Laatiepleinzijn: Design for Liveability

Laatiepleinzijn: Design for Liveability

Hepworth, J.

Mulder, I.J. (mentor)
Kleinsmann, M.S. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Design for Interaction

2015-03-24

This master thesis is the final documentation of the graduation project “Laatiepleinzijn: Design for liveability” assigned by the Laatiepleinzijn initiative and the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology. It describes the design of a product-service system that enables inhabitants to improve local liveability. The project started with a context analysis and formulation of a design vision and continued with a series of iterations that led to the final concept which was evaluated by the stakeholders. The context in which the project took place is the Burgermeester Meineszplein in Delfshaven, Rotterdam. Three initiators of the Laatiepleinzijn initiative wish to improve the liveability of the square with the support of the neighbourhood. Area networkers, civil servants and external professionals were invited to be involved in the process. The objective of the project was stated as follows: “To design a product-service system that connects organisations and inhabitants at the Burgermeester Meineszplein, in order to improve the liveability on the square.” The project was divided in three phases: ideate, iterate and demonstrate. In all phases Design and Research Explorations (D&REs) were performed to discover and refine the desired interactions between the stakeholders. The ideate phase commenced with literature research and resulted in the hypothesis that liveability can be improved by means of initiative building. Both the social and the safety/physical components of liveability can be improved when locals come together to improve their neighbourhood. Visits to existing initiatives in Delfshaven showed that inhabitants tend to live in their own bubble; they are unaware of what is available in their area and focus on local activities based on personal interest. On top of this, the recent transitions in local governance have blurred the connections between inhabitants and the (local) municipality. A series of creative workshops were organised to support the inhabitants of the Burgermeester Meineszplein in determining their ambitions. Exercises in creative facilitation were performed with the help of facilitators and prepared templates. These creative workshops were a refreshing interpretation of the traditional neighbourhood gatherings. Insights gained during the workshops resulted in a series of exercises, roles and templates that make up an initiative building toolkit. These tools make up the service layer of the design (figure 1). The iterate phase focused on the communication of these tools. Several ideas were conceptualised, including a physical D.I.Y. box and an online game. The final design took shape of an online platform. This is the product layer of the design. On this online platform, initiators are invited to create a page for their initiative and upload their progress online. In this way a database arises that communicates the objectives, progress and members of initiatives within a certain area. Area networkers, members of the area committee, commercial professionals and clusters of the citywide municipality can use the platform to acquire an overview of local participation. During the initiative building process various touchpoints bring the stakeholders together. In this way, the system connects the stakeholders and makes it possible to share knowledge and skills. In the demonstrate phase evaluative interviews were performed. Here it came forward that the initiative building toolkit can help initiatives to organise their ambitions. Area networkers and members of the area committee see the online platform as an aid of their daily activities. When initiatives share their ideas and progress online, it becomes easier for distributors of participatory budget (e.g. the area networker and/or committee and Opzoomer Mee) to assess appeals for funding. At the same time, initiatives take themselves more seriously when they document their process.

liveability
service design
social design
product-service system

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:465c55b2-d144-402f-829b-5ad1f8543388

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2015 Hepworth, J.