As digital designers we are constantly being told that we have the power to change the world.
But other than repeating this over and over again in our comfortable bubble of tech meetups, conferences or self centred documentaries how many of us actually use our perceived super powers for something more than making rich companies richer, selling more shoes online or creating something like "Uber for coat hangers"?
In my talk at the IxDA Berlin Event in September 2016 I will look at examples of applied digital do-goodism and discuss some strategies for how we can use our UX and design skills for social good.
Slides may contain traces of half baked philosophy, social romanticism, self guilt and hopefully inspiration.
14. http://airbnb.de
We travel the world to stay in cute rooftop apartments in trendy areas like Berlin Kreuzberg.āØ
Thatās if you happen to be a newcomer to Berlin and are labelled āExpatā, āTouristā or āZujezogenerā.
17. Source: unknown
If you happen to be a newcomer to Berlin and are labelled āRefugeeā that rooftop view might not be so cute and your
last, desperate resort to avoid eviction or deportation.
Both rooftop views and realities are located less than a mile from each other in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Source unknown
19. How might we use
our skills &
privileges for
āsomething goodā?
My HMW challenge for a few years now.
Not discussing tonight since weāve only got 20mins: deeper philosophical or political questions e.g. isāØ
for profit inherently evil, are NGOs inherently good etc. Itās complicated.
20. Hard Easy
High
Low
Ease of implementation
Impact
Quit daytime job to join social company
Switch to an ethical bank
Switch to Green EnergyGo vegan
Help social project in spare time
Donate money on a regular basis
Consume less
Only buy ethically sound products
Donate at Christmas
Buy organic products
Raise awareness at conferences / universities
I started with thinking about what I could do to be a better person both in my private and professional life.
The traffic light colours show roughly where I am right now.
21. Becoming a
Digital Do-Gooder
(in progess)
So let me take you on my personal journey to becoming a Digital Do-Gooder. āØ
This is very much in progress and a constant challenge on many levels.
22. Without being a
complete pain in āØ
the arse (in progess)
Another challenge is talking about doing good without sounding too pompous or full of yourself.
Iām Clive not Bono (and itās spelled arse not ass!)
23. http://www.dailyedge.ie/life-of-brian-quiz-2021283-Apr2015/
Itās also easy to be like those guys who you might have come across when being involved in some kind of activism.āØ
The kind of people that live in their ivory tower, love preaching and in-fighting over minute details and semantics and
seem to forget what they set out to do in the first place.
24. Bratwurst!
Put the
kettle on!
BTW: Iām Clive, son of a British (technically Cornish) father and a German mother. Born and bred āan Rhein und Ruhrā.
25. ā¢ 41 years on this earth
ā¢ 10+ years in the industry
ā¢ 6+ years in Berlin
Clive in numbers.
26. ā¢ Freelance UX Person
ā¢ Research, Strategy & Design
ā¢ Education & Social Good
Stuff I do for money and that I care about. Get in touch if you need UX support for interesting projects in Berlin
or all over the world (happy to travel for great stuff).
27. ā¢ UX Mentor at Career Foundry
ā¢ Co-Organiser UXcamp Europe
ā¢ Co-Organiser UX Book Club
I also donāt mind a bit of UX on the side. Still working on my UX/Life balanceā¦
28. Source unknown
The honest elevator pitch would sound something like this. Bit of a party pooper, really.
So what do you do as a UX Designer, Clive?
I move Sticky Notes around and draw grey
boxes so rich corporations can get richer.
29. Super
awesome!
We think a lot about HOW to design, disrupt and innovate things. But we generally do not spend too much time thinking
about WHY and for WHO.
Source unknown
30. https://www.designdisruptors.com/
We generally seem quiet pleased with ourselves and tell each other (or anybody who canāt run away quickly enough) how
much we are changing the world and solving problems with designā¦
32. http://www.ļ¬rstworldproblems.biz/
You might be disrupting and solving some of the worldās most coolest problems - who cares about the boring
UN Global Sustainability Goals Simon Stegemann just mentioned http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
sustainable-development-goals/ ?
35. Is it just me?
Or am I just a white, middle aged, middle class, self-hating hipster in a midlife crisis?
At 41 itās about time for that anyway, I guess.
36. Based on ethical
reasons -
have you everā¦
What about you? Letās compare your answers to a survey I sent out to UX professionals in 2014.
37. ā¦ had second thoughts about a client or project?
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Quick show of hands before I show the survey resultsā¦
38. ā¦ designed something for a client you really hate?
