Human CenteredDesign & Policy@joelfarissApplied Research & Design StrategyMayor’s Office of Policy & Innovation

How do ideas become policy?

How do ideas become policy?

I’m not going to answer the question of how.

What I’m really interested in is the physiology of ideas.

Centipede ideas vs caterpillar ideas.

Justice?

"Justice in itself does not exist, but it is something we demand and something that is demanded of us.”

“Justice is what we call for and something that calls on us, something we solicit, and something by which we are solicited.”

When you create policy, you are doing very existential work.

The act of creating new policy is an act of describing what the future will be like.

"Designers [...] are forever bound to treat as real that which exists only in an imagined future..."

"Designers are, by their very nature, emissaries of that which faces outward, propagators seeding the future."

How do ideas become law?

How is justice designed?

Let’s define design.

Intentional decision making.

“The term ‘design’ broadly embraces the whole orbit of man-made, visible surroundings, from simple everyday goods to the complex pattern of a whole town”

“Design is devising courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”

“Design is a conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.”

“Design is to make things knowable.”

Human Centered Design?

“Human centered design is fundamentally an affirmation of human dignity…”

“…It is an ongoing search for what can be done to support and strengthen the dignity of human beings…”

“…as they act out their lives in varied social, economic, political, and cultural circumstances.”

“…as they act out their lives in varied social, economic, political, and cultural circumstances.”

How is justice designed?

Making intentional decisions that affirm human dignity.

Changing existing situationsinto ones that affirm human dignity.

Imposing a meaningful order that affirms human dignity.

Make the things that affirm human dignity knowable.

HumanCenteredDesign

HearCreateDeliver

Fundamental to this work is empathy.

#hear

Listening to the stories of real people, discerning their needs, barriers, and values.

#hear

Ethnographic portraiture.

#hear

“Portraiture seeks to unveil the universal truths and resonant stories that lie in the specifics and complexity of everyday life.”

#hear

Move from stories to strategies and from inspiration to ideas.

#create

Key activities in creating –synthesis, brainstorming, prototyping, and feedback.

#create

Moving your ideas toward implementation.

#deliver

Start with low-investment and low-cost ways of trying out your idea.

#deliver

Iterative process of tracking indicators and evaluating outcomes.

#deliver

Case Study

Addressing disparities for young black men in Seattle.

In our conversations with young black men, we discovered that hope was a defining trait of those who had changed the course of their life.

“Is hope a privilege reserved only for the affluent?”

Hope: The vision for a bright future, and the belief that future is attainable.

Hope: The vision for a bright future, and the belief that future is attainable.

Hope: The vision for a bright future, and the belief that future is attainable.

What if every 18 – 24 year old black male in Seattle had a vision for a bright future, and the belief that future was attainable?

What if every 18 – 24 year old black male in Seattle had a vision for a bright future, and the belief that future was attainable?

Vision is about exposure.

Belief is about mindset.

Both are relational.

“We want to catalyze visionand belief by operationalizing social capital in the tech sector.”

Career Exploration and Mentoring.Experientially rooted, relationally focused, job mentoring.

Experientially rooted.

Five immersive excursions to local technology companies.

Relationally focused.

Fostering relationshipsbetween young men, peers, mentors, working professionals, and affinity groups.

Job mentoring.

Five weekly mentor-led workshops to learn what to do with the business card they were just handed.

Outcomes.

If we can catalyze vision and belief, we can enable young men to take on life’s opportunities.

Increase diversity in the technology sector.

Increase income and economic mobility.

Reduce racial wage inequality.

Expose employers to new talent market.

We partnered with Microsoft.

Relationships.

Exposure.

“My time with the Microsoft career exploration was one of the most beneficial experiences that I've ever experienced. So thank you for EVERYTHING, I truly learned A LOT and had an amazing time.”

From 30% to 100%

Small n, now we’re looking to do a larger pilot.

joelfariss.com/seattleu

Questions?