CASE STUDY: Centering Those with Lived Experience — ‘Designed by Community’ Partners with Bronx Residents and Phipps Neighborhoods on Digital Access
Overview
Designed by Community (DxC), a program of the Service Design Studio (the Studio) in the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity), is a fellowship and project funding opportunity based on redistributing power back to community members with lived experience.
In each cohort, the Studio partners with one community-based organization (CBO) and a group of community leaders with lived experience (DxC Fellows). Together the team works to design and develop hyper-localized solutions for their neighborhood using the Service Design methodology.
The program’s second cohort was in partnership with Phipps Neighborhoods, a citywide non-profit. This case study highlights our work in 2023.
For this cohort, our team included:
- Our wonderful DxC Fellows: Nicole, Esther, Candice, Karen, William, and Darren!
- Khari Freeman, Senior Director of Education and Capacity Building, Phipps Neighborhoods
- Allison Jeffrey, Managing Director of Digital Access, Phipps Neighborhoods
📚 Case Study Table of Contents
This blog post includes a snapshot of each phase of the service design process, including:
- About the Program: How DxC Works
- About Our Team
2a. Phipps Neighborhoods
2b. The Fellows - About our Journey:
3a. Writing a “How Might We…”
3b. Set the Stage
3c. Talk with People
3d. Connect the Dots
3e. Plan Things Out
3f. Try Things Out
3g. Celebrating the Program!
About the Program: How DxC Works
Designed by Community (DxC) uses a community-led approach. In each cohort, the Studio partners with one CBO to hire 6 community Fellows (residents who have lived experience). Over 6 months, the team works together to conduct a service design project, and ultimately develops a community-based service for their neighborhood.
Service design is a discipline that develops solutions to complex problems by rooting solutions in insights about the lived experiences of those affected by public services. It considers people, processes, communications, and technology as part of the solution. This approach redistributes power back to community-based stakeholders who don’t typically have a seat at the decision-making table.
The DxC Team
Our Community Based Partner: Phipps Neighborhoods
In our second cohort, our community based partner was Phipps Neighborhoods. Phipps works to create safe and inclusive spaces where community members can access education, career, and economic opportunities to succeed at school and work, raise healthy families and build thriving communities. Our team for this cohort had roots in the Bronx, and had a strong interest in advancing digital access for Bronx residents.
At the outset, we met with the Phipps team to codesign the fellowship program. This planning process helped our team form strong relationships for the work ahead, which is particularly important for fostering a co-design process.
Pre-fellowship planning activities included codesigning a scope of work, studying community design practices, developing Fellow recruitment strategies, and setting up administrative logistics. The pre-fellowship planning phase took about two months with weekly meetings, asynchronous work, and review time in between sessions.
The Studio took time to discuss how our teams would collaborate over the coming months. We had open conversations about how we as a new team wanted to take notes, implement feedback, and make decisions to create a smooth partnership. As part of this process, we dedicated time to discuss power dynamics and how we could avoid some of the dynamics that occur when grantmakers and grantees partner closely.
The Fellows
Our team spoke with over 55 applicants before selecting our six Fellows. Selection criteria included: Bronx affiliation, lived experience, digital skills, interpersonal skills, and commitment to the program timeline.
Our Fellows, all Bronx natives, provided diverse lived experiences and were the foundation of the fellowship’s mission. They served as the primary decision makers for the design of the project and defined the project’s goals and methods. Using the Service design process, they devised strategies for centering community members’ voices.
Over six months, the team gathered once a week in the early evening hours at Phipps’s West Farms Opportunity Center in the Bronx or virtually. At the meetings, the team dedicated time and energy to learning together, discussing, reflecting, and designing the project.
Writing a “How Might We…”
What is a “How Might We…” (HMW) statement? A HMW is a goal-setting tool that designers use to frame and set the scope of a project. We often write HMW’s at the beginning of a project to align the team, generate curiosity, and express an openness to exploring various solutions. Because a HMW is a question, it leaves lots of room for a team to brainstorm and discover new things about the community and the work to be done.
To kick off the project, our team began by crafting a “How Might We…” (HMW) statement. Knowing that the Phipps team had a specific focus on digital access, our Fellows worked together to draft a HMW question that reflected their lived experience and goals:
“How might we provide a multicultural + intergenerational space for Bronx residents to explore digital tools?”