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Quick show of hands before I show the survey resultsā¦
39. ā¦ refused to work for a certain client or project?
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Quick show of hands before I show the survey resultsā¦
40. ā¦ quit your job?
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Quick show of hands before I show the survey resultsā¦
41. 80% IBelieve UX can play a roleāØ
in contributing to Social Good
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Thatās a great result - but mind the gapā¦
42. 75% IAre not involved in any activitiesāØ
for Social Good
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Remind you of the āFuck the poorā video earlier on?
52. Learning 2
Thereās no good āØ
excuse not to do
something.
Especially in Berlin
Although there are of course many distractions - especially in Berlin.
57. www.startupeuropesummit.com/hackathon/
Get out of the building
http://susjamberlin.strikingly.com/
FeaturingāØ
Clive
Take part in Hackathons (quite techie but UX input is highly appreciated) or Design Jamsā¦
59. https://berlin.impacthub.net
Get out of the building
berlin.socialimpactlab.eu/
Why not visit these social start up and co-working hubs (or check out their regular events) and check out the
companies being hosted there for inspiration.
61. www.youvo.org
Donate your skills (or money)
https://www.betterplace.org
ā¦ and use use online platforms like Youvo (aimed at more Junior Designers) or betterplace.org to donate your skills.
62. Make it a Win-Win
+ 600 EUR
- 11 kg
https://www.betterplace.org/de/fundraising-events/16204-aktion-speckgurtel-reloaded http://www.akinda-berlin.org/
Learnt Squarespace basics
Raised 600 ā¬
& lost 11 kg
Two projects I was involved in supporting http://akinda-berlin.org: fundraiser and new website.
65. http://www.ac4d.com/
Each one teach one
https://www.cooper.com/training/ux-boot-camp
Get them while they are young and raise awareness in the industry.
66. http://www.redi-school.org/ āØ
Watch intro video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TN4II0iAck
Each one teach one
I aim to be involved in teaching students at ReDi School for Digital Integration. Check out their great approach to the āØ
so-called refugee crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TN4II0iAck - they always need support if this appeals to you
or your company.
67. Service Experience Camp Berlin
Spread the gospel
Hyper Island Manchester
Talk about it with your peers and colleagues at events; raise awareness with young designers starting out in the
business at design schools and universities.
68. There are tons of individual efforts but not one go to place or website (AFAIK) and often very similar initiatives donāt
know of each other. Seems like a lot of missed collaboration opportunities - a lot of dots to be connectedā¦
70. #socialimpact #purpose-driven #socialenterprise
#SocEnt #socialgood #socialstartup
I started googling terms like āUX for Social Goodā or āDesign for Social Goodā - I found some stuff but this strategy
seems to narrow and thinking in silos (which as we always preach is bad).
Broader terms you can see on the slide yield more interesting results.
https://blog.dogbuddy.com/expert-marketing-tips-dog-sitting-business/
72. http://ofļ¬cialhuskylovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dogwalker.jpg
Donāt try to do it all: find a cause you really care about and team up with others, ideally with complementary skills. āØ
A lot of NGOs / social organisations are like startups i.e. ever changing contact persons, chaos and lack of structure so be
prepared for that and maybe that you have to take the lead.
73. I set up this LinkedIn Group to connect like-minded people - it does feel a lot like me talking to myself most of the time
so the future of it is a bit unclear. āØ
āØ
Perhaps a public Twitter or Product Hunt list is more effective.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8206434
75. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Basset_Hound_600.jpg
When you team up with others ensure there is a reliable commitment from every team member - otherwise be prepared for
frustration and low project moral.
If you donāt treat a side project like a āproperā commercial project itās destined to fail and feel more like a burden than
something you really want to do.
76. Whatās next?
Next steps before we all turn into totally awesome, disruptive Digital Do-Gooder unicorns:
77. Iāll upload this presentation to Slideshare (and perhaps Speakerdeck) and am aiming to curate some related Twitter
lists since I have collected so much more example material and URLs.
This presentation might also turn into a Medium article but donāt hold your breath.
@cklavery
78. Lets try to connect the dots in our local design and tech community, perhaps a regular MeetUp or one-off Jam might
come out of this.
I any case hit me up and let us share ideas and beers.
80. @cklavery
Iām @cklavery on most of the internet. I trust you to find me :)
āØ
And of course feel free to get in touch if you need UX support for interesting projects in Berlin or all over the world
(happy to travel for great stuff).