1. Systems design
2. Object design
3. Workshop

CLIENT
United Nations DPPA Innovation Cell

TEAM
Emily Rothschild, Kate Dannessa, Maria Platia, Tom Weis, Irina Wang, and Megan Valanidas

Shape of Innovation: United Nations x Altimeter Design Workshop

Project Summary:
In 2021, Altimeter Group met with the leadership from the United Nations DPPA Innovation Cell. Our shared interest in creative approaches for positive global impacts inspired deep conversations about the current state of the world.

At the time, we lived amid the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed the transition when people from countless occupations began to return to the office following a year of remote work.

Challenge ︎

Create an opportunity space that emphasizes the importance of working together in the same space after quarantine and elevates voices that otherwise would not have been heard due to status or hierarchy.

Role︎

• Design researcher
• Workshop co-prototyper
• Exhibition co-designer
  
• Event co-facilitator

(A) Defining the Problem Space

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Tasks

︎ Conduct user interviews to better understand the UN enviorment and the people who work there

︎ Record their perspectives on the pandemic and how the event changed their perspective. Also ask how the DPPA could respond to such an event.

︎Conduct interviews asking about the kinds of projects each employee works on and how the projects move forward. What makes DPPA project different than other initiatives inside the UN?

The Shape of Innovation Workshop

Abstract objects as vehicles for new perspectives

What is the Shape of Innovation? Draws inspiration from a workshop developed by the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design, which surveys collections of natural objects and asks the question:

“How do we juxtapose, categorize, and classify objects to reveal different meanings, systems of thought, and new perceptions?"

By pairing uniquely designed objects with language commonly encountered at the Innovation Cell, we can consider complex concepts- like diplomacy, trust, and security- from a fresh perspective. As we continue to learn from each workshop session, we build a repeatable exercise that explicitly offers fresh ideas and new insights each time it is run.

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Tasks

︎ Identify what success looks like in this space and create the ability to collect data to inform the design intervention.

︎ Designing an experience that creates a sense of safety and comfort while yielding the most amount of information

︎ Create a way to collect data shared in the workshop.

(B) Testing

Because of the workshop element, the team underwent a series of digital, in-person, and hybrid prototyping. Each test was informative, leading to new question iterations, how people would be invited to think differently and be comfortable 'breaking rank,' and much more.

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Tasks

︎ Identify what success looks like in the space with different groupings of thought leaders.

︎ Ensure an experience that creates a sense of safety and comfort while yielding the most amount of information.

︎ Collect feedback for later iterations, both from visual observations and target user interviews.

PROTOTYPING

Prototype 1: Internal Altimeter Team

Utilizing both Microsoft Teams and Miro, the first tests were run internally with team members who were unfamiliar with the project. This prototype phase was to shape the steps and see how a facilitator would take the insights from one step and move the group to the next, making connections throughout.


Findings ︎︎︎

1. Edit down the questions used to transition between each exercise.

2. Open questions up further to not limit responses and to not over-direct the conversation. Organic discussion is to be encouraged.

3. Refine any language that could lead to suggested results.

PROTOTYPING

Prototype 2: UN Innovation Cell Team

At the United Nations in New York, we ran the workshop with the Innovation Cell in person with the objects. This prototyping session led to insights like how we should introduce the objects and specific phrases to encourage people to write and make marks.


Findings ︎︎︎

1. Participants must be encouraged to “discover” objects from their storage place rather than have the objects displayed for them to interact with.

2. Give time for participants to pick up and investigate objects while sharing their initial thoughts.

3.Add questions that provoke first thoughts and encourage lighter discussion before beginning the exercises.

3. Scribe role to be defined explicitly in the workshop handbook.

PROTOTYPING

Prototype 3: United Nations Exhibition/ Cond. version

We had our Shape of Innovation exhibition on World Innovation Day at the United Nations in New York City. Both objects were showcased in the UN lobby and later used for three workshops with volunteers from different departments in the United Nations.


Findings ︎︎︎

1. Include a question or ask that encourages participants to write on the table sheet. Colors can be used for each of the different questions to organize the notes of the group

2. Stacking or alternative ways to interact with objects between participants and the objects themselves can be explored further.

(C) Exhibition

The objects were exhibited in the Secretariat building at the United Nations in New York City, one week before the workshops. The Exhibition was called "What is the Shape of Innovation?" On National Innovation Day, we invited people to write on the vitrines with words that they associate with the objects. Afterward, we held multiple workshops in an abbreviated form to test further the experience, concept, and language of the workshop design.

Click here to see the UN’s website page on the project.︎

“Movement of Dialogue”

This object isolates the core elements of a dialogue: a means of communication, two perspectives, time, and negotiation. This is an interactive experience designed for two people. Each participant holds one end and shakes, creating waves in the rope that carry to the other person. Even if the two participants have different shaking styles, they use a single communication tool, creating ripples in the rope.

The handles are different colors and sizes, emphasizing different perspectives in a dialogue. A dyed purple cotton rope connects the handles, symbolizing the space where individuals come together to communicate using the same tools: sound, written message, body language, facial expressions, visuals, etc.

“Weight of Security”

While mainstream media usually pairs security with words such as “national” or “financial,” this object explores the physical feeling of security. A sense of security is incredibly personal and intimate. Bearing the weight of security can lead to emotions such as comfort, exposure, vulnerability, protection, or support, depending on the individual and their experience with security or lack thereof.

This hand-sewn vest contains weighted materials. The garment is covered in a dyed blue cotton fabric with a black pattern that resembles tally marks and a mustard yellow trim to frame the vest. The style is inspired by life vests, usually filled with air or foam and used on boats or rafts. Picking up this vest, we are confronted by its weight, which is in direct contrast to our preconceptions. Once we put it on, the weight is distributed across our shoulders, chest, and back, reminiscent of a deep hug or heavy blanket. This is the weight of security.

“Scale of Disruption”

“You can’t just pull a weed out by its stem. You have to get the roots. Get the roots or else it will regrow and be just as tall tomorrow, as if nothing had happened.”
-my dad, Arnie Matson

This imagined core sample of an average sidewalk allows us to explore the many layers that would otherwise be invisible. From the object, the viewer can envision how much work, energy, and resources are needed to develop a vast root system capable of breaking through concrete for the smallest access to sunlight.

Even though we may only see small amounts of change in our environments (that may or may not impact our own day-to-day lives), the work that goes into building the foundation for that change must be both vast and persistent.

Disruption requires resilience and determination.

Tools used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Solidworks, physical prototyping (laser cutting, 3D printing, casting, sewing, dyeing), Cinema 4D