just a temporary thing, it will pass.

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Chang: What did you do when you couldn’t find a place to sleep?

Chang: I signed up to these websites, but I found that they aren’t designed for people who

Ellen: Between sleeping on sofas, I’ve had to spend nights in train stations, tube stations

rough sleeping, they’re designed for travellers.

where there’s warmth. I also slept on the night bus for a short period of time.

Ellen: Yeah, I know, but I don’t mind if others call me a “traveller”, it is much better than

Chang: Where did you find your first sofa to sleep on?

“rough sleeper”, I think we are equal, sometimes I even hope people can treat me like a trav-

Ellen: I found it on couchsurfing.com. I had no experience at the time and that was the only

eller, so I can hide the dark side of my life and talk about how beautiful the world is.

way that I knew to find a temporary place to sleep, so I signed up for the service for the first

Chang: Are there anyone who gives you support? In other words, what are your sources of

time.

support?

Ellen: I received a lot of support from my university, like I said before, they gave me a stu-

Chang: What do you think about the service?

dent grant and offered me the documents needed for the bank loan, they gave me a lot of

Ellen: I thought the website was well-organized, there is a lot of information about the hosts,

advice for part-time jobs which were super useful.

the descriptions of the neighborhoods...

I also received a lot of support from my ex-boss from work, she shared a bunch of info about accommodation services.

Chang: How long it took you to find a couch to sleep on through couchsurfing.com?

Ellen: If I am not mistaken, it took me only 3-4 days, which was relatively quick compared to

Chang: Generally speaking, how does sofa surfing make you feel?

finding a couch to sleep on a facebook group or through my personal network of friends

Ellen: My feelings change a lot from time to time: Sometimes, Sofa surfing makes me depressed, because you always feel like you are under somebody else’s control and mercy, you

Chang: Do you mind sharing your worst experience with sofa surfing?

will never feel like you can be yourself. Other times, I feel ok, it looks like I have developed

Ellen: The worst experience must be my second sofa surfing experience. I found a place to

strength to deal with my current situation, Sometimes, I feel grateful for every single thing

sleep via a facebook group, at first, the the landlord was very nice, because he planned to

in my life for no reason, I cannot explain the reason, it is too complex. But I have to say...for

have sex with me, but after finding out that I was a transgender, he changed immediately

me, sofa surfing is the most acceptable way of rough sleeping.

his attitude and refused to have me at home anymore. At that time, I had no money at all, because I just finished my last sex-reassignment surgery, so it was really a big big challenge for me to find another place to sleep in a short time after leaving the hospital.

Chang: So what did you do? How did you deal with the situation?

Ellen: I went to university student support for help, and they suggested me to apply for a student bank loan which really saved my life.

Chang: How did that save your life, can you tell me more?

Ellen: Because with this money from the bank, I was able to afford the cost for the hostel and food. So I stayed in a hostel for a couple of weeks, but I didn’t like the people there, most of them were immigrants, they spoke their own language which I couldn’t understand, so I was not sure if they were talking about me or not, anyway it made me feel unsafe and drove me crazy, that is the reason why I decided to go back to Sofa Surfing Chang: What are the services you usually use to find a place to sleep?

Ellen: I prefer to use couchsurfing.com, because it feels legitimate. It makes me feel safe because I’m familiar with it. I know someone who used Tinder, but i will never use it...

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New Horizon Interview -It’s very important to help them get an income where they can get their benefits

Referral process:

-We also offer long term housing solutions, this could be through council or through one of

-step1:

the accommodation projects for low support young people(16-24 years old) which is man-

Short initial assessment: we get key information from them, such as last sleeping places,

aged by New Horizon and OriginHousing -We also have collaborations with local private renting agencies, so we encourage young people to rent and help them make a deposit for their first month rent so they don’t need to pay their rent immediately -The matching process all depends on the advice team, they will give young people the best matching options according to their specific support needs.

-The service is not only about accommodations but also about developing their life skills -We will prioritize people who are found sleeping on the street and who have mental health or drug addiction issues

benefits of work, ages, social status, etc. and we will check their eligibility especially for young people around 15-24 years old.

- step2: Detailed assessment: we have a housing advice team with 4 advice workers who will do 12 one-one appointments per day with young people, giving them information and advice,encouraging them to go back to their local authorities. We also encourage them to go to local emergency services like emergency shelters which are very limited in London, and there is always a waiting list, except these all year around options, there are also a lot of seasonal options, especially during the winter(C4WS).

-After young people move out from the shelters,we will still be engage with them and help

Insights:

them get a job, we will have case meetings in order to have the move on plans and longer

-Young people prefer to find solutions through other channels such as dating apps like

term options.

