Small Town
Overview of the project​
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In today’s US cities, local governments and communities need to engage openly to build trust, reduce barriers, and create safer neighborhoods. Many non-emergency situations need interaction with public services beyond 911.​​​
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Small Town is a service platform that bridges local government and residents, creating a neighborhood feel in large cities. By fostering two-way communication and increasing transparency, the platform helps residents and aldermen build close relationships, enhancing community awareness and collaboration for lasting improvement
​​Methods & Activities
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Conduct interviews
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Perform market research
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Develop information architecture
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Create service blueprints
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Map value networks
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Analyze revenue streams
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Build business canvas models
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Design roadmaps
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Prototype and validate concepts
​​My responsibilities
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Develop research plans and protocols
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Conduct user interviews
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Create diagrams and workflows
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Design prototypes (low to high fidelity, physical and digital)
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Wireframing and UX design
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Storytelling and sketching
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Present project findings
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Participate in hiring
“How can we improve trust between communities and first responders in non-critical situations in big cities like Chicago?”
Secondary Research
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Assest competitor and current solutions
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Create SWOT
Primary Research
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Conduct interviews with residents, businesses, first responders, and aldermen
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Survey
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Field research (311 call center, alderman’s office, town house)
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Stakeholder review
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User testing and validation
CPD Detective
Alderman Office
City Staff
Analysis and Synthesis
Awareness Gap
System Inefficiencies
Grad Student
"I moved to States three years ago and relocated to Chicago two years ago, I have never heard of 311. I called 911 for my house burglary, and they redirected me to 311. "
City-Resident Action Gap
Misaligned System Assumptions
Some of the notable challenges during the synthesis process.
Simplifying Complexity for Stakeholder Alignment
We faced the challenge of presenting a highly complex, multi-stakeholder system to our clinet before finalizing any concrete concepts. I developed a simplified frameworks from the intricate value map to communicate our research direction effectively and gain project approval.
On the bottom, current platform visuals revealed issues, such as a lack of transparency and loss of resident voices, similar to Schrödinger's cat theory—residents unsure if their input was acknowledged. Our ideal framework illustrated a more precise, transparent system, giving stakeholders a clear vision of our project goals and intended impact.
Finding Focus in a Complex System
Initially, we aimed to address the entire ecosystem, mapping each stakeholder's activities in a flowchart that revealed a vast and complex system needing years to resolve. Realizing this approach was unfeasible, we pivoted, recognizing that platforms like Twitter, Nextdoor, and Facebook already addressed parts of the system. We focused on identifying gaps instead of reinventing solutions. By narrowing down to these gaps, we found our opportunity space, supported by research insights. The new simplified chart (pictured below) illustrates our refined concept, iterated further to clarify our approach.
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Communicating a Complex System
We used a structured storytelling approach to convey a complex service with many touchpoints and stakeholders. Starting with scenarios, we illustrated key storylines through sketches, physical artifacts, 3D models, and role-playing, providing unique insights into each stakeholder’s experience. A clickable prototype then showcased functionality, allowing stakeholders to interact with the service’s workflow and seamlessly explore detailed aspects of the process. This approach ensured a clear, engaging understanding of the system’s design and impact.
SMALL TOWN CHICAGO
We do not live in Chicago.
We live in our neighborhood.
We used a structured storytelling approach to convey a complex service with many touchpoints and stakeholders. Starting with scenarios, we illustrated key storylines through sketches, physical artifacts, 3D models, and role-playing, providing unique insights into each stakeholder’s experience. A clickable prototype then showcased functionality, allowing stakeholders to interact with the service’s workflow and seamlessly explore detailed aspects of the process. This approach ensured a clear, engaging understanding of the system’s design and impact.
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Interactions Between Stakeholders and the System
Data-Driven Insights for Community Decision-Making
The system gathers extensive data from social media platforms, including Nextdoor, Twitter, and Facebook, and integrates information from the Chicago Data Portal, such as crime statistics and other public service data. This aggregated data is filtered and clustered, allowing the system to sort relevant information efficiently. It then analyzes the sentiment of posts—identifying whether they are positive, neutral, or negative—to provide a nuanced view of public sentiment, aiding community and government decision-making.
Geolocated posts and requests are visually mapped and accessible on a website, with plans to extend this feature to mixed-reality goggles, enabling users to engage with real-time data in immersive ways. Combined with additional datasets, such as predictive traffic patterns, this system offers community leaders and residents alike a clearer, data-driven foundation for making informed, timely decisions that respond to the community’s evolving needs.
Roadmap
