Intercultural communications

ELIANA M. HENAO

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Contents This paper discuss about the possibilities of using service design in the increasing wave of immigration in Europe.

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Introduction

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Immigration in Europe

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Service design definition

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Service design concept and migration

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Toolbox to aid immigration services

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Practical approach

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Conclusions

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Referencees

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We see the world through the media, we rarely became actors in it.

Europe and the world is becoming an open road. Citizen all over the world have move from city to city and country to country for many years.

Some people move for the love ones, some other move because of the job opportunities, others in the have to move looking to scape from the chaos, the war and fear. I would like to focus in the last group of people. The refugees. Service design, is a discipline that hopes to transform ideas into business. Develop innovation into successful business and create profits for individuals and the organizations. In this paper the author would like to discuss about the use of service design methods to creating value for the Finnish society regarding the immigration challenge.

Finland and Europe has been facing a wave of immigration that has only precedents in the past times. I believe that judging or taking sides is beyond my knowledge, but rather I hope to raise a word into the topic. The values of Finnish society and our place as active members of the society should be some of the triggers to acknowledge the current situation in the Finnish soil.

Finavia in the airport of Finland has done a great job into incorporating service design in the passenger experience in the main Finnish airports.

I would say that is one of the most Welcomed hubs for smooth transits around the world. I would like to take the opportunity to explore this kind of ideas and process used to develop such a smooth customer experience and offer some humble ideas on how to help the immigration service provides to evaluate and co-create a service design city. A warmer place that is not intended to change its core values but rather to use other successful stories and service design tools into social well transformations.

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01 Introduction What is going on?

"Millions of daughters walk in the mud Millions of children wash in the flood A million girls vomit and groan Millions of families hopeless alone�

Allen Ginsberg, Poems

This paper is designed to provoke discussion, to

my design skill have grown towards a different

consider the transformation of the world in its

direction, both as a concept designer and, ori-

everyday challenges. The first project I worked

ented towards creating services around the us-

as a concept designer was a protective best for

ers. Now, living across the Atlantic where there

land-mines in the Colombian war territory. At

is a shallow calm the land-mines seems to be

that time my knowledge of service design was

different this time. Europe has seen an increase

basic and my skill where based in concept and

in immigrations cause by the repercussions of

product design. The project was interesting

war in yet another part of the world. This time

and let me with a lot to think about in the de-

the challenge rather than a physical challenge

sign field, for example that land mines are far

becomes again an abstract challenge. Service

more abstract problem and not just a tangible

design for this matters is a field of study that

inhumane thread. Many years have passed and

focus in the use of the intangibles such us the

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IMMIGRANT CRISES REUTERS WINS PULITZER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY OF MIGRANT CRISIS. (Leung and Reuters, 2016)

emotions and the experiences of people, the

try, and what is the reaction of the people look-

hopes, wishes and perhaps fears to identify

ing for better opportunities? As mentioned by

triggers that can help to improve a product,

Frederick Zarndt in the three main steps for

service or in this case a social phenomenon.

any communication. (Zarndt, 2007). The interpretation of the language and habits can create

Europe's economic has change in the last ten years, more specific the past seven years, and the recent data from the EU makes it clear that the condition that grips Europe is unlikely to change into a brighter scenario. Yet, despite the economic struggles of Europe, millions remain eager to immigrate. Sadly, over 3,000

misunderstanding between cultures. Therefore, one can assume that reaching the country of destination in Europe is not the end of the journey. But rather a second start since the immigration process in the host country usually takes a large number of days, and more over a great deal in effort.

people have died in boat accidents while trying to cross the Mediterranean illegally in 2014 alone, a crisis that Pope Francis has described as alike to a "vast migrant cemetery." (Dunn, 2015). One of the consequences is an increase in the challenge in the intercultural communication. What is the reaction of the host coun-

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02 Immigration in Europe The world keeps moving

THE PROMISE LAND

Culture is broadly defined as “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group of people from others.”

(Hofstede, 2005). People from different countries and regions and a great variety of belief is broadly defined as a big multicultural pod of people.

