Design for community well-being

Abstract

This report describes the graduation project ‘Design for community well-being’ of Hester van Zuthem, Design for Interaction at Delft University of Technology. The project is executed in collaboration with the Amsterdam urban community ‘Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt’ (SNDM), Waag Society, and Delft Institute Of Positive Design. ‘Community well-being’ is a new and unexplored field for designers. The project is divided into a general research part on the phenomena of ‘community’ and ‘community well-being’, and a design case on the urban community Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt. Goal of this graduation project is to design a product-service-system to enhance well-being of the urban community ‘Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt’. Leading question is: “What are design opportunities to enhance community well-being in general, and for Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt in particular?” ‘Community’ is defined as a group of two or more mutually connected people having a shared identity and collective purpose that requires collective action. The structure between community members is most important since it enables them to interact with each other and hence, to function as a whole. A community’s existence is determined by four main characteristics: members, a mutual structure, a collective purpose and a boundary. On top of this, additional characteristics are identified that contribute to a community’s existence: self-representation, vision, customs, admission policy, achievements, mutual exchange, shared ownership, self-organization, renewal, adaptability, diversity, regularity, legacy, and long-term mission. However, not all characteristics are present in every community, or at any given time. ‘Community well-being’ is understood as a community’s ability to develop a communal identity, bring about efficacy, provide resilience during periods of change, and ensure continuity of its existence. These needs are dynamic and influence each other. ‘Design for community well-being’ is a bottom-up process that requires close involvement of community members. When designing for community well-being, not only community needs play a role but members’ needs as well. Eventually, one designs for the people within the community. The designer has a facilitating role in this, so that the community does not become dependent on the design, or on the designer. The urban community Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt was set up by Nieuwmarkt residents in order to form local network together that can serve as social safety net when needed. Based on interviews with members of SDNM, the state of the cummunity was analysed. This showed that current focus of the community is mainly on ‘care’, whereas it takes more to develop a solid and future proof care network: creating connections between Stadsdorpers and eventually, attracting a wider variety of people is desired first. In a series of co-design sessions, results of the analysis were verfied and complemented with members’ needs and desires. Next, these insights were translated into concepts. Together, we designed ‘Stadsdorp story’: a concept to create solidarity among Stadsdorp members through sharing stories. By means of their personal Stadsdorp label, Stadsdorpers can share something about an object of place that is special to them. Each label has a unique number that relates to an interactive map on the website of Stadsdorp Nieuwmarkt, where all stories can be found. The uniform appearance of the labels creates unity among all individual contributions. The concept of ‘Stadsdorp story’ requires active participations of the users, so the final concept actually arises at the moment it is put into use. This way, the design of ‘Stadsdorp story’ encourages and facilitates the process of enhancing community well-being in a bottum-up way.