Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

This paper describes and discusses a case of re-design of service journeys for the tech enablement of women’s rights activists. It examines how a group of business consultants interacted with a small non-profit organization to rethink its services and systems for social justice activists, which relied on volunteer advisors from Silicon Valley. The paper also analyzes the outcomes of the re-designed journeys and the positive impact they had in both the activists and advisors who went through them. We argue there were two key elements to the success of this design process: a focus on bringing out the passion which both activists and advisors have for social justice; and the creation of processes which made them contribute as equals. Interestingly, those guiding themes emerged in spite of the traditional, business- and results-oriented mindset of the consultants. We explore this design process in the context of the passionate politics and feminist movements and the historical backdrop of conservative attacks on women’s rights. Based on the results of the study, the paper suggests some guidelines for conducting design work with political and social justice organizations.