The Fellows chose this HMW statement because it ensured that the outputs of the projects would serve New Yorkers of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Valuing a design output that reflected the diversity of the Bronx was a guiding principle the team embraced throughout the service design process.
Set the Stage
About the ‘Set the Stage’ Phase: At the start of creating a new service, it is helpful to scan the landscape. This includes research, case studies, and finding other resources about similar topics or services. This preparation helps to place a potential service within a greater context and to illuminate already existing efforts and learnings that can inform the team’s approach and understanding.
In the Set the Stage phase, our team started framing a research strategy and project plan. With our HMW in mind, our team began to get more specific about what we wanted to learn.
- We developed shared language and defined key terms for our topic of “digital access.” This was important to ensure consistency across research activities.
*Makerspace: “a place where people with shared interests, e.g. digital tools, can come together to build knowledge, share ideas, and use equipment.”
*Digital tools: Technology, such as programs, apps, platforms, and devices. Our definition of digital tools includes software and programs like Microsoft Teams, Adobe Photoshop, and Gmail.
*Intergenerational space: a place that offers programming that is attractive and useful to Youth (ages 13–24), Adults (ages 25–65), and Elders (ages 65+).
*Multicultural space: a space that brings community members of diverse identities, backgrounds, and cultures together. - We built on our HMW, by developing more specific research goals. The Fellows developed three overarching research goals:
1)How do community members currently experience and use technology?
2)What are community members’ obstacles to accessing and using technology
3)What types of digital tools do community members want to learn more about and have access to? - We defined who we wanted to talk to in the community. Knowing that we wanted an intergenerational and multicultural space, our team felt it was important to get more specific about our community stakeholders. Our team drafted the following list to guide our research:
— Youth (ages 13–24) - Youth living on low incomes, first-generation, youth. with families that come from other countries, youth in single- parent households
— Adults (ages 25–65) — Adults who live in low-income housing, creatives, adults interested in strengthening their digital literac
— Older Adults (ages 65+) — Older adults living in low income housing, older adults who immigrated to the United States, older adults adults interested in strengthening their digital literacy. - We established team roles and responsibilities. To ensure that the work was distributed clearly and fairly among the team, Fellows paired into teams of two. Each pair was assigned an age demographic and took the lead on one of the project’s three primary service populations for the makerspace.
- Our Fellows also had opportunities to shape their skills and growth areas. Esther, who is an inspiring filmmaker, undertook a documentary project, William led a presentation and rousing conversation on the importance of affirmations, and Candice did a presentation on designing for accessibility. Our team took inspiration as these Fellows shared their skills.
These steps were crucial to forming the pillars of our research plan. Once we felt aligned as a team, we were ready to get into the community and “Talk to People.”
Talk with People
About the “Talk with People” Phase: Once a team feels centered on its research goals and tactics, it is time to translate that into action. Taking time to talk with the people who use, deliver, and manage a service is crucial for designing a service that works for all. During this phase, the team works collaboratively to interview, survey, and engage folks in conversation.
During this stage, the DxC team connected with Bronx residents to gain valuable insights into what a community makerspace could offer to bolster access to, knowledge of, and confidence in using digital tools.
To prepare for this outreach, our team…
- Organized our outreach and research strategy. When reaching out to people in the community, understanding where they are so you can meet them there is vital. The Fellows:
- Identified locations where they can find their primary audiences
- Attended events where they could interview community members
- Collaborated with local Community-based organizations to schedule focus groups
- Designed surveys that could be taken digitally
- Developed individual and focus group questionnaires
- Contracted subject matter experts to complete a digital survey.
- Developed research tracker - Established key principles, practices, and values:
- Meet people where they are
- Travel with a partner
- The interviewee is the expert
- Ensure folks are compensated for their time - Developed needed research materials, which included:
- A flyer that described the project
- Standardized email scripts the team could use for outreach
- Consent forms
- A basic outline that each survey and interview questionnaire would follow.
Here’s a glance at how we did this work…
As described in the research plan, Fellows worked in pairs to conduct the outreach and research activities. The Phipps team and the Studio helped make connections to community stakeholders and subject matter experts.
Bronx map showing where we conducted outreach at 10 community centers!
