{"id":21555,"date":"2017-07-28T15:47:59","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T15:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=21555"},"modified":"2017-07-28T15:47:59","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T15:47:59","slug":"daily-design-thinking-impact-project-cots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/daily-design-thinking-impact-project-cots\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Design Thinking : Impact Project with COTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a year of using design thinking to solve problems I began to ask myself, \u201cHow can we design even more empathetically?\u201d I wondered how design might be of use for those who are among the most vulnerable. For my Impact Project, I partnered with the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a homeless shelter for families, located in Midtown Detroit. Most of the clients in the shelter are women and children. The first day I spent at COTS someone told me, \u201cEveryone is a mother here.\u201d
\nAfter spending more time at the shelter and talking with staff and clients I began to wonder how a designer could be of use in a realm where psychologists, life coaches, and social workers seemed to be most relevant. However, design and physical beauty are tied to one\u2019s psyche. In this way, my project became focused on little ways to improve the daily life of the clients at COTS.<\/p>\n

Though interviews, I found that though COTS has many resources, not many clients were utilizing them. Two questions arose: \u201cHow might we encourage clients to utilize COTS\u2019 resources?\u201d + \u201cHow might we make COTS\u2019 resources more accessible to clients?\u201d<\/p>\n

I addressed these questions through the installation of a series of posters called \u201cElevator Engagement\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Riding the elevator is a daily ritual that all clients partake in, making the elevator an informal gathering place. I posted sheets of paper with questions and prompts on them for clients to engage in. The goal of this prototype was to see if clients would engage at all, experiment with a new communication system between COTS staff and clients, and spread the love that is found in COTS resources like their Affinity Group and Life Coaching. I also posed questions that would encourage mothers and children to interact, knowing that mothers are more likely to make positive changes if they see that it will benefit their children.<\/p>\n

In interviews I was told that clients were happy to have a bed and a roof over their head. But, we know that people deserve more than that. People deserve beauty, warmth, and dignity. Sometimes it\u2019s small things that can begin to open that door, small things like a piece of paper taped on a wall asking questions like, \u201cWhat is your favorite thing about being a mother\u201d, \u201cHow do you define hope?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a year of using design thinking to solve problems I began to ask myself, \u201cHow can we design even more empathetically?\u201d I wondered how design might be of use for those who are among the most vulnerable. For my Impact Project, I partnered with the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS), a homeless shelter for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}