At Your Service

This episode marks the end of phase 1 of our project. We’ve covered the first half of the “double diamond” process: discover and define. We close this chapter with an open house— a space to share what we’ve done, invite people into the process, and get precious feedback. Gill, Nick and Katie each share closing thoughts and hatch a plan for what will come next.

“It’s possible to be in business and not be an asshole.” —Neil Hinchley In this episode, we reveal the results of our three-part research plan: understanding local business owners’ thoughts on community-building, a survey about loaning to neighbors, and learning from people who manage low incomes well. We dig into the design tools that helped us get the most out of our research. A special segment on power dynamics features two unusual and creative projects addressing the issues of economics and class.

"How many designers does it take to change a lightbulb?" —Gill Wildman This episode is a special discussion about naming in design disciplines. What's this work called, anyway? Service design? Experience design? Strategic, transdisciplinary, post-disciplinary? At the table are George Oates, Sarah Drummond, Gill Wildman and Nick Durrant—founders of various design agencies here in the UK—plus Lily McCraith, an undergraduate student who's just starting out.

"Reframing from struggling to juggling— that's a designerly lens." —Nick Durrant We finally make our way out of the fog, with help from an unexpected source. Building off this "a-ha," we design phase 2 of our research plan, which takes us away from our desks and into the world. We also hear from Jeff Greger, a member of the FAIR Money research collective, who turns out to be doing some very similar work on the opposite side of the globe. Our theme song is by Rob Rusli, with additional music from Rob Rusli, Ben Seretan and Thad Wenatchee. This episode also used sound effects under the Creative Commons attribution license from freesound.org user Klankbeeld.

"Design research is not something comfortable, at all." —Dalma Kadocsa There's this little secret about the design process that nobody likes to talk about. It's an anxiety-provoking, scary moment. It can feel pointless, but it actually has a purpose. What is it? Why do we work this way? Our team hits this moment of truth, and tries to maneuver out of it through a meeting with a certain expert in the sector. In this episode we used a custom rap by Saeid Edward. Our theme song is by Rob Rusli, plus additional music in this episode from Rob Rusli Adam Selzer, Ben Seretan, Quartet San Francisco, and Thad Wenatchee. This episode also used sound effects under the Creative Commons attribution license from freesound.org users Keweldog, Anthousai, Dig2008, BrokenPhono, BennyChico11 and HerbertBoland.

"In a digital world, because we are the de-facto urban planners of our time, I think [redlining] is a term we need to pay a lot more attention to." —Michael Hardy In this episode we share and summarize the findings of our research in financial services and inclusion. From the poverty premium to digital "poor doors," there are a lot of opinions and complicated politics to understand. We hear from a digital expert, an ethnographer and lots of people immersed in problems of finance and banking while struggling to make ends meet. The At Your Service Theme Song is by Rob Rusli. In this episode we used additional music from Rob Rusli, Falcao & Monashee, Mambisa, Bob Roberts and Ben Seretan. This episode also used sound effects under the Creative Commons attribution license, from freesound.org users Keweldog and Anthosai. Thanks to Letizia Lodi, Manish Chauhan, Laura Morley and Craig Kemp for their voice acting skills.