Ashley O'Callaghan
Social designer, researcher and storyteller
Overview
Design Research and Facilitation
June 2020 & September 2020
The planning system is difficult to navigate, which is frustrating for residents who want to provide feedback on future developments in their cities.
As part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies digital innovation programme, the city of Tallinn set out to better understand how they could make city planning easier for residents to understand how to enable them to provide more informed feedback.
Role
Leading a multidisciplinary team based in Tallinn, we designed and conducted qualitative and quantitative research with a broad spectrum of residents to understand pain points when engaging with city planning.
I facilitated the team through synthesis, hypothesis generation and ideation sessions. Together we used what we had learnt to design a prototype to test ways to help residents provide more informed feedback at the right moments in the development cycle.
Main activities
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In depth desk and stakeholder research to understand urban development policy
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Recruiting a broad spectrum of participants
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Qualitative interviews with residents (with the use of a translator in some cases)
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Facilitating synthesis, pain point mapping and user journey sessions
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Developing a theory of change based on research insights
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Teaching a multidisciplinary team to understand and utilise design methodology
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Sharing findings with senior internal and external stakeholders at workshops, show and tells and in reports
Outcome
Through the programme Tallinn was able to develop capabilities in the different skills needed for successful digital transformation. In doing so, they have gained knowledge that enables deep listening with communities, collaboration with partners, experimentation in city halls, the co-design of services with residents, and better use of data. All of which will enable them to deliver better public services for residents going forward.
"Citizens using our services are reaching out for help. It’s up to us to make the process as user-friendly as possible."
- Tallinn City Planner
Remote stakeholder mapping session
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Developing a prototype for sharing future development plans with residents