A variety of research methods were used to meet community members where they were at. Over six weeks, the Fellows connected with 77 people in the Bronx. The team used surveys for canvassing and tabling events for a broader, more quantitative analysis. The survey was also sent to community members engaged with Phipps’s in-house programming. To complement the survey with a more qualitative analysis, the team conducted focus groups and interviews.
The Fellows did an excellent job of getting out and talking with community members about their wishes for digital access programming. Capturing the lived experience and insights of community members was crucial as we moved into the ‘Connect the Dots’ phase.
Connect the Dots
About the “Connect the Dots” Phase: After talking to folks in the community, it is important to make time to understand and contextualize the information collected. The “Connect the Dots’’ phase is an opportunity to pull out quotes, make connections, and recognize themes. During this phase, the team dives deep and ideates on how to translate these insights into actionable ideas and services for the community.
In the “Connect the Dots” phase, our team began to make sense of all we heard. The Fellows analyzed the interview transcripts and survey results. By reading these materials closely, the Fellows unearthed insights relevant to their original guiding HMW statement.
Our Synthesis Process:
- We developed a set of codes. These codes were themes that the Fellows were interested in exploring. These codes were used to highlight portions of interview transcripts and to pull out important quotes.
Highlighting these themes in color helped us to recognize the relative importance of each code. We were able to see when one code was more prevalent than the other.
For another layer of analysis, the DxC team also organized these quotes by whether they spoke to a positive experience (a gain) or a negative experience (a pain).
- We read the quotes, organized by age group. The team got together and conducted a gallery walk. We read the information within each age group and were able to identify some initial patterns. (e.g., youth and elders were more likely to use technology for creative and social pursuits, while adults were more interested in employment opportunities.)
- We reorganized the data and read the quotes organized by each code. Using the codes, we were able to see the similarities across age groups. It also allowed us to drill down on particular categories. (e.g., by zooming in on the creative interests of youth and elders, we were able to see what specific hobbies and crafts participants had mentioned.)
- We used these insights to generate ideas. After reviewing all of these quotes and insights, our team was ready to generate ideas. Our team brainstormed collaboratively. It then generated ideas for how the makerspace could respond to the community’s expressed desires and needs.
Our Findings
From the community research, the team found that across all age groups, Bronx residents are interested in increasing their digital literacy and exploring different ways to use technology for personal and professional pursuits.
- Access: We found that the Bronx community lacks digital tools, restricting their ability to meet their day-to-day needs and achieve their professional goals.
- 71% of Adults surveyed had poor WiFi/data connections
- 100% of Elders surveyed had access to a phone, but only 20% had access to a computer - Confidence: The community expressed a need to learn technical skills. We assessed that developing self-confidence was a crucial piece of this education. The best way to increase confidence is to practice patient and empathetic teaching. Many communities also voiced an interest in learning with and working alongside their peers.
- 64% of Adults surveyed expressed a strong interest in increasing their technical knowledge and skills
- 50% of Adults expressed self-doubt/insecurity about their technology skills
- Elders want to be taught by individuals with patience to teach them
- Adults want to be able to teach others and showcase their work - Creativity: While researching, we found that a large number of Bronx residents are already “makers” — many of those interviewed were already involved in a creative outlet. The community is interested in connecting with others and being creative in different ways.
- 72% of Youth surveyed use technology for school or personal reasons
- 70% of Youth use technology to socialize with others;
- 47.8% of elders surveyed use technology to keep in touch with others
- 90% of elders surveyed use phone calls to stay connected
Traditionally, Makerspaces focus on technology access. However, we found that Bronx communities have a diverse range of interests. We felt it was crucial to include a variety of types of expression and education. A major lesson learned was that the makerspace should encompass and address digital and creative pursuits.
Plan Things Out
About the “Plan things Out” Phase: “Planning things Out” means putting pen to paper, and thinking about ways to capture findings and ideas. During this phase, the team will put its thinking into planning and documentation to walk away with.
To guide Phipps in the creation of the Makerspace, our team worked together to translate all of our ideas into a written document. The Implementation Plan was drafted by our team collectively, to document our research findings and ideas. During this process, our Fellows had the opportunity to allocate a $45,000 budget for the Makerspace.
The Implementation Plan included:
- A summary of the community research methods and findings.
