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. 2)
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
Client 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 Map
Value Exchange Map
UI Lo-Fi Prototypes
Secondary Research
Insight Report
Design Recommendations
Data Analysis and Synthesis
UI Hi-Fi Prototypes
User Stories
O U T L I N E
Workshop Pt. 2 Outline
Purpose, Objectives, Activities and Deliverables
Purpose
The purpose of this workshop is to share updates research and synthesis insights with key stakeholders, and present Smart Civic Engagement prototypes.
Objectives
During this workshop, we are looking to understand:
How can we co-create shared value for The City of Savannah and young Savannah residents to increase civic engagement through emerging technology?
How does our service prototype resonate with young Savannah residents? How can it be improved?
Activities
Agenda Review
Secondary and Primary Research Review
Ecosystem Map Shareout
HMW Statement
Prototype Concept Brief
Value Exchange Map
Blueprint Dissection + Read Out
UI Rapid Brainstorm
Closing
Deliverables
Miro Workshop Canvas
Expert Interview Insights + Synthesis
Prototype Briefs
Ecosystem Map
Service Prototypes
Value Exchange Map
Service Blueprint
UI Prototypes
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T
Ecosystem Map
Our team collected and organized 150+ data points that represented the various actors and roles within our project’s ecosystem to understand how these entities interacted to exchange value, and see if there was opportunity to improve these exchanges to meet the needs of The City of Savannah and young Savannah residents.
P R O J E C T S U M M A R Y
How might we reimagine community engagement for The City of Savannah in order to capture the motivation of young residents by utilizing technology?
In our Workshop Pt. 1, we learned that young Savannah residents are looking to engage with The City of Savannah through meaningful, but time-efficient methods that allow them to leave an impact while aligning with their existing behaviors and values and allowing them to connect with the Savannah community.
P R O T O T Y P E C O N C E P T
CivicChatter
Prototype Concept Brief
Built on our primary research and insights, CivicChatter is…
FOR young Savannah Residents
WHO are digitally fluent and looking to engage their local community through e-government communication channels.
WE PROVIDE an interactive government communication platform that brings awareness to The City of Savannah regarding areas of opportunity and improvement across the city directly informed by the feedback from young residents.
SO THAT The City of Savannah can enhance communication with the younger generation of residents, build stronger relationships, and allow for young residents to have greater access to local civic engagements.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
Value Exchange Map
Our team utilized a simple value exchange map to temonstrate the value created by our pilot service prototype that can be used to bridge the needs of The City of Savannah and young residents.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
Service Blueprint
Ideation
During our ideation session, we had participants engage with service blueprints that demonstrated the process of how Civic Chatter could operate. Our team divided participants into 2 teams and had them role play. One group was designated to operate from the perspective of Young Savannah Residents, and the other was asked to think from the perspective of City Council members.
We asked our participants to annotate with their person notes which could include service ideas, additional touchpoints, areas of confusion or tension, as well as questions.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
CivicChatter UI Brainstorm
Low-Fi Prototype
From our UI Brainstorm activity we wanted to understand what UI elements would invite and engage young residents most effectively, as well as what features would be most meaningful and relevant to them.
Our team wondered what does civic engagement look like to young residents on a digital platform, and is there a shared vision of what that looks like/functions like?
From our prototyping session, we developed the following insightful User Stories:
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As a young Savannah resident, I want to easily capture and upload my feedback, so that I can contribute to the city quickly and efficiently.
As a young Savannah resident, I want AI to help identify and categorize the information I upload, so that it relieves my cognitive load.
As a young Savannah resident, I want to know that my feedback has been received by the city so that I can have formal confirmation that it is going to be considered in the city’s decisions and discussions.
As a young Savannah resident, I want to have the option to virtually attend town hall meetings and know when my feedback is being discussed so that when my feedback is discussed I am able to listen and learn how they’ll address my feedback.
As a young Savannah resident, I want to be able to learn about Savannah sites and landmarks, so that I can be exposed to the history and cultural relevance that surrounds me.
As a young Savannah resident, I want to be thanked for my feedback so that I know my actions matter and that my feedback is affirmed by the city.
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
User Stories
Insights
D E S I G N A R T I F A C T S
User Interface Prototype
Hi-Fi Digital Prototype
Given the insights we gathered during our two-part workshop series, our team was able to craft a high fidelity prototype of Civic Chatter. This prototype showcases the features and services our participants felt provided the most value to them and their lifestyles.
This prototype was shared with The City of Savannah as well as an insight report that detailed the findings from our workshops.
C L O S I N G
Reflections & Recommendations
Our workshop series resulted in actionable outcomes such as a clear research report that explained the sentiments and recommendations of our young Savannah residents, high-fidelity prototypes and future design recommendations.
Our participants expressed a sincere interest in the wellbeing of Savannah, and were vocal about actions the City of Savannah could take with the help of technology to create open lines of feedback to support and maintain civic engagement with young Savannah residents moving forward.
Our team advised our counterparts at the City of Savannah to prioritize digital communication channels to generate a greater digital presence that would reach young residents, and continue to build out digital platforms that support civic engagement activities.