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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction
Secondary Research
Primary Research
Affinitization
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 +
Solution Ideation
Midterm
Final Design Solutions
Appendix All material original, unless otherwise denoted with an asterisk*
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INTRODUCTION 6
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
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INTRODUCTION
MEET THE TEAM Janina Mistecky
Olivia Bono
Claire O’Neill
Kaley Blask
Jenna Bower
Diana Quintero Montes
Film and Television Frankfurt, Germany
Advertising Montauk, NY
Advertising Cleaveland, OH
Design for Sustainability San Antonio, TX
Design for Sustainability Medellín, Colombia
I always wear black.
I’ve never been to Taco Bell.
I’ve never owned an Apple product.
I’ve kept a detailed agenda since elementary school.
Design for Sustainability, Scottsville, NY I want to become a tree when I die.
I was in an attempted coup in Istanbul.
Islay Petrie
Esther Schiffman
Emma Walls
Joy Park
Kaylee Aziza Floyd
Tyler Fotenos
Advertising Hilton Head Island, SC
Service Design, Industrial Design Yong-In City, South Korea
I love sweet potato fries.
I have a half blind dog named Bob Marley.
I constantly have to be doing something with my hands.
Sequential Art,Vocal Performance Atlanta, GA
Animation, Character Technical Direction and Storyboarding Hicksville, NY
Morgan Ricard
Dandi Gu
Xiaotong Du
Emily Sanders
Patrick Kelsey
Graphic Design, Advertising Milwaukee, WI
Business Design and Arts Leadership Dalian, China
Interactive Design, Game Development Xuzhou, China
Professor, Advertising Frederick, MD
Professor, Buisness Design and Arts Leadership Zionsville, Indiana
Advertising Jamestown, RI I didn’t consume anything other than pizza for 14 days during junior year.
Katherine Connolly Graphic Design Baltimore, MD I am a former bass angler for the 1st All-Women’s College Fishing Team in the U.S.
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Advertising and Branding East Bruswick, NJ
I am a former haunted house clown.
I’m addicted to shopping in museum gift shops.
I have a funny cat, not a funny fact.
I got to name my little sister.
I don’t eat foods that are shaped like trees.
I only own one pair of pants.
I have a small collection of fountain pens that I use to make grading a bit more fun.
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INTRODUCTION
PROJECT BRIEF OBJECTIVES: THE BRIEF:
PYXERA Global envisions three main elements of this SCAD project. Without being too prescriptive about specific outcomes, the following categories are suggested to help organize the work and imagine possible deliverables:
SOLVE WORLD PEACE
TO INFORM: What is citizen diplomacy? Who are citizen diplomats?
THE AUDIENCE:
Where does it happen? What does it look like in action? Why is it important?
EVERYONE
TO CREATE EXPERIENCE: How can we create an experience that
PROJECT BACKGROUND: One of the founding goals of the Center for Citizen Diplomacy was to create a shared understanding of citizen diplomacy and an understanding that promotes, expands, and celebrates opportunities for all individuals to be exemplary citizen diplomats. With that in mind, PYXERA Global sought creative ideas and opportunities through a ten week project with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where students will collaborate with PYXERA Global key staff members. The objective of this collaboration is to create new experiences and tools that affirm the indispensable value of purposeful global engagement through person-to-person interactions resulting in a greater understanding between people and cultures.
“
encourages people to engage with one another in meaningful ways during in-person or virtual gatherings? What is a creative approach to helping strangers quickly feel comfortable enough with one another to share their thoughts, culture, and past experiences with one another in the pursuit of creating new shared understanding?
TO AMPLIFY:
Once we’ve educated these and other individuals about citizen diplomacy and facilitated an experience where they’ve engaged directly as citizen diplomats, how do we give them additional opportunities to both continue their own engagement and to introduce other people to citizen diplomacy? We are looking for a multiplier effect here.
PYXERA Global hopes that the outputs from this SCAD project will serve as a foundation for a new citizen diplomacy ‘campaign’ that will consist of a series of public events in local communities to introduce more people to the concept of citizen diplomacy and create a safe space for them to engage as citizen diplomats directly.
GOAL:
”
For every individual to understand the meaning and importance of citizen diplomacy and how to engage as a citizen diplomat in their everyday life.
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INTRODUCTION
TARGET MARKET
THE CLIENT
TARGET MARKETS:
THE CLIENT:
We envision beginning in the United States, but with the intention of eventually reaching international audiences as well. Right now, there is a subset of organizations and individuals who embrace and live citizen diplomacy (though they may not identify or be familiar with the phrase citizen diplomacy).
When the team first met Deirdre White, CEO of PYXERA Global, and Matt Clark, Global Engagement Manager for the Center for Citizen Diplomacy, we instantly hit it off. Throughout the entire process, what has made working with PYXERA Global so much fun is their energy, humor, and their openness and enthusiasm for this project. The client gave us plenty of freedom to explore how to bring citizen diplomacy to life over the next nine weeks. We knew that whatever the design solution may be, we needed to keep PYXERA Global and the Center for Citizen Diplomacy’s unique goals at heart.
On a spectrum of “fully embraces” to “adamantly opposes” the tenets of citizen diplomacy, we aspire to bring citizen diplomacy to individuals who are less familiar with the concept in order to reach diverse audiences bringing participants with different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs. The actual markets where we facilitate in-person events will likely depend on who we partner with and what other events we might piggy-back on.
