RESEARCH
Sketchbook research, analysis ideas for Week 10.
In recent years there has been an increase in anthropology studies relating to Design and technology. Companies like IDEO and FITCH provide Social and User-Centred Design solutions encompassing an amalgamation of multiple disciplines and fields from product development, strategy, market research, design, engineering, and social sciences to help corporates understand a user, their interaction and their relationship with a product (Clarke, 2017).
User-Centred Design is a design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs using various investigative methods and tools such as surveys, interviews and brainstorming to develop an understanding of user needs to create highly usable and accessible products.
A UCD approach involves four distinct phases.
1) Context Phase - Designers working in teams try to understand the context in which users may use a system.
2) Requirements Phase – Designers then identify and specify the users' requirements.
3) Design Phase – Designers design and develops solutions.
4) Evaluation Phase - Designers assess the outcomes of an evaluation against the users' context and requirements to check performance until the results are satisfactory.
When the whole user experience is considered, design teams should include professionals across multiple disciplines, ethnographers, psychologists, software, designers, hardware engineers, and users themselves. When the users are brought into every stage of the design process, you find out what works and what doesn't. The users are an early-warning system you can use to course-correct and fine-tune your Design. They can expose many aspects the team may have overlooked regarding usability and accessibility.
The benefits of UCD.
1) With user involvement, products are more likely to meet users' expectations and requirements, leading to increased sales and lower customer services costs.
2) Safer products.
3) Putting designers in close contact with users creates ethical designs that respect privacy and the quality of life.
4) Focusing on all product users creates sustainable businesses by recognising the diversity of cultures and human values (What is user-centred Design? n.d.).
"Being human-centred is an additional cost to any project, so businesses rightly ask whether taking so much time to talk to people, produce prototype designs and so on is worthwhile. The answer is a fundamental 'yes'." — David Benyon
ANALYSIS
Recent history has seen an increase in discontent, rioting and revolutions, manifested through graphic symbols, street art, posters and other visual means. Global technology and the rise of social media have played a significant role in creating and distributing content. Mainstream news and media use 'Citizen journalism' or material uploaded by ordinary people on the ground in conflict zones or taken from civilian blogs to educate the world to bring about social change.
In 2011, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight to protest corruption and the Tunisian government's abuse of power. Photographs and videos of the event were uploaded to YouTube and Twitter, creating international awareness and support, resulting in President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fleeing Saudi Arabia.
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei's blog, and exhibits have garnered local and international attention in protest of Chinas old-style authoritarianism, censorship, control and human rights violations (McQuiston, 2015). Al Weiwei drew attention to the death of 5000 students in the Sichuan earthquake due to substandard construction as a result of government corruption, despite robust efforts to silence him. The Munich exhibit Remembering, a beautifully designed sentence from a victim's mother covering the Haus der Kunst museum's façade, drew attention to the Chinese government's coverup (Ai Weiwei: The artwork made me the most dangerous person in China, n.d.).
Fig. 1: Ai Weiwei, 2018.
Fig. 2: Ai Weiwei, 2018.
Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk rock group, performed a Punk Prayer Song in Moscow's most prominent Russian Orthodox Church, protesting President Putin and the state's authority. Pussy Riot was arrested several weeks after the performance and criminally charged with hooliganism (Pussy Riot v. Russia - Global Freedom of Expression, n.d.). Social media assured them worldwide support during the trial and incarceration, and their coloured balaclavas became the global symbol of their solidarity movement (McQuiston, 2015).
Fig. 3: DW, 2018.
Brazil's hosting of the World Cup in 2014 and the building of new stadiums and other projects was a slap in the face to a country suffering from overcrowding, poverty and a weakened social service. 'No-Rights, No World Cup', a work of graffiti, became an overnight global symbol, subverting Brazil's official representations and placing street artist Paulo Ito unexpectedly in the middle of the battle to define the country's image during the World Cup. Protests art was quickly removed from television by authorities, but not from the web where it flourished (Brazilian artist's image of starving child kicks up a World Cup storm, n.d.).
Fig. 4: PBS News, 2014.
The digital age and social media, together with artists, writers and even civilians, has now made it almost impossible for 'the powers that be' to hide information or events from the world. This gives designers and ordinary citizens the power and responsibility to hold governments and global authorities to account.
WORKSHOP CHALLENGE
Sketchbook Workshop Challenge ideas for Week 10.
Service design methods utilised
Interview guides
Synthesis Wall
Research
Interviews
J.P. Smith – Cape Town Mayoral Committee Chair for Safety and Security (Smith, 2021)
Brandon Golding – D.A. Ward Councillor for Ward 77 (Golding, 2021)
Zahid Badroodien - Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Health and Community Service (Badroodien, 2021)
Ian Thompson – Cape Town Central Community Member (Thompson, 2021)
Gardens Shopping Centre Panel - (Vagrants and Crime in Gardens, 2018)
Reference: Smith, J., 2021. Increased crime, drug use and vagrancy in Cape Town CBD Residential Areas.
Reference: Golding, B., 2021. In-text: (Thompson, 2021) Your Bibliography: Thompson, I., 2021. Increased crime, drug use and vagrancy in Cape Town CBD Residential Areas.
Reference: Badroodien, Z., 2021. Cape Town CBD Social Services and Vagrant Crime.
Reference: Thompson, I., 2021. Increased crime, drug use and vagrancy in Cape Town CBD Residential Areas.
Reference: 2018. Vagrants and Crime in Gardens.
Online Research
City of Cape Town Website – Councillors (City of Cape Town Link, n.d.)
Western Cape Government Website – Homeless Shelters (Shelters for Homeless Adults | Western Cape Government, n.d.)
Car Guards Article (Car Guards | What's the deal with...?, n.d.)
