Project: The First Course | SPIDER-Hack 2013
Client: PDR | Cardiff City Council
Sector: Youth Employment Opportunities
Role: Service Designer
Design Brief: PDR and Cardiff Council ran the SPIDER-HACK event at Chapter in Cardiff as a part of the SPIDER Project (Supporting Public Service Innovation using Design in European Regions). Over two days I participated in the event, joining teams of young people, businesses, third sector organisations, Cardiff Council workers, designers and developers in order to design better ways for young people to make decisions about their future using existing data that Cardiff Council holds on the jobs market.
What I did: I worked as part of a multidisciplinary team of six which included a web developer, two graphic designers, a UX practitioner, and a frontline youth worker. Over the course of 48 hours, I was able to bring service design expertise to the group, ensuring a user-centred design approach was adopted across all work. I designed a research plan which saw the team take to the streets in order to quickly gather research data from real people through the use of tools such as vox popping and short interviewing – both on and off-camera. I supported the team to synthesise the research and elicit key insights which we used to design a prototype solution to help young people better understand their employment options at a much younger age; placing a focus on embracing and nurturing their aspirations, rather than tempering them. I took a lead role in the presentation of the final prototype, pitching our concept to a panel of industry experts.
Outcomes: The First Course was chosen as the best design concept and won the hack. One of my teammates has since developed the concept further as part of his final year degree course. Insights identified during the event also helped inform a prototype developed by PDR following the hack; Pointr is currently in BETA and is linking young people to services, programmes and organisations offering employment or training in Cardiff, whilst also providing organisations with feedback on service quality and relevance from Pointr users.
Simon Penny 