People often say “somebody should…" We say, “why not us!”
Getting Started
A meeting of minds.
Carly and Karel met in September 2023 and over a lunch together realized that they not only had a similar worldview, they also both shared a dream of making the “missing documentary” to make a real difference in the world using both of their respective skills and experience.
Prior projects
Karel had co-founded and led the Covid19 Design Challenge and the Future of Design Education both with hundreds of volunteers globally. Carly had created several critically acclaimed documentaries on the theme of biodiversity.
First collaboration
The two initially collaborated on designing and running a workshop on Biodiversity Design at OCAD university with the then interim Dean of Design, Kathy Moscou, as part of the DesignTO festival.
Planning the project
A few get togethers later, the UX/R for Good: Habits for a Better World project started taking shape with a focus on meeting people where they are using research methods, ideating solutions using design, and then bringing those solutions to the world through film.
Research & Design
Desk research
Each team started with understanding the existing research literature on each of the challenge areas to ensure our project would be build upon a solid foundation of empirical extant knowledge.
Research synthesis
We synthesized all the data across all the teams within a challenge for each of the challenge categories focusing on demographics, reasons for change, powerful stories, blockers and misinformation that need to be addressed.
Launching the project.
Karel posted a call for volunteers on his LinkedIn account and a sign up form on his website. He and Carly were absolutely thrilled at the enthusiasm, passion, and sheer number of people coming forward to volunteer.
Self introspection
Individuals on each team then considered what they had learned from the desk research and to what degree they themselves were in alignment with those research findings. They also discussed their insights with their team members.
Design Workshopping
We’re now using the research synthesis to ideate solutions and iteratively create storyboards while also future-proofing them with pre-mortem exercises and additional research.
Kicking off the project.
The project was officially kicked off on a Zoom call with volunteers. In fact there were two Zoom calls to accommodate the wide range of time zones represented by the volunteers. Another set of Zoom calls was held to go over the organization and details of the approach that the teams would be using followed by a call with the team leaders and after that the project was in full swing. See the updates section for details on progress.
External research
That desk research, self introspection, and group discussion then led each team to formulate external research that they then carried out through interviews, surveys, and other study methods.