2015 and 2016 have faced in Europe one of the most renounce migrations moves from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and so one in the last ten years. But, people has always been in the move. This is not the first time that massive amount of people has been moving from one country to another one; but, perhaps one particular difference is the level of communication that this era is having with the social media, the news streams and the multitude of 24

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hours’ channels of news and real time update of the information that makes this immigration wave knows but a lot more people than it was before.

Private YouTube with thousands of opinions.

War in the East is meant to be blame. When people seems not have anything more to loose and the neighbour’s country seems to offer a better choice, there is no body to blame for the wish to preserve their own humanity. Even animals have move and migrate from one place to another to improve their well-being and to preserve their own species… ~Although they seem to kill their own species far less than what humans do~...This change of perspective and land and so on. Creates a mix pool of new ideas.

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To many people can always represent that Europe situation is not sustainable.

Goodwill at the end of the day will face humanitarian problems with the host country and those are looking for new horizons. Insecurity and mistrust are just some of the problems when it comes to open a society into new changes. For example; events in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, when hundreds of women were abused by men with migrant backgrounds, has underscored how socially corrosive and politically divisive unstructured immigration can be. (Theguardian, 2016).

Is possible to imagine that the lack of common understanding into what can be seen as normal behaviour for some is accepted for others. Religion and culture plays a big role. The legal status of women in the Middle East is clearly different compare with the one in Finnish society.

A problem that affects specially a society where the females are view as powerful and are in positions of trust. After all Finland was a pioneer when giving the Women’s suffrage back in 1913. There are many variables in the European Migrant equation. But as the Economist says “To absorb newcomers peacefully, Europe must insist they respect values such as tolerance and sexual equality” (The economist, 2016). Negative stereotypes are the third kinds of threat. These are the negative ways in which members of the dominant culture expect the minority culture to behave (Croucher, et al., 2014)

Misery fuels Syrian refugees’ desperation to reach Europe (The Japan times, 2015)

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03 Service design definition Empathize with people

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Users

Challenges Contexts

MANY BRAINS THINKING TOGETHER

Service design is the capability to create value for the customer. Focusing on the outermost layer of user-centric design, service design sees the value of solving the big picture of a problem. Immaterial and material, tangible and intangible in the broad spectra that service design approaches. In fact, it challenges the creativity of a designer and engages the user in ubiquitous everyday design.

Service design is nowadays used broadly in business and design services, ‘the functionality and form of services from the perspective of clients. It aims to ensure that service interfaces are useful, usable, and desirable from the client’s point of view and effective, efficient and distinctive from the supplier’s opinion.

Service designers visualize, formulate and choreograph solutions to problems that do not necessarily exist today; they observe and interpret requirements and behavioural patterns and transform them into possi-

ble future services.” (Erlhoff, 2008). This definition points out how effective service design can be if it works well in practice.

The description can be ambiguous for people that are not intimately related with this business practice. For this reason, service design could benefit greatly from using the structure of narrative and perhaps a basic visualization of situations, signals and descriptions. Specially when the target is to work with inclusive design.

The versatility that service design offers in the field of design in practice is explorative since it immerses itself in the real world to generate and evaluate solutions to different challenges.

The factors that surround the design problem are different fields of study, which means that there is no universal approach to a problem. Service design enables creativity in problem solving through design methods and concepts.

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04 Service design concept and migration Transformation of experiences

LOOK WITH SOMEBODY ELSES EYES

Essential parts of Service design focuses on finding the experience of the real world and transforms this experience into ideas that can become features of a tangible product or intangible yet emotional and engagement experience.

prior any work needs to have a detail homework.

Meaning that any person involve in the creation of service design for immigrations needs to know as much as possible about the users, the context and the desired goal of the service.

First, understanding the design problem through the experience of others. This is the basic solid knowledge that offers a causal relationship between participants, a facilitator and the backstage preparations that make the co-creation succeed. There is never one part involve into solving a problem but rather a group of ideas and options that make the best possible. Nevertheless, the service designer

Being a purely user-oriented method, the approach of service design offers the re-establishment of trust for the immigrant populations and for the host country as an option for further consideration. A positive relationship with the experiences can trigger a beneficial bond into the assimilation of the integration between different cultures and the relationship with each other. “Design for expe-

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UN OCEANO DE INCERTIDUMBRES

riences that reach people through many different touch points and that happen over time” (Moritz, 2005) Meaning service design is a live feed. Or a “Live work” as other can called. However, service design is “a multidisciplinary and systematic approach, which can cope with the functionality and complexity of a service by visualizing its system and processes as well as by placing the client at the heart of the service” (Stickdorn, 2014) So it doesn’t happened by chance.

