As someone passionate about making products and services that have positive political and social impact, I naturally gravitated towards the Design and Policy for Humanitarian Impact course. This course provides many opportunities to enhance my design skills both in the areas of products/services and impact policy.
Within the last year, I have developed an interest in how people engage with banking institutions from a communication design point of view. An interest that stems from my previous work with IDEO around intrapreneurship—the promotion of innovative product development and marketing—for financial institutions. This is where I was able to learn how to “Fail fast and Fail often,” by testing every assumption that came to mind. Through working in this environment I learned how to grapple with the uncomfortable and most importantly the unknown.
Based on my passions and experiences there is no surprise that I am in a group developing an initiative to supplement the Bank on Greater Pittsburgh policy set forth by Mayor Peduto’s office. We have hit the ground running, which is very telling of the kinds of individuals that we are and our seriousness around adding value to the lives of people in the city of Pittsburgh. Leaving no stone unturned, as a group we are learning how to work cohesively. Bellow you can find images that depict the beginning steps of our journey.
- As a group we defined what programmatic success looked like for each of us. In this exercise I was also able to get a better understanding of the things that are important to each group member. This was an opportunity for the group to see where we have convergence and divergence in our definitions and thought process.
After determining what would constitute success, we then determined the persona of the people who would use this service.
- We used various guiding questions to maintain a scope and focus.
- We ensured a space of collaboration by having each member share there take on how this service should work.
- We further delved into how people would become connected to the service.
- It became clear that the current process is a bit complicated to follow and that there may be room for more streamlining through better communication design.
- After listing our assumptions, we then developed a timeline.
Taking on this journey of understanding the needs of Pittsburgh communities, through Bank on Greater Pittsburgh, with my group is something that I am looking forward to.
Shawneil, Team 5
Design and Policy 