RecruitID Reception 2011
Thanks to Brian, Gladys & Russell for putting all the student works together!
Photo courtesy of Hiro Iwasaki
TEDx @ U of Chicago →
Another local TEDxTalks, but this time at University of Chicago on April 17. Tickets are $30 for general admission.
Did anyone attend TedxIIT in March?
Chicago Service Jam 2011 Presents Swoop!
On Friday, March 11, Chicago got together with nearly 50 cities around the world for the first ever Global Service Jam. It was an event to learn more about service design and service design techniques. Over 48 hours, we worked to develop new services around a shared theme “Super Heroes”. The Chicago team jammed hard, long, and proud over at Conifer Research. We were 15 jammers from diverse backgrounds and we had a ton of fun designing our new service Swoop! Check it out below!!! A special shout-out goes out to fellow IDers: Raph, Gretchen, Diba, Youngjin, Farid, and Brian, our sponsors Conifer Research and McDonald’s, and Hugh Musick.
Check out our pics on Facebook too: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Chicago-Service-Jam/186041338106341
Sustainability Jam Session
1. Which methods are appropriate when designing for sustainability?
2. How can we learn to design for sustainability?
Participants organized themselves into 4 teams, and spent 2 hours trying different methods to solve the problem. While these methods overlapped among teams, each team’s use of them differed as they explored the many facets of sustainability. Given the limited trial, every method was helpful and each brought something unique to the discussion.
We avoided defining sustainability, and instead launched into the research. Each team was able to set their own objectives and came back with unique solutions. In essence we started at the beginning, and each team re-framed the challenge on their own. In the end, each team unearthed different principles for sustainable packaging. Together these principles form an even more powerful base from which to build new concepts.
Team 1
Result:
A Mart driven initiative split into two components: an integrated product for those dining in and a reusable lunch box for those on the go.
Methods:
- Observational Research
- Baskinger Sheet Storyboards (From Anijo)
- MAYA Design Sticky Method
- Paper Prototyping
- Franken-Prototype
- Life Cycle Diagramming
- User Journey
Integrate the packaging with the cooking process.
Make reusable packaging portable, via affordances for carrying and connecting different containers.
Team 2
Result:
An independent automated service marketed towards eateries to replace their packaging systems with a reusable container.
Methods:
- Precursors
- Diagramming Behaviors and Interactions
- Field Observations
Replace disposable packaging with reusable packaging.
Make returning the container financially lucrative for anyone who finds it.
Team 3
Result:
A Merchandise Mart driven initiative to replace existing napkins and utensils with a uniform selection of biodegradable substitutes for all vendors.
Methods:
- Observational Research
- Stakeholder Interviews
- System / Flow Diagram
- Developed an ad-hoc framework. (Reduce: Resources, Confusion, Waste, Costs)
- AEIOU
Make it cheaper. (Managers will adopt the new solution if it is cheaper than the old one.)
Remove the onus for sorting waste from the consumer.
Team 4
Results:
An external automated service to replace disposable cups with durable community cups.
Methods:
- Value Web
- Stakeholder Interviews
- User Journey
- Precursors in other markets
- Behavioral Prototype
- Storytelling Demo
Make the cleaning process visible.
Make returning the cups convenient.
Which methods are appropriate when designing for sustainability?
Despite the limited nature of this experiment, we learned our tools are useful when creating sustainable solutions that address issues of use, behavior, and interaction. There is no need for us to discard our methods in search of new sustainability related ones. Sustainability requires systemic thinking, and ID methods are known for building understanding and designing systems. While additional knowledge is always a plus, it is also clear that using ID methods for understanding we were able to generate knowledge in context; displacing the need for domain knowledge. I really enjoyed watching the teams develop points of view on discrete aspects of the problem, leading to concrete concepts.
How can we learn to design for sustainability?
It is clear that using hands-on workshops we can rapidly test ideas and methods. We struggled to try everything in the allotted time and it was remarkable the progress made. I personally look forward to trying this format again for more than 2 hours. Perhaps with the next round we will be able to return to the field with prototypes to test them in context. In true Bauhaus tradition, this pilot showed that learning through experience works.
But don’t take my word for it, try it out for yourself.
As Daniel Erwin said, “Sustainable design should be part of everything that we do everyday, so to think of it as something different or separate is not the right way.”
NICE TO MEET YOU GEOFF SUVALKO
Where are you from?
The beach. Ruakaka, Northland, about 2 hours north of the city of Auckland
How did you end up at ID? Where were you before?
For the last 10 years I’ve run my own design firm in New Zealand and Australia. Over the last 4 years I got involved with one client in particular - Air New Zealand, in product and service innovation. It was within that project I worked alongside Ideo and got introduced to human centered design.
Tell us quickly about a project that you’re working on now that you’re really excited about.
A museum at home that I worked with before I came over and still work with while I’ve been at ID. I have been given the opportunity to help redesign the entire customer experience - and I love it.
What do you do in your spare time?
I love standing on the beach at dusk with not a soul around casting into the surf and waiting for something to bite. Generally i’m waiting a long time.
What would you do with 20 million dollars?
Develop an innovation design think tank downunder to address economic, social and evironmental progress. If I had the money, i’d do it tomorrow.
What super-power would you most like to have, and why?
Persuasion, because as designers that’s what we tend to spend so much of our time doing, persuading organisations that design can make a difference, and persuading them to pay for it!
What are the websites you could not live without?
Right now - Seeid! apart from that I sleep around.
Is there anything you would like to say to ID?
Apart from thanks for giving me a great year, I would suggest the more ‘real client’ project work amalgamated into the program the better.