- A summary of values to guide the makerspace operations, which included:
‘We believe the Makerspace should be safe, accesible, inclusive, transparent, community-driven’
‘Those using or working in the makerspace honor each other with empathy, respectfulness, vulnerability, intention’
- Recommendations for workshop programming including but not limited to: Career exploration, cyber security + digital literacy, creativity digital skills workshpops, hobby nights, rilm screenings, painting, open mic, game night, local markets, etc.
- Operations recommendations
- Who the makerspace is intended to serve: Bronx community members of all ages, Bronx community members of all cultural backgrounds and identities, Bronx community members who seek better access to digital tools and knowledge
- Hours of Operation
- Phipps’s roles and responsibilities in providing support to community members
- Language Access Recommendations
- Recommended partnership with community stakeholders including coalitions, nonprofits, and educational organizations. - Kick-off event structure
- Budget Narrative
Try Things Out
About the “Try things Out” Phase: Once a team has synthesized the data and brainstormed solutions, it’s time to test them. Prototyping allows a team to test ideas in a low-risk way. ‘Trying Things Out’ shows how ideas pan out in the real world, and allows space to refine and tweak them before making a larger commitment.
In alignment with the Implementation Plan drafted by the Fellows, Phipps Neighborhoods is currently testing our ideas! The makerspace opened in November of 2023 and was greeted with warmth by the surrounding community.
The Implementation Plan included a variety of recommended workshop topics the makerspace would provide for free to the community including media making, photography, button making, sketching and drawing, free Lamp Making + Basic Circuitry, etc.
Follow the Phipps Bronx Makerspace Eventbrite page here to see all the great workshops happening!
Retrospective
Our retrospective involved multiple phases in which we wanted to hear from our partners and internal team about their experiences with the project. We went about this by having retrospective meet-ups, surveys, and feedback activities.
While reflecting on this project we asked ourselves a few questions:
- What was our goal? What vision did our team have when we started this project?
- What helped us move closer to our goal? What happened that pushed us forward?
- What held us back from our goal? What stopped us or didn’t work so well?
- What motivated us to keep going throughout this project?
The feedback we received allowed us to look back and learn about the work we did while also giving us a foundation to build on for our next cohort. A few takeaways from these sessions that stood out were:
- For the RFP Outreach stage, we want to think about recruiting a CBO partner who has strong community ties that would allow us to connect with New York City residents on a wider scale.
- Add about 1 month to the overall fellowship timeline (use this extended time to lengthen the Talk with People stage and/or the Try it Out stage)
- To create space for relationship building throughout the Fellowship, a mid-Fellowship activity (e.g. end of March) can be added to the c
Time for Celebration!
To mark the end of the program, the DxC team gathered to celebrate all we had learned, shared, and accomplished. Over plates of tasty food, we doled out awards to acknowledge the unique skills, quirks, and personality each person brought to the work. Our team exchanged gifts as tokens of appreciation
What’s Next?
Phipps Neighborhoods launched the Phipps Makerspace in 2023, and is currently hosting free monthly workshops. Follow the Phipps Bronx Makerspace Eventbrite page here to see all the great programming happening.
Our team is thrilled to be working towards our next iteration of this Fellowship — we are actively seeking funding for our third cohort. We are working internally to build our capacity, and to thoughtfully plan ways in which DxC can be a replicable model within the City government.
🤗 If you’re interested in hearing more about the Designed by Community Fellowship Program, sign up to be a friend.
Acknowledgments 👏 👏 👏
This program was made possible with the generous support of Citi and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.
Special thanks to Phipps Neighborhoods, specifically to Allison Jeffrey and Khari Freeman, and the organization’s wider administration and executive teams that supported this work, and the many Bronx-based community research partners. Thank you to the Service Design Studio’s 2023 Designed by Community Program Team (Lyndsey Richardson, Deana Yu, Demi Lashawn Keilu, and Cris Martinez), and the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity for spearheading this new initiative and allowing the time, flexibility, and space to bring this opportunity to life.
Many thanks to the Service Design Studio Alumni who paved the road and made this program possible (Tez Cortez, Mari Nakano, and Abigail Fisher), and to all of the social designers and existing community-centered design programs that inspire us!
📽️ For more on DxC 2023 check out Designing for Digital Access, a documentary thatfollows our Fellows on their journey in the Designed by Community program. This film was made by DxC Fellow, Esther Alatishe, you can find Esther at: byestheranu.com/
