TYPE OF WORK
Spatial Design
USER 1
Residents and City Locals
USER 2
Tourists
Visitors
FOLLOW
TASK AND OVERVIEW
Southwark 2030
Crafting a visionary experience for Southwark in 2030, this project collaborates with Southwark Council in a borough-wide consultation. Engaging diverse community groups, the design prioritizes playful elicitation methods to build trust, ensuring outcomes authentically reflect the shared imagination of residents. Materials play a pivotal role, tailored for specific interactions. Emphasizing replicability, the workshop design transcends personal presence. Mindful of the rich tradition and political nuances in participatory design, the project embraces the challenge of representing Southwark's multiplicity. Iterative workshops drive effective documentation and analysis, aligning with a macro UX approach for impactful urban and policy considerations.
Our inventive method introduces an immersive installation, a distinctive method serving as a catalyst for engagement and storytelling. This dynamic environment extracts rich, multi-faceted data by tapping into participants' emotional and sensory experiences, fostering authentic contributions. Through iterative workshops, we navigate participatory design intricacies, ensuring thorough documentation and analysis. This process captures the diverse essence of Southwark's envisioned future.
AT A GLANCE
METHODOLOGY
Field study, User interviews, directed storytelling , bodystorming, iterative prototyping, Back casting, and user testing
GOAL
Collaboratively envision and articulate a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable future for the borough that authentically reflects the diverse aspirations and shared vision of its residents.
COLLABORATOR
The Southwatrk Council, Residents of Southwark
ACTION
Gaining initial insight
In the project's initial phase, we engaged with diverse community groups, including residents, workers, and passersby across Southwark's urban landscape. Conducting meticulous on-site research in 12 different regions, we conducted week-long public interviews, joined council workshops, and organized public experiments to capture varied experiences and envision the borough's future. Our approach involved gauging participants' willingness to attend events, ideate community needs, and suggest methods to enhance participation. Addressing the council's concern about limited engagement from younger residents, we developed a compelling method to actively involve the youth in shaping future neighborhood policies. Recognizing their crucial role as the area's future, youth engagement became a primary objective. Following data collection and analysis, we identified three recurring methods—interactive workshops, games, and immersive installations. Synthesizing insights into a comprehensive report, we facilitated regular in-person and online stakeholder meetings. To boost engagement, our design employed imaginative and whimsical interventions, attracting participants, building trust, and ensuring outcomes genuinely reflected the shared imagination of residents.
PHASE 1
Design strategy
Entering the design strategy phase, to test our insights we translated it into activities and subjected them to field testing at Tate Modern during the Southwark 2030 conversation.
'Employing diverse research methods and documentation techniques, we curated mini-workshops at Tate Modern, featuring activities such as rating UK brands, envisioning future scenarios, and adopting the unique "Paint as you go" narrative. Our findings emphasized the transformative potential of art and immersive storytelling, particularly in cultivating a childlike, engaging, and open imagination.'
Broadening our design strategy, we embraced body-storming activities and conducted mini-art workshops, encouraging participants to re-envision Southwark localities for the year 2030. These outcomes reinforced our dedication to fearlessly embracing imaginative and distinctive design approaches, leaning toward the extravagant. This approach aimed to seamlessly gather people's insights in a non-intrusive manner, fostering increased engagement and facilitating the collection of rich, diverse data. Concurrently, we conceptualized a crucial idea aligned with our goal of enhancing youth engagement: "Order Your Future."
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Envisaging a pop-up life-sized immersive installation and booth, participants would grab a ticket, enter to expand their imagination through extravagant visuals and audio guide, articulate their desires for the future on the ticket, and submit it in the booth. As an incentive, participants would receive a small reward.
This innovative concept aimed not only to stimulate imagination but also to encourage active participation, transforming the envisioning of the future into a tangible and rewarding experience, particularly for Southwark's younger population. Through these meticulously planned design interventions, our goal was to further elevate engagement and ensure the project authentically mirrored the diverse aspirations of Southwark's residents.
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Response to insights
While the initial response to our playful and optimistic interpretation of the brief was positive, concerns about its substantial scale and potential confusion prompted us to streamline the structure. Consequently, the revised plan focuses on a simpler concept—an expansive, life-sized tall prism that functions as a walk-in kaleidoscope. To address the challenges not only in the structure but also in crafting effective discussion prompts, we opted to break down our design process into two key components: construction and prompts.
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OUTCOMES AND RESULT
Iterative design and testing
During the construction phase, challenges arose, primarily concerning the weight of the proposed life-sized prism/booth and its transportation. To address this, we strategically opted for lightweight materials and devised a foldable structure, ensuring easy portability for a pop-up immersive installation. The prism, adorned with mirror paper on the inside, functioned as a giant kaleidoscope, offering participants an engaging experience that sparks meditation and contemplation about the future. Post the immersive kaleidoscope encounter, participants would exit and engage in discussions based on prompts provided on the initial ticket. These prompts underwent meticulous crafting through , including testing in three different Southwark locations to grasp the general public's anticipated expectations.
Our innovative solution, featuring a fun immersive experience, prioritizes playful methods to build imagination and ensures that outcomes genuinely mirror the shared views of residents from diverse community groups. Employing a backcasting approach, we utilized this method to answer the prompts and gain a deep understanding of the present needs and aspirations of the people. By envisioning the future they desire for Southwark in 2030, we gleaned valuable insights that informed the design, fostering a connection between the current community needs and their envisioned future.
Prototype and Deployment
We meticulously tested our prototype with council members and a select group of participants, seeking feedback to refine the design for potential last-minute adjustments. The culmination of our efforts took form in a community event held at two distinct locations in Southwark, where we strategically set up our immersive booth to collect valuable data from the residents. This event unfolded as an engaging experience, drawing participation from diverse age demographics, with a notable increase in engagement among the younger population.
Employing the backcasting method, we structured prompts that served as a catalyst for discussions on present needs and future aspirations. By envisioning the shared imagination of Southwark residents in 2030, we not only collected data but also fostered meaningful conversations about the steps required to realize their envisioned future. This approach allowed us to authentically reflect the diverse perspectives and aspirations of the community, creating a dynamic and inclusive platform for envisioning the future of Southwark. The success of this community event underscored the effectiveness of our immersive design in bridging the gap between present needs and the shared vision for the future, reinforcing the importance of engaging and understanding the community's voice.
Describe your image
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Explore the behind-the-scenes of our iterative design process through the images and videos below. These visuals capture the dynamic evolution of our project, from the initial ideation stages to the meticulous fine-tuning of our immersive design solution. Witness the collaborative efforts, creative problem-solving, and iterative refinement that have shaped our journey.
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