Tinder, because they don’t know where to go for help, they have misunderstanding of the

-Usually people can stay in the shelters for one month, but this could vary depending on

services that provided by local authorities, and some of them feel ashamed to go for help

different individual cases, for example some shelters only provides accommodation for one

and they don’t want negative stereotype or labels, others may want to be independent and

night to one week.

-There are some special plans for young people who are going to turn to 25 years old, so a few months before their birthday, our team will work on a specific plan, we will put the focus on the employment and try to help them start working. We will also refer them to other service providers which don’t have limits in terms of age.

don’t want to be in control, and the reasons could also be the different backgrounds and different cultures.

-We try to manage young people’s expectations, and help them to be realistic based on the situation in London.

-It is quite hard to track young people because they always change their phone numbers and they come in once but never come back. So we have a collaboration with another agency

word of month

called Chain which helps us check-in and help us keep a record electronically.

online

-The challenges that New Horizon are facing right now is the lack of time and accommoda-

local councils/authorities

tion resources, because we are a very small team with a few staff members, but we have to

schools/universities welfare teams

deal with a very high number of young rough sleepers

prisons(before release)/institutions social services Streeroutreach Police LGBTQ services

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Interview with Jon at London Jesus Centre

Interview with Philip at Christian Church

2018-11-07

2018-10-31

Summary:

Main problem:

Jon manages the drop-in day centre which is particularly geared towards people who are

-disconnection of local services(charities and organizations)

homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless.

-rough sleepers prefer to do the self medication, because they don’t want to see the doctors -there are a lot of places for food,but in a very low-quality

Services offered at the centre Insights: Provide a network of support (one-to-one help) and services for people experiencing social

-Improve their life quality without changing their lifestyle

and economic needs. People come in for showers, food, to make phone calls and to use

be careful about the boundary

computers. We try to help reduce the suffering associated with homelessness but also to

-rough sleepers need to have a sense of belonging/self achievement

help people find a way out of homelessness.

-female rough sleepers are in a more complex situation, they prefer to stay in hidden places Wishes:

People they work with

- every service provider should provide specific service to homeless people, for example,

-Asylum

churches should be churches, restaurants should be restaurants

-Refugees -Rough Sleepers (people who are either homeless or vulnerably housed) -Small project for the elderly (65+) Seasonal partnership -Immigration lawyer (employed by the council) helps with case work mainly for European people who have no recourse to public funds...gives advice -CW4S in Camden Winter Shelters. They work with 7 other different churches. Between November and April they refer people to CW4S winter shelters.

-Mental Health agencies they work with one agency in Camden and one in Westminster to help people get access and lots of other organisations.

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Interview with Paul, Ex-rough sleeper

Research Report

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feel like we have put rather than use my time to go there, we just use the time is what? Try to do extra things to try to get my hm.

U-RA: When you were like when you were kind of rough sleeping. Did you think that you are

Paul: When I was sixteen seventeen growing up, I was studying still in college, and my moth-

a homeless? You don’t need to answer about this, because It’s really like interesting that you

er was unable to. continue paying bills for the rooms. Um, which led to us being kicked out in

mentioned that you don’t want to be labeled homeless people or rough sleeper. Yes. Then at

the end, I did get a part time job, but I wasn’t enough, because I have to keep studying also.

that time you thought you’re ?

And I decided to just see what we can decide. I had to go and jump on like my father’s bed a

Paul: I just say I am at a bad position.

few minutes, but I think they’re (open permanently) because he has children and I didn’t want to be a bother for him. And so ended up staying.

U-RA: Okay, no worry. Yeah. Um, we will go through our prototype. So there’s two things we want to ask you. Um. The one is telling your thoughts properly, ah, regardless of importance

U-RA: And you keep going.

or the size of thoughts. Every single feeling, thought and questions are extremely valuable

Paul: I stayed there for a few night and then I go to my friend’s house, stayed there for a few

for our research. So please speak out. So you could say like, oh, shit or what is happening

weeks at while I’m maintaining a part time job. Because I realized anymore better position

here. Why it is not working? Could I do this? Um, I don’t want to do this right now. Kind of

right now, um, maybe it was a little scary for studying university at that time sometimes of

small dogs. And secondly, like here, you know, I’m recording your hand right now. So, the

how to sell for healthy just for a few months. For me just to work super hard, I need to do

reason why I am recording your hand is because, um, when it comes to user testing, every

so. I just study with what part time. And actually I made friends with a colleague, luckily, and

expression from you is becoming our results of research. So we would like to correct which

they managed to help him out. I could stay with them and pay them. So I have like a perma-

points are making our user frustrated or happy. And how long does it take to explore our

nent place. I’d stayed there until got back on my feet.

product as well? So, um, I record your hand gesture and voice Ok. Thank you. Let’s based on your experience and knowledge about your of not your like about youth homelessness.

