A design contribution to disaster prevention

Using Human-Centered Design to shift the role of the community, from passive beneficiaries to co-creators of disaster prevention initiatives.

 

Project Concern International - PCI - allowed our team of design strategist and social designers to conduct research in the communities of Mixco, Guatemala, where they were implementing a large scale disaster prevention intervention.

We found there was an opportunity to create an open dialog between the organization and the community. During three days we interviewed community leaders and bystanders to show PCI how Human-Centered Design approaches could help them not only learn from the people they aimed to impact, but also bring them as part of their team.

 

Challenge

PCI was looking to validate a program idea but was lacking the framework to gather valuable feedback from the community as a whole. With limited access to active community members, and with limited responses from traditional surveys, PCI asked us to determine how could they get people in Mixco to share their perspective on the intervention the organization was planning to implement.

 

Process

Using human-centered design approach, we conducted primary research, to learn from community members in low-income communities in Mixco, Guatemala.

By meeting the community at their homes and streets, we quickly learn about their perspective on risk and property ownership - fundamental concepts for the implementation of PCI's initiative.

Value

PCI became aware of alternative approaches to engaging with the community. The organization learned that empathy and creative thinking had the potential to help them amplify the impact of their work, by being able to have real insight into the opinion, concerns, and desires of the people they served.

Outcome

 

/// Contact me if you are interested in obtaining additional information or viewing materials developed for this project.  

 

Project developed in collaboration with Mariana Quiroga.