1. Detecting challenges
Research Methods
to collect challenges
There are challenges that have been waiting for a technological solution for some time. A current social problem for which there is no money, for which the target group is “too small” to pay attention, or for which commercial organisations see no urgency because it is not profitable.
Research among civil society organisations and municipal departments dealing with social issues always reveals a number of urgent challenges.
Depending on the financial resources and time available, a technical expert can consider which challenges are most appropriate to address.
Different target groups have different challenges that tech can help solve. In cooperation with a social organisation that has direct contact with the target group, different challenges that apply to a specific target group can be collected. This can be done through interactive workshops with the social organization and/or the target group. They can then work with a tech expert to identify the most appropriate challenges.
Porto experimented with co-creation in the selection of themes for the second Open Call. In the time available, it failed to engage the target audience, but several local associations that work daily with this population participated. A workshop was held where: first, there was brainstorming about locally faced problems, and then the various problems were grouped into clusters, which help to design the Open Call challenges. To allow for the deepening of themes more time is needed to run multiple sessions and apply different co-creation methods.
Co-creation methods to involve the target group
The following co-creation methods can be used to engage audiences who cannot read easily, are not used to talking about themselves, or find it difficult to explain what they are struggling with.
Asking some community members to show you around their workplace, home or neighbourhood will give you an insight into their habits and values. This will give you a better idea of the challenges they face than an interview or a conversation on the street[1].
Using key members of the community as researchers helps you retrieve more information than you will manage on your own. Valued members have prestige and trust. Moreover, it can also resolve cultural issues if, for example, a woman is not allowed to be interviewed by a man or if it is about sensitive topics. It is also very empowering for the community if they can do their own research and thus contribute to the solution[1].
Getting people to take their own photos of their (living) environment is often a good way to start a conversation. It could be about health, food or finances. The photos people take themselves say something about how they see the topic. This method also gives them time to think about the topic themselves before discussing it[1].
Card Sort is an easy way to start a conversation about what matters most to your target audience. A stack of cards with words and/or images will evoke different associations for different people. The words and pictures can be tailored to the challenge at hand. By asking them to sort the cards in order of importance, you can gain insight into what is most important to them. This also allows you to initiate a deeper conversation to gain insight into the motivation behind it[1].