U-RA: Oh, that’s great. Um. Are you from London?

Um, imagine that you are a young rough sleeper like who is nineteen years old after family

Paul: Oh, yes.

break down a few months ago, you are sleeping on the sofa of your friends home these days.

But today your friend asks you to leave in a few days. So, there is no more friends, family, or

U-RA: Where is your borough?

relatives that you can ask help. So, what would you do in this situation?

Paul: Hackney.

Paul: Um, I don’t actually know, I think I think I would at that point go to a big local council. I look for some help.

U-RA: Is that different with Camden?

Paul: It’s not far away.

U-RA: Then would you just go straight away to like Hackney council in person or you just like such…

U-RA: Then your borough is Hackney.

Paul: I am going on in person.

Paul: Yes. U-RA: Can I ask you why would you prefer to go in person?

U-RA: I didn’t know that. Um, so then can you try to talk to like local authority. I’m in this

Paul: I feel like things and people empathize more when they see you. See the person rather

situation like is there anything that I can be helped?

than see the words.

Paul: I have not.

U-RA: Okay. That’s interesting. Um, then let’s move to the task two. this is our product called U-RA: Hm. So the reason why you didn’t asking ask? They are close? And

Cody. Ah, when you saw this image and heard its name, what did you think? What was your

Paul: Oh, yes, at the same. Well, maybe not. So just slope is I’m sure they do try, but it was

first impression? Like just feeling like it looks something anything is like,

more I didn’t I didn’t maybe I didn’t feel like I wanted to be seen as a homeless person, lies

Paul: I don’t know really.

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U-RA: What do you think?

U-RA: You can’t you can’t, it doesn’t work.

Paul: Oh, um, very simple, hum. Like all these service looks like something I I can’t tell from

Paul: what’s drug users.

SEDI 2018-19

just this.

U-RA: Um, yeah, it means that kind of support I need an accommodation with no drug users U-RA: And what is just like atmosphere could imagine here. That is okay. Yeah, yeah, no

may I mean what we are thought was, um, I am drug users or.

worry, It’s ok. So from now on will give you the mobile prototype. So just explore our product

Paul: So drug use support.

again. There are so many missing pages, and some pages are not active. So, whenever you encounter that, just let us know. You can you start use.

U-RA: Yeah, yeah, that’s great. Thank you.

Paul: Okay. If I was to scroll.

U-RA: Sorry, you can’t select long term.

Paul: I can’t select tonight?

U-RA: uh, you can’t do that. Sorry, ah, yeah, sorry, you have to do it again.

Paul: So I would go through with this one because it’s ninety-eight percent success rate.

Paul: Just set my checklist? Yeah, scroll

U-RA: Thank you for speak. Um. Why isn’t it changed?

U-RA: Can I ask you? Would you set your check list at the point or you can just like you,

Paul: It’s going very fast.

maybe you don’t want to reveal like dispose yourself.

Paul: No, I would set checklist, because it’s gonna help me anyway. So even if I don’t and I

U-RA: Uh,Yeah, I think that there is like our mistake. So I recommend you to select short time

saw something earlier that said about login, so I’m guessing you can create an account. And

in this time.

if you set your checklist is on your accounts, and maybe when and availability with my check

Paul: Sorry?

list comes up, I will be notified. Maybe I was everything. So if you create an account and then and then in the data, they show all we have this place available. And this place has women

U-RA: Short term. Sorry for jumping into, can you like distinguish what is tonight and what is

only. The support is medium, the regulation level is high, which matches my checklist per-

short term?

fectly. Then I will be notified at this place. And then I will be able to look at this place.

Paul: Tonight would be the thing very urgent tonight. And short term would be um, short time will be you stay there for more than one night. You stay there for maybe two or three nights

U-RA: That’s what you expect.

that I would say it.

Paul: I think this would be a very good.

U-RA: Can I ask you one more? Why did you select long time at first?

U-RA: Then could you go through like save?

Paul: Because people we have long term comes a sense of security and having a home for a

Paul: so yeah, register or assigning or by dismiss,

long time. You don’t want to be thinking in short time. Otherwise you’re always thinking, oh, when, where am I gonna live? Whereas we have a long term, you can think about other things

U-RA: You should dismiss dismissed.

in your life, aside from a home.

Paul: As this one has a referral needed, I feel like in in an emergency option, as you said, I should be a nineteen-year-old in need, but it’s very fast. So because as a referral needed to

U-RA: Wow that’s great.

me, I would feel the referral will take too much time when I need to be very fast. So I would

Paul: I like this.

choose this one because it just is may accept people Actually, this one already seems more.