Cape Town Gang Culture Article (Gang culture in Cape Town, n.d.)
Give Dignity Initiative (City of Cape Town Link, n.d.)
Reference: City of Cape Town. n.d. City of Cape Town Link. [online] Available at: <https://www.capetown.gov.za/Campaigns/give%20dignity> [Accessed 16 April 2021].
Reference: Westerncape.gov.za. n.d. Shelters for Homeless Adults | Western Cape Government. [online] Available at: <https://www.westerncape.gov.za/directories/facilities/847> [Accessed 16 April 2021].
Reference: Capetownmagazine.com. n.d. Car Guards | What's the deal with...?. [online] Available at: <https://www.capetownmagazine.com/city-news/car-guards/172_22_16916> [Accessed 16 April 2021].
Reference: The New Humanitarian. n.d. Gang culture in Cape Town. [online] Available at: <https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/fr/node/259918> [Accessed 16 April 2021].
200 Word Project Brief
Homelessness, drugs, gangs and crime in Cape Town's central neighbourhoods increase exponentially.
The last few years have seen a substantial increase in people living on the streets, drugs (Vagrants and Crime in Gardens, 2018) and crime in some of Cape Town's central-most affluent neighbourhoods (Thompson, 2021).
The situation is directly linked to aggressive urbanisation in Cape Town's CBD due to people leaving more impoverished areas and underperforming provinces searching for work. Large amounts of prisoner releases due to overcrowding, a lack of funding and the pandemic. A break down in immigration controls, budget, and a lack of resources result in many foreign nationals living close to Cape Town's harbour as they await passage to Europe and the United States in search of a better life (Smith, 2021).
Communities charitable intentions of cash handouts, food and clothing donations simply prolonging homelessness and indirectly increasing crime (Badroodien, 2021). As homelessness and squatting increase in an area, so does the criminal element that moves alongside it, fuelled by hunger, desperation and opportunity, resulting in gang violence (Gang culture in Cape Town, n.d.), drugs, muggings, theft, vandalism and home invasions (Golding, 2021).
Synthesis Wall for Week 10 Workshop Challenge.
REFLECTION
This week I found the campaign strategy information very useful to the task-at-hand.
The starting point for any campaign is understanding what the problem is and pinpointing a solution. What is the campaign's ultimate aim or purpose, what change or impact do you want to achieve? You may have several objectives, but only one campaign aim should be concise, inspiring, targeted, impact-focused and easy to understand. Everything you do must contribute towards achieving the ultimate aim of your campaign. It is also essential to work out what is achievable given the resources available and the environment you are working in. A 'theory of change model' is a powerful tool to focus a campaign strategy and planning by stating the aim, desired impact and what needs to happen to achieve the campaign aim, understanding different ways of achieving social change and building in evaluation. The theory evolves as new evidence appears and is tested (Creating a campaign strategy — NCVO Knowhow, n.d.).
Reference: McQuiston, L., (2015) Visual Impact: Creative Dissent in the 21st Century. London: Phaidon. Available from: https://content.talisaspire.com/falmouth/bundles/5c62b80d69df506330522374 (Links to an external site.)
Reference: Clarke, A., (ed) (2017) 'Chapter 4, Valuable to Values: How 'User Research' ought to change', in Design Anthropology: Object Cultures in Transition, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 53 – 67. Available from https://falmouth.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma9910827263405136&context=L&vid=44FAL_INST:44FAL_VU1&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Design%20Anthropology:%20Object%20Cultures%20in%20Transition&offset=0 (Links to an external site.)
Reference: Clarke, A., (ed) (2017) 'Chapter 6: Prototyping the Social: Temporary and Speculative Futures at the Intersection of Design and Culture' in Design Anthropology: Object Cultures in Transition, London: Bloomsbury, pp. 87 – 98. Available from https://falmouth.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma9910827263405136&context=L&vid=44FAL_INST:44FAL_VU1&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Design%20Anthropology:%20Object%20Cultures%20in%20Transition&offset=0
Reference: The Interaction Design Foundation. n.d. What is user-centred Design?. [online] Available at <https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/user-centered-design> [Accessed 14 April 2021].
Reference: Knowhow.ncvo.org.uk. n.d. Creating a campaign strategy — NCVO Knowhow. [online] Available at: <https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/campaigns/campaigning-and-influencing/developing-your-campaign-strategy/creating-a-campaign-strategy> [Accessed 14 April 2021].
Reference: the Guardian. n.d. Ai Weiwei: The artwork that made me the most dangerous person in China. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/feb/15/ai-weiwei-remembering-sichuan-earthquake> [Accessed 15 April 2021].
Reference: Global Freedom of Expression. n.d. Pussy Riot v. Russia - Global Freedom of Expression. [online] Available at: <https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/pussy-riot-vs-russia/> [Accessed 15 April 2021].
Reference: Los Angeles Times. n.d. Brazilian artist's image of starving child kicks up a World Cup storm. [online] Available at: <https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-world-cup-art-20140527-story.html> [Accessed 15 April 2021].
Image 1, 2: Ai Weiwei, 2018. Ai Weiwei: The artwork that made me the most dangerous person in China. [image] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/feb/15/ai-weiwei-remembering-sichuan-earthquake> [Accessed 15 April 2021].
Image 3: DW, 2018. Me and the cop: Pussy Riot releases new protest song. [image] Available at: <https://www.dw.com/en/me-and-the-cop-pussy-riot-releases-new-protest-song/a-44704951> [Accessed 15 April 2021].
Image 4: PBS News, 2014. In Brazil, soccer no longer ‘opiate’ of the masses. [image] Available at: <https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/brazil-soccer-longer-opiate-masses> [Accessed 15 April 2021].