This workshop is a two-part series.
O V E R V I E W
Problem
The City of Savannah is looking to understand how to increase Community Engagement through Civic Engagement with younger generations in order to create digital channels of communication, implement youth feedback, and increase awareness of City of Savannah events and activities.
P R O J E C T
Deliverables
Modernizing Civic Engagement for The City of Savannah (Pt. 1)
How might we reimagine Civic Engagement for The City of Savannah so that it motivates young residents, permanent and impermanent, to engage in local government, while utilizing technology to enhance communication and feedback implementation?
R E S E A R C H
Team
Aniekanabasi Asanga, Service Designer
My Role
Audrey Keim, Service Designer
Timeline
5 weeks
Understanding the Problem
Our team spoke with several members of the Human Resources team, who are responsible for Civic Engagement, at The City of Savannah to understand their goals and motivations when looking to increase engagement and communications with younger generations in Savannah.
During our discussion with the Human Resources team, we crafted the following statement that our workshops should address:
”Civic Engagement looks different for different neighborhoods, so does Civic Engagement look different for other generations?”
From our conversations with City of Savannah Human Resources, we clarified 5 goals for The City of Savannah regarding Community Engagement and the youth of the city.
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We want to actively engage and communicate with the local community.
We like to increase the value of property taxes by involving younger residents.
We want to demonstrate how the Savannah community impacts the experience of young Savannah residents.
We want to create innovative communication channels we can use to reach younger Savannah residents.
We want to increase community engagement by increasing awareness of city-wide grants.
P R I M A R Y R E S E A R C H
City of Savannah
Goals and Needs
Civic Engagement is the efforts made by The City of Savannah that aim to improve the civic life of local communities and is how the city works to develop knowledge, skills, values, and motivations of their municipality, resulting in a higher quality of life through both political and non-political processes.
Community Engagement is based on the democratic idea that everyone who is affected by a community issue, should have a say in the decision-making around it. It is Community Engagement that holds the promise that public participation can influence decisions that affect the provision of services, future visions, and sustainability of communities.
The City of Savannah is looking to increase Civic Engagement by increasing Community Engagement with youth of Savannah, specifically 18 to 25-year-olds who are new to the city either as temporary residents, also known as ‘Transplants’ or as new homeowners.
Primary Research
Stakeholder Alignment
Ecosystem Loops
Behavior Change Wheels
Affinitization
Secondary Research
Quant & Qual Data Analysis
Tomorrow’s Narratives
Data Analysis and Synthesis
Insight Development
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T
Workshop Pt. 1
Purpose, Objectives, Activities and Deliverables
Purpose
The purpose of this workshop is to ideate civic engagement concepts and strategies with our target audience, young Savannah residents.
We are looking to understand the youth’s experiences of The City of Savannah and its services, how they engage with these services (if at all), and learn how The City of Savannah can generate greater interaction between youth and local government.
Objectives
During this workshop, we are looking to understand:
What makes young people interested in engaging with The City of Savannah?
What are the main barriers that stop youth from engaging in civic events and services?
Activities
Agenda Review
Defining ‘Community Engagement’
Insight Briefing
Character Building
Activity I: Ecosystem Loops
Activity II: Behavior Change Wheel + Tomorrow’s Narrative
Deliverables
Miro Workshop Canvas
Expert Interview Insights + Synthesis
Ecosystem Loops
Behavior Change Wheels
Tomorrow’s Narratives
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
Ecosystem Loops
Workshop Activity
Our initial workshop activity with our participants was for each of them to build an Ecosystem Loop that represented the various ways they interact with Savannah. This exercise is used to understand each participant’s unique experience, how they are connected to systems, and learn where they seek value exchanges within the cityscape. As a team, we want to know environmental or behavioral attributes could influence future design decisions as we move forward.
Learnings
12.5%
Of participants regularly attended and participated in civic events and services provided by The City of Savannah.
92%
Shared that parks and green spaces were the most common city-provided spaces they regularly enjoy.
25%
Utilized government-owned buildings, such as libraries.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
Behavior Change Wheels
Workshop Activity
Our second activity, we instructed our participants to populate a Behavior Change Wheel which would demonstrate their behaviors, blockers, capabilities, opportunities and motivations in relation to the the following prompt:
”We’d like to increase Gen-Z engagement with important local events, news, opportunities, and activities happening within The City of Savannah”.
Learnings
96%
Of participants feel restricted because of busy schedules due to university and employment commitments, making city events difficult to prioritize.
94%
Of participants expressed the desire to learn more about city events and activities.
72%
Of participants attempt to engage with The City of Savannah by following their digital platforms, newsletters, and social media accounts. However, due to minimal activity on these digital communication methods, Gen-Z Savannah residents remain in the dark about city activities, events, and services.
Blockers
The most common blockers for Gen-Z when engaging with city events and services included:
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Not viewing Savannah as their community or how it relates to their experience.
Insufficient resources to participate in city efforts.
Low motivation or incentive to participate.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T
Tomorrow’s Narrative
Workshop Activity
Lastly, we asked our Gen-Z participants to create a Tomorrow’s Narrative as a way to capture their mental models as to how they view and interpret their relationship to The City of Savannah.
Shared below are some screenshots of our participants’ responses.
R E F L E C T I O N
Key Takeaways
Reflecting on the findings from our initial workshop with Gen-Z Savannah residents, our team understood the disconnect between our participants and The City of Savannah to be rooted in various causes.
Majority of our participants don’t identify The City of Savannah as their community. Many of them are digital nomads and don’t identify as a ‘Savannah local’, so it’s difficult for this group to feel connected to the city and community around them and in turn, feel compelled to engage in city activities.
Our participants also vocalized that although they have an interest in civic events and resources, they are unable to carve out time to attend or utilize these benefits. Participants suggested finding ways to meaningfully contribute to the city that aren’t time-consuming.
Lastly, our Gen-Z participants hoped to find a way to align civic action with their existing behaviors and motivations. For example, could university students utilize civic volunteering as course credit?
C O N C L U S I O N
Final Inisghts
Our initial workshop with young Savannah residents revealed important insights that deeply informed our brainstorming leading into the next workshop [see City of Savannah Workshop Pt. 2!]. The following are were our biggest learnings as we reflected upon our initial workshop with young residents of Savannah
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Tight for Time
The single largest blocker for young Savannah residents is that they have limited time to extend to activities outside of work and university. Volunteering time towards civic activities isn’t high on their priority list, especially when it’s competing with high-priority life commitments.
The Digital Nomad Mindset
Majority of our young Savannah residents would classify themselves as ‘Digital Nomads’. Meaning, they live a nomadic lifestyle traveling between various places and rely on technology to provide them with access to work and education. Because of their frequent travel, it’s difficult for this audience to feel connected to Savannah and feel like they have a voice in the civic landscape. This sentiment of not belonging to the Savannah community serves as a blocker that prevents this population from engage in local government.
The Desire to Engage
However, despite these key blockers, this young demographic does seek to stay updated on civic news and events through digital formats. Unfortunately due to poor usability and few updates of the city’s digital platforms, these young residents remain in the dark about any improvements, news or events being hosted by the City of Savannah leading to greater disconnection and confusion.