However, this is twenty-one. So I kind of have to go here. Okay, let me see what referral is.

U-RA: It doesn’t work. Sorry it doesn’t work. So we should go back. Uh, then sorry, so I

Can I do that?

check my list and you can scroll.

U-RA: No, I don’t think so.

Paul: so, I cannot slide.

Paul: Oh, awesome list.

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U-RA: Do you know what that is? Because in that, um, actually the reason why we put that is

Paul: It is for getting homeless and rough sleepers to uh, to have a home to be to have some

because in their website, they said like that, no. What is ours soonest? Do you do know that?

security. Uh, I feel like that really would help with this. It’s uh, I was actually quite surprised,

Paul: Something with fire?

um, if I was homeless now this would be something that I would love to have. I wish I would have, but I feel like in the future this I would like something even along the line. This this I

U-RA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I said that, it was. We don’t know why they call people

would be very very helpful.

like that.

Paul: Ok, this seems quite affordable. I like it.

U-RA: Thank you. Do you think is this beneficial in the situation that we said earlier, like I’m nineteen years old.

U-RA: could you like do this?

Paul: One hundred percent, yes, I think one thing I’d I was a good like if I was in the position

Paul: I like that. That’s super cool.

of a nineteen-year-old, do you think almost looking for live and if the person I’m speaking with, uh, the machine we know that emoji like the town pointing in the dancing man. I know

U-RA: What do you think I like it?

it gives it a lighter tone, but I feel like in desperation that people would think uh, is serious

Paul: I think that’s very simple. It makes things much easier for me. I feel like that this app is

or is this real? I feel like there should be a little bit of an urgent tone coming from the other

actually helping rather than we have to think so much to offer, just simplifying everything.

side. However, I do also understand that if you keep the tone light, it can make people feel at ease. So It’s a hard one.

U-RA: Thank you.

Paul: Good, very well detailed, actually fully furnished, there’s a lot of information here.

U-RA: Yeah, maybe we have to find a middle.

I don’t feel the need to look any further into another thing. I feel like this is giving me

Paul: Yes, I agree

everything that I okay, let’s understand. Ah, you know, I said, you know, I said a few minutes

U-RA: Um, you can ask me some part that you were struggling to explore and hard to guess

ago saying the referrals will take some time. Well, here, it seems like you guys have this com-

what that was.

plex, as I can just apply for here. I don’t have to go to many different people is everything is

Paul: Honestly, I didn’t struggle with like to getting around. What made it hard was just hav-

in one. This is actually very good.

ing page is not available. Otherwise, I think I would have found my way around quite easily, actually is very simple.

U-RA: So would you like proceed booking?

Paul: Uh, I would uh, I don’t know. oh, center points them. Oh, yeah. How do you know?

U-RA: Um, can you tell us the good point and bad point of our service.

I thought the hang of it, you need to slide across to the next bit. You’re center point. What

Paul: The good point is how simple it is and how available is. The bad point would be how to

can we help you at all? I see are looking for that and your story so unhappy, but we trust us.

get this out there to everybody like that. The bad point is, not everyone will see this because

Welcome check this you have I can direct you make your appointment, and I would send you

many homeless people won’t have a phone. Most people won’t be able to find this sort of

check list. Thanks. Would you like to look at this week? Of course, this week at the time. So,

apps. Maybe they have no internet. Maybe they have, you know, and so I guess the only bad

I would definitely book as soon as possible. I like the little dancing, emoji, everybody dancing

thing if you can make it available, uh, at internet cafe or maybe a small advertisement in

with me? Fifteen points after that. It’s too fast. I shall I could I don’t know your name. Can

paper. Is Camden only. Right?

you have your name? Okay, thank you. Would my name be in my check list? Like a profile?

When you make control, when you make a profile with you, would you pick the details in? So

U-RA: So actually we are aiming to like just London and UK, but actually we are working with

it’s all on the checklist, like in everything. Is there ready for the app to use. Okay. And so that

Camden town right now.

would be when I take more now.

Paul: Okay, so maybe even a small leaflet in the centers where people would go to requests for help. Maybe a small leaflet, I would think would be if I recommend I see a leaflet like this.

U-RA: Thank you, thank you Paul.

Um, I would pick up maybe have a read and it could, depending on how it’s advertised, I

Paul: It’s really good

could want to go to an internet cafe or check on the phone. If I have one, I feel like once this

U-RA: Just handing like this. So what do you think this product is for?

phone is definitely once the app in the hands, I feel like he makes everything very, very easy.

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Appendix C

Co-design Materials

Research Report

SEDI 2018-19

Storyboard Template

Wishing Tool

+ Appendixes

Sheet. 1 1

First, name your unicorn

Hi, my name is 2

First, name your unicorn

Persona

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