What we are doing:

•Ground rules

•Introductions:

•Why SJ/UX?

•Definitions

•What are the SJ/UX differences between development and advocacy?

•SJ/UX Examples

•Differences

•Practice: Problem development

•Practice: Values - Vision - Mission

•Reflection

Ground Rules

• Learning is most important

• Explaining is valuable, so asking questions is essential

• Improve your practice, grounding (an internal process, building as a community, putting it into practice)

Introductions

• Form up a problem team with teams of 4-5 people

• Get to know your design team and why they are here!

Why SJ/UX?

• Good design doesn’t just happen. It is not a checklist of requirements, though it must certainly support the tasks that users need to accomplish. It is not a passing grade on a usability test; all the functionality in the world is meaningless if users can’t or won’t use the application. It is not a slick, natural-feeling interaction model . . . So what is good design? Design is a research-based, highly iterative process with a focus on exploring different models of the user-system interaction” (Richardson3)

• Popular technology takes seriously all people’s everyday interactions with IT, not just the experiences of the privileged, and then uses these experiences as the starting point for exploring what it means to be a critical citizen in the information age. Popular technology assumes that collectively produced analysis of structural inequality in our everyday lives provides a source of empowerment, new knowledge, and transformation.” (Eubanks)

Traditional UX

● UX is the process of design that covers every aspect of the user’s experience of a particular product to meet the needs of the user as well as the organization.

●Transcends traditional notion of creating a product

that meets functional needs, but also fulfills and enhances user’s end goals

●Includes research, visual design, information

architecture, interaction design, and usability testing

Traditional Social Justice

“Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.”

(National Association of Social Workers)

"all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources."

(Toowoomba Catholic Education)

Defining SJ/UX

The development of digital infrastructure that will benefit users by changing the social environment to further democratize social goals and/or facilitate justice and to address violence, oppression, discrimination or other undesirable social dynamics.

Application as coordinator of social change.

Differences in UX/SJ Projects

➔contexts

➔advocacy

➔development

➔ affect

Differences in UX/SJ Projects: Contexts

“It is impossible to understand context, but it’s still vital that we pay attention,”

- Peter Morville

Differences in UX/SJ Projects: Advocacy

Higher risk associated with SJ UX

The problem does not always have a clear solution

UX designer is responsible for understanding audience and advocating for them during design process

Differences in UX/SJ Projects: Development

Waterfall

●prototyping

●cost

●sustainability

Agile

●UX needs more lead time.

●Stakeholder time

●Information can stall

●final product problem

Differences in UX/SJ Projects: Affect

➔ affect of user base, stakeholders

➔ affect of team

Example: “Blexting”

Example: “ROC United Diners’ Guide

Example: Spoileralert

Developing a design team . . .

➔Finding a problem

➔Developing a values, vision, and mission statement for the team

➔Power mapping process

Values, Vision, Mission ➔Values - (Why) Why is the issue a

problem? What does your group value? What ideas can bind them together?

➔Vision - (What) based on those values, what is your “perfect” world?

➔Mission - (How) How are you going to make that “perfect” world happen?

Developing a design team . . .

VALUESProblems

Problem - learning to love problems

Devs like to solve problems but sometimes they don’t know what the problems are.

Programs like Code for America connect developers with the community

Example - Problem “Blexting”

Blighted houses bring down neighborhoods, create unsafe environments, and create despair.

Make: Problem

➔ locate a situation in your home town

➔ scale local

➔ avoid “cause” & “effect” logics

➔ don’t build it yet

Reflection: Problem

Does your problem statement address a need?

Make sure there is not an implied answer.

Is this a situation that can be addressed?

Is it a “wicked,” problem?

VALUESValues

Example - Values “Blexting”

SafetyCommunitySecurityEfficiencyInformationAudiences

Make: Values

What are values?

Everyone should write their values on post it notes. (1 value per post it)

Sort into values and actions/ other items.

What are some practices or actions that express those values? (probably on some of these post its)

What is the problem(s) that (your organization) exists to solve? What need(s) does this organization exist to resolve? (i.e. homelessness)

Reflection: Values

Have a conversation with your team ➔Is everything up in your affinity space a

value?➔For each value affinity cluster, come up

with two or three examples of the practices, processes, actions, or behaviors that could apply to people

VALUESVision

Examples - Vision “Blexting”

Detroit with no urban blight.

Make: Vision

➔(WHAT) Create a single sentence that reflects your values perfect world. A world where, ideally, you and your team do not need to exist because the problem does not exist in any real way.

➔What kind of world are you trying to create?

Reflect: Vision

➔Why does it exist?

➔Does your vision reflect the ultimate outcome or result you are hoping to achieve?

➔ the world as you want it to be, not just as it is

VALUESMission

Example - Mission “Blexting”

“LOVELAND is based in Detroit, Michigan and the San Francisco Bay Area with a growing team dedicated to putting America online parcel by parcel. We work with governments, developers, neighborhood groups, and passionate individuals to gather and present information about property in clear, actionable ways.

In Detroit our community missions include arming people with information to battle a plague of tax foreclosures and running an ongoing survey of property conditions to help fight blight.”

Mission Statment

➔ (HOW)- How you will get to your vision ("To X")

➔Make it an action/active language

➔What is the purpose of (your organization)?

Make: Mission

Try using this set up . . .

Our group will do (action)So that (Purpose)in order to serve (audience)

Make sure to check against your values and missions to see if they are present

Reflection: Mission

➔How might your mission statement help your organization/agency make decisions about its priorities, actions, and responsibilities?

➔Do you have a mission broad enough to encompass multiple stakeholders?

➔Is it narrow enough to let you power map stakeholders?

VALUESPOWER MAPPING

Power mapping Exercise “Blexting”

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+

-

-

“We work with governments, developers, neighborhood groups, and passionate individuals”

Interest

Power

Power mapping Exercise

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+

-

-Interest

Power

Minimum Viable Product

“In product development, the minimum viable product (MVP) is the product with the highest return on investment versus risk.”

For our purposes, it is the smallest product that delivers the most amount of impact or change.

Provides proof of concept to gather resources to scale up and adapt.