Signs of Humanity Score
Community Score Card Website
Overview: In my master’s program, i had the opportunity to work with Willie Baronet on a project to bring more awareness and empathy to the unhoused population. While leveraging his art installation of a collection of signs acquired from unhoused individuals, we were tasked with creating a strategy and deliverables that could accomplish this task.
Duration: 8 Weeks
Role: Designer & Researcher
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, and Miro
Skills: Design Thinking Method, UX Design, Visual Design, Health Communications,
User testing, Wireframing, Storytelling
Research
Through primary research and secondary research, I was able to get the necessary information to move forward in the project By interviewing Willie Baronet through some of the following questions:
1.What impact has your project had on the public since the release of the documentary?2.How has that been measured?
3.With competing non-profit organizations, there is always a risk that one project would divert resources from other organizations that would otherwise use their funds more effectively. Are there mechanisms to ensure that your project functions as an asset rather than a liability?
4.When building partnerships with different organizations, is there any criteria you look for before consideration?
5.How can we encourage empathy for the unhoused individuals whom we don’t see (i.e. sleep in cars, in shelters, not holding signs)?
These questions plus research into the unhoused issues and how to build empathy led me to start brainstorming ideas to bring light and action to this issue.
Design
After completing the necessary research and defining the problem, I found that I could design a complete solution. Through a couple of brainstorming iterations, I landed on the idea of a web scorecard system. This strategy utilizes Willie Baronet's "We are all Homeless" project to draw people into an online community scoring system. It will be a website and web app that scores cities based on metrics of how they either support or discriminate against the unhoused populations there. By having scores attached to cities, the hope is that this visibility of information will drive change and support from organizations, communities, and governing bodies.
How it Works
Each score will comprise of 4 - 5 metrics that are gaged based on the background information gathered on the city.
- Unhoused to shelter ratio
- Number of nonprofits to the unhoused ratio
- Laws and regulations in support or discriminating
- Services and Resources available
Each one will be calculated on a 1 through 3 scales, with one being the least and three being the best. This will give each city a total possible score of 12, which would equal an A score for the city.
Also, each city will have a section where the public can agree or disagree with the score to make it more participatory. If the public perception is 65% against the rating, it will be reviewed again for accuracy. This also builds trust in the score that you can contest and that it can change.