Designed by Community:
Designing for Digital Access
Project Duration:
January to July 2023
Affiliated Organizations:
Service Design Studio + Phipps Neighborhood
Team
Lyndsey Richardson, Studio Director
Cris Martinez, Studio Fellow
Demi Keilu, Studio Design Lead
Allison Jeffries, Phipps Neighborhood
Khari Freeman, Phipps Neighborhood
My Role
Program Manager
Facilitator
Curriculum Development
Material Creation (Graphics & Content)
Professional Development Guidance
Wins At a Glance
Facilitated a participatory budgeting process for $45,000 in funds. The ideas co-designed in this process led to the eventual opening of the Phipps Makerspace.
75+ Bronx Residents engaged through focus groups, surveys, and interviews.
Created 315 pages of curriculum materials (yes, I counted!)
4 Fellows reported 100% completion of prof development goals (self-established goals & self-evaluated progress)
Recognizing that the City typically operates under a top-down contracting structure, DxC aims to build evidence for community-led design, where New Yorkers hold decision-making power.
What is Designed by Community?
Program Background
Designed by Community (DxC) is a fellowship and project funding opportunity from the Service Design Studio at the NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity.
Under the DxC program, the Studio partners with one organization to hire 6 community fellows (residents who have deep roots in the community). We train these fellows in the Service Design methodology and work with them for six months, so they can design solutions for their neighborhood.
Why Digital Access in 2023?
Cohort Background
In 2023, we partnered with Phipps Neighborhoods, a community-based nonprofit that operates in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx. Phipps Neighborhoods proposed digital access as the cohort’s focus after witnessing the deep digital divide Bronx residents faced during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Phipps and the Studio worked together to hire a cohort of 6 Fellows. The Fellows, all Bronx natives, provided diverse lived experiences and were the foundation of the fellowship’s mission.
“How might we provide a multicultural + intergenerational space for Bronx residents to explore digital tools?”
Highlights — By Project Phase
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STAGE 1: ONBOARDING
I managed the onboarding process, liaising with Phipps’ HR (hiring entity) to hire our 6 Community Fellows. I added personalized touches, so each Fellow felt welcomed into the program 💛
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STAGE 2: SET THE STAGE
I created 315+ pages of educational materials and activities to teach the service design methodology.
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STAGE 3: TALK TO PEOPLE
I advised the Community Fellows on best practices for grassroots community outreach, resulting in focus groups, surveys, and interviews done with 75+ Bronx residents.
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STAGE 4: CONNECT THE DOTS
I organized a group synthesis process to decipher our community findings into ideas. This included creating materials and facilitating the group through a synthesis session.
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STAGE 5: PLAN THINGS OUT
I translated ideas from our synthesis into an implementation plan and organized collective validation sessions to ensure the Fellows’ ideas were accurately documented.
Watch
Esther Alatishe, a DxC Fellow, made a documentary about this project!
Psst! You can see me speak at 0:45
