ActivCity in Activation
ActivCity is an organization established in 2018 , by 4 University Students
Amalia St , Andromache Efstathiou, eddy Michailidis and me, Eleni Georgiou.
It all began during our course in Panteion University “Social Issues, Social Innovation and Corporate Responsibility” , initiated by Associate Prof Betty Tsakarestou . We were introduced to the United Nations SDGs (Social Development Goals) and we decided to choose one of them and to try find a viable solution for it. Our final choice was Goal 10 “Reduced Inequalities” .
After many brainstorming sessions, we finally reached a consensus. We would like to work on the matter of social inequalities, and more specifically on people with some form of disability. Initially we had decided to dedicate our organization to wheelchair users, the blind and the deaf. As our work evolved, we actually changed some things regarding this original idea.
So, we had to find a way to begin somehow. As a guide, we used OPEN IDEO’s Challenges for a Human Centered Design ,( https://challenges.openideo.com/content/resources?_ga=1.139859574.477800528.1458803170&fbclid=IwAR1PGdCh9hWMUB_hx6riySSXJFSB4ha7oIU6F3CgheIe3_vwD0F9wI80d9w )
So following those steps offered by OpenIDEO we started. Our organization took months to fully develop, but let’s present this process like days of the week.
MONDAY
We started ideating, but we could not possibly develop something wothout gathering insighhts first. So we asked random people in the streets, as well as friends and other university students to tell us some issues regarding our choice that needed to be solved.
TUESDAY
It’s brainstorming time ! Many ideas were brought to the table. But it was one that we all agreed on. In one sentence, “We want to create some simple installations all over the city of Athens that would raise awareness about people with movement disabilities, the blind and the deaf, regarding their moving around in the city.” [And a little throwback to this beginning phase https://medium.com/@eleni4698/the-city-of-respect-6fb637794ed2 ]
WEDNESDAY
The step before the creation of a user experience map was, of course, coing in touch with people who face those problems every day. We interviewed 2 wheelchair users , a friend of a blind person and a relative of a blind one. Their insight was incredible, as we realised things we would have never thought, as well as things we,unfortunately, saw every day. We saw the city a little bit through their eyes. The most common problems that came up were;
- Parking on ramps, or even the total absence of them.
- The application of the prohibition of dogs , in the case of guide dogs.
- The usual existence of only verbal announcements in public transportation.
THURSDAY
After we had decided on what we were going to work on, we had to visualize it. We created a user experience map to make the user’s steps clear;
FRIDAY
We began creating our prototype. We decided to start by creating a QR Barcode that would be placed in ramps, and that when scanned, would lead the user to our website. That would prevent people from parking on thse ramps, because they would also park on an installation. The barcode would not give much information, in order for our users to be intrigued by it and visit our scan it to learn what it was about.
That would lead them to our website. The original version included those options, plus a section we decided not to include , that was about the deaf.
SATURDAY
It was time for a test drive. In order to get proper feedback, we tested it not only with passersby in actual spots, but we also showed it to the people we had originally interviewed. Their most important feedback was:
- Most of them told us that our idea was very interesting, and that it had an impact on the way they saw this part of the society.
- Two of our interviewees advised us to work with less social groups because it was confusing.
So we decided to work only on wheelchair users and the blind, and also include a section where people could share their own ideas.
SUNDAY
Our website and our barcodes were ready! We made some changes as we used the feedback we received. The barcodes remained the same, and would be placed on metro stations, bus stations, and on ramps.
STARTING ON MONDAY…
So what will be our next steps ? We are planning to create more installations, in more places, and of course move on to more cities. We are planning to create posters with interesting wuotes. We are also planning to create social media accounts, especially Instagram, where people can mention us while uploading photos that have to do with our city and cases when people show disrespect towards our co-citizens. Social Media will help us raise awareness in a much more public way. Finally , we are going to work more on our website, in order for it to work properly.
Last but not least, we owe a big part of our work to the Design Thinking Process. It made us realise that in order to create something realistic, that could be applied in the real world, TESTING is everything. Every piece of feedback one gets is helpful in order to evolve, become better, and become relatable to more and more people.
So the question is ….
