UN Women Caribbean Workshop

Bridging Insight & Positive Change Using design thinking to advance social mobilization

Adriana Valdez Young for U N WO M E N CAR I B B EAN S O C I A L M O B I L I Z AT I O N W O R K S H O P N OVE M B E R 11TH, 2014

COM M U N ITY | DE S IG N R E S EARCH PRACTICE

Culture is the original technology.

Creating the right tools to affect change begins with understanding and designing from people’s everyday lives.

Locations Beijing, China Hong Kong, China Bangalore, India

Mumbai, India Pune, India Nairobi, Kenya

Kuwait City, Kuwait Beirut, Lebanon San Luis PotosĂ­, Mexico

Ramallah, Palestine Pisco, Peru Barcelona, Spain

London, UK New York, USA

How might design thinking be applied to create tools for positive change?

Designing for Communities Designing to Understand Designing to Empower Designing to Sustain From Insight to Change

DESIGNING FOR COMMUNITIES |

DESIGN THINKING

Design thinking is a methodology of creative problem-solving that opens new pathways for generating insights, building engagement, and achieving impact.

D E S I G N TH I N K I N G CAN B O LSTE R E F F E CTIVE S O C I A L M O B I L I Z AT I O N E F F O R T S I N T H E S E WAYS :

D E S IG N I NG TO U N D E R STAN D

D E S IG N I NG TO E M POWE R

D E S IG N I NG TO SUSTAI N

Applying a people-centered, participatory approach to the research and design process in order to generate and validate ideas from lived experiences.

Building inclusive and accessible ways to open dialogue, iterate solutions, activate partnerships, and amplify positive role models and community dynamics.

Seeding the conditions and tools for communities to maintain and grow their own initiatives.

INSIGHT |

D E S I G N I N G T O U N D E R S TA N D

The Haiti Report, Port-au-Prince

“When women participate, they learn that what they have to say is important.”

Selling & Planning Rye Lane, London

“It’s not a racial thing. It’s about lifestyle.”

— Mark, Immigrant Entrepreneur

— Eramithe Delva, KOFAVIV

Community mapping to understand how survivors of gender-based violence shift from victims to advocates.

Market mapping, ethnography and card games to understand and share the stories of recent immigrants and refugees building creative and resilient business models.

Key Success Factors Participant Observation Living and working alongside participants

Journey Mapping Tracing participant trajectories from their perspectives

Prototyping Testing lightweight design concepts and provocations to gather feedback and collect data

E NGAG E M E NT |

DE S IG N I NG TO E M P OW E R

Shield & Spear, South Africa

Yegna, Ethiopia

“I’m trying to free myself from community stigmas or expectations of the community.”

“I am realizing I want to change by listening to [Yegna].”

— Yegna listener

— Floyd Avenue, Member of Smarteez Fashion Collective

Using visual storytelling as a tool to amplify the voices of artists testing the limits of freedom of expression and create new opportunities for dialogue.

Building a girl empowerment brand that includes a magazine, radio drama, and listening clubs to promote positive role models for girls and their communities.

Key Success Factors Storytelling Using visual language and narratives to facilitate empathy, dialogue, and engagement

Branding Demonstrating positive behaviors and lifestyles that people want to emulate

Peer Ambassadors Empowering community members to lead knowledge sharing and open feedback channels

CHANGE |

D E S I G N I N G T O S U S TA N

Beat Making Lab, Senegal

Barefoot College, India

“The people need a female rapper.”

“We always believed cutting and welding iron wasn’t for women, it was a man’s job.”

—Youssa Senerap, Gotal

—Student, Barefoot College

Setting up digital music production studios in partnership with women’s advocacy centers and community health clinics.

Peer-to-peer and DIY pedagogical approach to democratize access to professional training otherwise limited to an educated class.

Key Success Factors Participatory Learning Creating a holistic environment where participants are encouraged to bring their lived experiences to the learning process

Professional Development Equipping communities with professional skills and tools to improve their ocio-economic status

Partnerships Identifying community partners to contribute complementary resources and support long-term engagement

F ROM I N S IG HT TO P OS ITIVE CHANG E

Design thinking helps to make insights more actionable, accessible, and shareable.

By taking a people-centered approach, you can open up more inspiring, empowering, and effective ways to mobilize for change.

Designing to Understand Participant Observation Journey Mapping Prototyping

Designing to Empower Storytelling Branding Peer Ambassadors

Designing to Sustain Participatory Learning Professional Development Partnerships

Thank You. Adriana Valdez Young adriana@opnbx.com opnbx.com