Labelmaker
| Participatory Design |
A communal conversation space to identify and reflect on labeling that was collaboratively designed with the young men of Jovenes, Inc. We spent four months with various residents of Jovenes, Inc., a non-profit organization that specifically provides housing stability for homeless, at-risk young men ages 18 to 25 and ultimately co-created this prototype with them.
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CATEGORIES
+ Ethnography
+ Human Centered Design
+ Cross Cultural Research
+ Cultural Agility -
PARTNER
Jovenes, Inc.
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METHODS
+ Rapid Prototyping
+ PAR
+ Field Studies
+ Participatory Action Research
+ Co-Design -
TIMELINE
2015
Participatory Action Research & Co-Design
This project was birthed from field research conducted entirely through the lens of the framework of Participatory Action Research. Our team believed that these men had valuable things to share from their backgrounds and that by expressing that artistically would yield valuable personal and communal insights.
Co-designing with these at-risk men gave us an opportunity to discover how they problem solved, what they cared about and how they might navigate the realities they experience by having an outlet to do so through design and prototyping.
Co-Design
Design Iteration
Field Research & Co-Design
lo-fi design explorations
Throughout our field research and immersion with the young men of Jovenes, Inc. they expressed an interest in Technology. We curated a co-design workshop to explore some of the topics that had surfaced in our prior conversations, particularly, reflecting on societal labels that we have encountered in life and whether or not we identified with or rejected them.
We decided to use Prototyping and Thinking through Making as a means of articulating our thoughts on labels we’ve encountered through design. In these co-design sessions, they learned how to wire circuits, operate a soldering iron, translate ideas and concepts from paper to physical making with low-fidelity materials.
The concept they agreed upon and wanted to create was a light box that would illuminate and serve as conversation object that would showcase their labels.
As we each illuminated our labels, the group organically engaged in rich dialogue with an authentic exchange of opinion, vulnerability, empathy and support for one another.
Iterative Design
high-fi design explorations
After our Thinking through Making co-design session, our team wanted to continue to iterate from the amazing discussions and design outcomes. Through various rounds of iteration and testing fidelities, we aimed to push this idea further by creating a communal, safe and welcoming environment to explore societal labels.
Leveraging the initial light box concept, we set out to combine gamification (die roll, wheel spinning, conceal and reveal), personalization (people’s own descriptions and interpretation of their labels) with a communal environment (one that modeled the intimate nature of our co-design session) that would serve as a livingroom-esque set up that fosters conversation and sharing.
Labelmaker
A communal conversation space to identify and reflect on labeling that was collaboratively designed with the young men of Jovenes, Inc.