Designing for the immigration services and other public sector is and must be thoughtful and strategic process as possible. When a designer understands the needs of most users and requirements of them the designer then builds a bridge that can allow to meet in the middle. In this case to meet as much people involve in the process as possible.

User experience is the process of enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product.” (Kujala, 2011) In other words, good design comes from a fruitful negotiation through which both parties feel like winners.

Emotions are an essential element of humans, some deep core characteristics that have to be considered when designing a service. Emotional connection with an object or a service can evolve into a successful user experience, which in consequences may engage the user in a long term relationship with the host country.

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05 Toolbox to aid immigration services How much is too much

DESIGN METHODS

By using a mixture of design thinking methods across disciplines is possible to develop service concepts that can create value to different people involved in the process. The main benefits in this case if service design would be use to tailor the immigration service for the influx of migration that Europe is facing lately.

Create a conscious choice of the most seamless experience across different channels and lastly align different existing solutions into a whole set of benefits. The propose path to tackle immigration in Finland using service design would be by creating (1) A lean research and insight analysis. (2) Concept design. (3) Lean and agile validation. When using service design into the public sector the aim for a radical transformation only can be define with the pass of time. Specially with the current challenge the hope is to create a reciprocal option.

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1)LEAN RESEARCH AND INSIGHT. When involving the decision makers into the challenges is possible to understand the different realistic options and the bureaucracy that may define so many aspects when designing for the public sector. Lean research in this case could help to explore the relevant experiences that other countries have had in their own experiences.

At the same time when making workshop with people from all the ends of the table is possible to set a series of common goals.

A workshop can help to clarify the information and differences in cultures as shown before in this text that can create negative outcomes even when created with the best intentions.

Some of the methods that can be use to perform this stage of a project are: Trend research, Personas, User journey mas, idea generation, stake holders’ maps, observations, shadowing, affinity diagrams and so on.

2)CONCEPT DESIGN.

3) LEAN AND VALIDATION.

AGILE

Translating the data is as important as collecting insights, for this stage making different member of the immigration segments active participants can help define the most from the basic ideas. It helps to put in practice different approaches that can be define and put in place with the help of the immigration officials and those in charge of the logistics and public services. The concepting phase then offers details descriptions of how to apply ideas. Ideas that can come directly from those users. In this particular case advocating for inclusive design meaning that the immigrant population feel listen and appreciated. Some of the methods that can be use to make service design concept is the elaboration of mood boards, realistic journey maps, service blue print of the different help that the immigration office can offer, storyboards and videos that help to clarify the written information.

This last method is used across most of the airports around the world in the immigration point since is a way of trespassing the language barrier and hoping to make a clear message.

Prototyping and validation help to put in practice most of the methods mention before. Service design is at most the hope to understand people and peoples need. But people changes. Culture changes and habits can persist or prevail over some ideas or ways of doing things.

Lean means to try and iterate in the process as much as possible. Some of the first immigrants that have enter the host country can help other new to make things flow smoothly.

Nevertheless, this help provided by others as a learning curve into the host country doesn’t represent that the rules of the game are set and can be modify to fit most and in a better way.

Once is possible to evaluate and prototype is also possible to correct, redesign and co-create new solutions. A solution or and idea might have more validation from the part of the user if there is historical acknowledge of the people involve.

More specifically if Europe is having influx of people coming from abroad, in the author opinion is better to act proactive rather than just been a silent player.

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06 Practical approach "Just do it"

The culture of males refugees and Service Design as an integration idea.

There are many challenges to expect when it comes to directly approach a specific group that is proven to be in a delicate state of mind. The refugees group face both physical and psychological trauma in many ways that is difficult for anybody from the outside to relay to them. Lastly but not the least the major challenge ahead is the difference in culture and religion that affects the primary behaviour of the males in the host country. Thus, it is important to observe, understand and tackle those cultural differences to hope for a better cultural integration in the host country society.

