Page 30 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2016

30design in their approach to the problems. They were with The 19 Million Project6 for the first week, coaching journalists, developers, designers and everyone involved in the teams on using empathy to learn from the refugees, centres for humanitarian assistance, marine police and help bodies, in order to learn from the sources what were the biggest struggles these people had in the process of migration, both those trying to migrate and those attempting to help them survive and reach the shore safe and sound.This is the process used when creating a new product. The creative process starts withthe users – learning about their actions and observing their behaviour to nd out their needs. It’s about problem nding rather than jumping straight into problem solving because the problem we choose to address might not be the one in need of a solution. We might be solving the wrong problems, and generating solutions that have no impact.We see some resistance from journalists when faced with design thinking methodology and empathy research. As they (journalists) may go into an interview with the idea that the interviewee will tell them what they wantto hear, for example, ‘yes, I’m corrupt’ rather than exploring and probing more deeply with questions that reveal more human depth, such as if he is a good person, or what things make him happy, sad or afraid!I learned through this process – and it has been invaluable to me as a professional and even on the personal level – that my killer feature is eld empathy research. At the Babobab Center for refugees, 7 I talked to two girls, and they told me that the only thing they needed were shoes just so they could walk in the winter. Most women refugees at the centre only have sandals andit’s November. The next day I came back to the centre and I gave them two pairs of shoes. I felt I connected with those girls, without knowing each other’s languages, I played a Daddy Yankee song andwe danced. Chile and Eritrea connected through music, the universal language. This is forgetting for a moment the fact that we are journalists and professionals and connect on a human to human basis. This is all thanks to the human-centred design approach shared by Sina Mossayeb and Ed White, the designers from IDEO who’ve been part of The 19 Million Project. As a journalist, I took the decision to dive into this methodology, stepping out of my comfort zone, getting so many insights. I am changed and I am happy to be given this opportunity of trying a new approach.Carolina Astuya, Chilean journalist and Chicas Poderosas Ambassador in ChileThe power of human-centred design thinking is something not immediately understood by those who are experimenting with this concept for the rst time. It is a process – a process with very well-de ned steps that brings people out of their comfort zone and there is often resistance. In order to create change we must change the way we do things. If we always do things the same way, we will have the same outcomes.Once the idea generation ends it’s time to group ideas, merging identical thoughts into big clusters. The team will then select the most salient idea and develop it further to present a prototype.DiscoveryHuman-centred design starts by framing problems as opportunities by observing people and their behaviours. Not just what they say, because what people say might be di erent from what they think, do or feel. This is why observation is so fundamental – we are diving into the human core, and not just a super cial connection, getting what really matters most to people personally, emotionally and immediately. This brings a bigger anthropological approach to the interview process. Interviews are always conducted by groups of three people: one asks questions, the second takes notes, and the third observes the interviewee, noting gestures, facialTHE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON CULTURAL CREATION · MARIANA MOURA SANTOSSmart Culture: Impact of the Internet on Artistic Creation