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Service package concept

The idea starts with a service design package. That focuses in the males immigrants. The service concept stars by designing a strategy to identify the User needs and desires research. This is possible with a set of quantitative interviews that help to gather knowledge into the main activities, the males enjoy to perform. For example: playing football, fishing, reading, etc. Understanding who they are and what they like helps to define what is the value to the user. Observation and Ethnography, as a method to understand their behaviour, without their personal bias and interpretation. When a research is performing with a skilled team that is looking at to analyse the user action and behaviours without intervening, is possible to gather objective information on specific context, and target groups. Co-creation and customer journey, After the prior research without the

AN IDEA FOR A SERVICE DESIGN PACKAGE

user, is important to finally meet face to face with the male target group. This part is regarded as the core part of the service design package. The main goal is to understand the difference of culture, actions, needs, and wishes between the refugee male group. Creating a set of customer journey into what would be a day in their life in Finland for different age groups can help to identify what could be the main priorities and the main activities that could help in the integration process. For example: If the customer journey shows the need to socialize often and gather into common activates as something that seems attractive and interesting. One way to gather the right insight is to understand what kind of social activities could fit the user values. Lets imagine that some workshop results are: male football teams, card game centres, mosques and fishing groups.

Then, the next stage in the service design package is to focus into what concepts could be develop to fits the insights gathered.

CONCEPT DESIGN

The phase where all the information meets together. A selected group of people participate in a second WORKSHOP where the main idea is to create concrete actions that could improve the living condition, the integration process and the adaptation cycle. Is important that the design concept stage have interaction tools and VISUALIZATION of the ideas. Images, videos, interactive materials, games, simulations, and concrete use cases are the most effective way to communicate ideas, concepts and strategies, both insight the workshop and at the moment of implementations. USE CASES for example affect deeply the emotions of humans when those cases can transform into SCENARIOS AND PERSONAS that can closely relay to others experiences.

TESTING & PROTOTYPING

Where the ideas are put into practice. In this stage the outcome and the reports from the previous stage become active. Lean service design is a way of acting upon changes as fast as possible. Thus, is important to be open to different changes into ideas, or in the further new challenges that can appear in the next upcoming days. The idea behind this example follows the general methodology of the Double diamond, which if a globally stablish design process. That explains the general idea behind the service design package.

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The double diamond illustration was developed at the Design Council in 2005 as a simple graphical way of describing the design process. Divided into phases, Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver, it maps the divergent and convergent phases of the procedure. Designer work with organizations to discover the challenges they face and work to find tangible solutions. (Mena Design Research Centre, 2015).

DESIGN APPROACH & PHILOSOPHY (TUYN, 2010)

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Use case: THAKAFA CoDesign Workshop How can we Co-Design the Arab mind of the future.

BRIEF Joanna Choukeir Hojeily from UsCreates (London) designed a workshop for the The Arab Spring – Designing politics Summit at the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung in Ulm, Germany. The main issue of the workshop was to look into a tweet survey for people across the Arab region with this: "What is the key political issue in MENA today and why? MENA stands for: Middle East and North Africa. #ArabIssue". The insight was: "Most Arabs have a closed mind when they could have a more critical mind." (Mena Design Research Centre, 2015).

This example shows how the use of mobile ethnography approach like minded people in different places across the MENA. In order to tackle the main question, the THAKAFA team design a Discover and Define challenge where a set of different service design tools where implement. This workshop used; Personas, scenarios, role play conversations in order to define a challenge, which was based in the barrier that their environment stood against developing a critical mind, also to define ideas and opportunities that could help people in general to accomplish their goal on how to have a more critical mind.

Develop & Deliver solutions, is the place where the co-creation takes active place. This phase was actively performed to generate solutions and ideas are delivers and explain to others in order to gather opinions, insights, validations and critical arguments, both again and in favour.

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The result of the case is a mix of understanding the scenario and contextualization of idea solution that could open up the conversation to a young open Arab society. The outcome can be represented in Storytelling, positive connection and feedback to the community, visualization of the concept ideas, social media as a platform for guided conversation and school workshop inclusion.

Figure 3. THAKAFA Co-Design Workshop, (Hojelly, 2015)

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07 Conclusions Judgment is the mental ability to understand something...

//Service design is one of many different approaches to tackle society challenges. In the author opinion is a flexible way of thinking that combines different disciplines.

Nevertheless, other different types of profession are truly need it to understand such of delicate situations. Professionals in psychology, social workers and language translators must be involving in all the immigration proses. //Making the most, means listening more. In the public sector there is more growth in service design in the last years. People have hope to find a way to put in practice peoples needs and service design may help alone the process. // The multiculturalism that Europe is facing, is bringing change in many different aspects of the society. Negative views and actions from people all over the world seems to cause misunderstanding. Nevertheless, I believe that the host country needs to use service design to listen the immigrants, but more over to explain what culture the host country have. As some may say; When in Rome do as Romans.

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//The tools and methods mention are lacking of a proper explanation in this paper how each of them can be perform and use in the field. Therefore, a second part of study will be need it if to focus on the practical approach of this idea. Starting with a design strategy that helps to define are the touch points and the different aspects to focus, for example the provisional shelters, the schools, the immigration police service, etc. In this case a design offering can be wrap to make the most with resources X or Y. // Just listening is overrated, Designers. Sociologies and all the people interested in this controversial topic need to interpret, perceive and observe people. After all talking is way to easy for most of us. Saying something meaningful requires practice, a set of mind and the right conditions. Service design offers a possibility to interpret people words and action. At most it try to merge social science, psychology and other disciplines to look into the best possible tool to approach different challenges. // There is no ideal recipe to help everybody in need. There is no positive action if there is no education. Learning, and teaching is a process. It doesn’t happen fast or by the delivered formula. In the service design deliverables, one of the most important steps is the process of sharing the information in the right way. Teaching the user how to use those tools that the workshops and the reports have to offer. Service design is retainer of time and learning curve. Most of the project should be thought and plan with a flexible time constrain. // Different users and different concepts can re-cycle successful ideas. The process of understanding, testing and validating ideas offer the possibility to expand the use of this tools and recommendations into other users. For example the regular flow of migrant coming to live in Finland or any other Nordic country can always benefit from integration plans that can be tailored. A person that moves into a work position faces perhaps different challenges than those who move for family relationships.

Nevertheless, inclusion if the way to make a society more equal in benefits for all.

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References Croucher, S. M., Galy-Badenas, F. & Ruotsalainen, M., 2014. Host Culture Acceptance, Religiosity, and the Threat of Muslim Immigration.. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 35(35), pp. 1-15.

Dunn, G., 2015. Destination Europe. Harvard International Review, pp. 15-17.

Erlhoff, M. M. T., 2008. Design Dictionary: perspectives on Design Terminology. Basel: Birkhäuser Basel.

Hofstede, G. a. G. J. J., 2005. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York : McGrawHill.

Hojelly, J. C., 2015. Co-Design. [Art] (MENA Research).

Kujala, R. V.-V.-M. K. &. S., 2011. UX curve: A method for evaluating long-term user experience. Interacting with Computers, 23(5), pp. 473-483.

Mena Design Research Centre, 2015. Mena Design Research Centre. [Online] Available at: http://www.menadrc.org/#!research/c11zh[Accessed 22 May 2016].

Moritz, S., 2005. Service Design , Customer Experience and Branding, s.l.: Köln International School of Design.

Stickdorn, M. F. B. S. J. S., 2014. Mobile ethnography: A pioneering research approach for customer-centered destination management. Tourism Analysis, 19(4), pp. 491-503.

The economist, 2016. Economist. [Online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21688397-absorb-newcomers-peacefully-europe-must-insist-they-respect-values-such-tolerance-and [Accessed 11 May 2016].

The guardian, 2016. Theguardian. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/24/mass-migration-problem-europe [Accessed 11 May 2016].

The Japan times, 2015. Misery fuels Syrian refugees’ desperation to reach Europe | the Japan times. The Japan Times. Available at: <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/14/world/misery-fuels-syrian-refugees-desperation-to-reach-europe/> [Accessed 22 May 2016].

Zarndt, F., 2007. “What Did You Say? Intercultural Expectations, Misunderstandings, and Communications.”. international Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE 2007) , August.

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ELIANA M. HENAO

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COURSE. AALTO UNIVERSITY