THE CENTER FOR CITIZEN DIPLOMACY: The Center for Citizen Diplomacy, a signature initiative of PYXERA Global, unites a movement toward purposeful global engagement by providing a collective voice, platform, and tools for organizations that offer opportunities for individuals to be exemplary citizen diplomats. The Center works to advance global fluency in mutually beneficial dialogues, problem-solving, and trust; the foundation of all true partnerships.*
MISSION:
The Center for Citizen Diplomacy promotes, expands,
and celebrates opportunities for all individuals to be exemplary citizen diplomats and affirms the indispensable value of purposeful global engagement.*
VISION:
A world in which all individuals engage in person-to-
person interactions that result in greater understanding between people and cultures. A world in which every citizen is a diplomat.*
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INTRODUCTION
CITIZEN DIPLOMACY WHAT IS CITIZEN DIPLOMACY: cit· i· zen di· plo· ma· cy /’sidizәn/ /dә’plomәse/ noun At the heart of everything that PYXERA Global does. •
The concept that every global citizen has the right, even the responsibility, to engage across cultures and create shared understanding through meaningful person-to-person interactions.*
•
Recognized as a powerful force in building and sustaining a secure, economically sound, and socially interconnected world.*
SIX ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT TECHNIQUES: The six active engagement techniques for how a citizen diplomat interacts with the world:
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LISTEN
LEARN
to others with compassion and an open mind.
about history, culture, and ways of life and thinking different from their own.
RESPECT
EXPLORE
people’s rights to views and approaches other than their own.
other cultures and places with curiosity and openness.
ACT
EMBRACE
to understand, engage, and work with people from around the world.
opportunities to connect and make positive differences in the global community.
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“
Since starting the CLC, I’ve noticed I am more aware and appreciative of my positive interactions with strangers. Islay Petrie
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SECONDARY RESEARCH 18
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CHAPTER 2: SECONDARY RESEARCH
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SECONDARY RESEARCH
TOPIC RESEARCH
CITIZEN DIPLOMACY:
We knew research was going to be essential in creating an effective Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy. The research was divided into two phases: primary and secondary, both contributing to our approach of using human-centered design. Human-centered design is the process of involving stakeholders throughout the design process so that the designs produced are made with, instead of for, the people who will be using them. For the secondary research phase, we split into two teams to identify existing research. One team researched case studies of similar campaigns and social experiments, and the other team researched different topic areas that related to our design challenge. This phase revealed research gaps that we needed to fill in during the primary research phase.
AREAS OF STUDY: We focused our research on six different areas that we believed are related to our project brief:
CITIZEN DIPLOMACY
PYSCHOLOGY
CURRENT EVENTS
BUBBLES + OTHERING
The term “citizen diplomacy,” first introduced to us by PYXERA Global, needed additional research to be fully understood as it was a new term that we had not been introduced to before. We started our research by looking into the Center for Citizen Diplomacy’s previous campaigns and the history of citizen diplomacy in the media. We found that citizen diplomacy is for everyone, and it’s something that can happen anywhere — at home in your backyard or abroad in other countries. Being a citizen diplomat means engaging with people with ideas, beliefs, and customs different from our own. If we share our views and listen to others as well, we as globally fluent citizens can have thoughtful conversations that bring us closer to one another. Using the United States as a starting point, we learned that America needs citizen diplomats now more than ever. Our current political climate has caused Americans to become increasingly divided from one another and has severely tarnished America’s image abroad. Tensions in America are soaring, and we could all benefit from being good citizen diplomats because meaningful engagement between individuals can lead to a more peaceful society overall.
SOCIOLOGY COMMUNICATION TOOLS
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CURRENT EVENTS:
BUBBLES + OTHERING:
We wanted to specifically analyze the use of language and rhetoric in the media. We found the use of rhetoric towards specific racial groups shows inherent biases in the media, for example, news coverage of “black protests” vs “white riots.” This type of language dehumanizes groups and encourages division. Alternatively, language that communicates humor can be used to bring people together even over the heaviest of topics. Carefully choosing our language was extremely important throughout this entire project.
The terms “bubbling” and “othering” were important terms throughout this project. The concept of “bubbling” is similar to that of a “clique.” People have a natural tendency to seek out similarities in their social groups, be it their marriages, friendships, workplaces, or neighborhoods. Once we establish these bubbles, it is rare that we step outside of them. Alternatively, “othering” is what we tend to do to people who are different from us—people who are outside of our bubble. Once we understood these two concepts, finding ways to burst bubbles and prevent othering became the project’s major driving forces.
SOCIOLOGY: Person-to-person interaction was at the heart of this project, so it was imperative to have an understanding of how people interact with one another. We identified “collective behavior” as an area that we could easily leverage. Collective behavior is a natural human tendency that involves limited and short-lived social interactions, which can potentially give way for more permanent group cohesion. We also researched the relationship between sociology and social media. Social media, if used correctly, can be used to start conversation between people who differ from each other.
COMMUNICATION TOOLS: Social media and communication tools were vital parts of our research. In today’s world, we’re becoming increasingly attached to our mobile devices. We decided to meet people where they are and utilize social media in our campaign. The use of hashtags were effective in drawing attention to and creating conversation around social topics. For example, Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign was successful in creating conversation around the social issues girls today face at puberty.
PSYCHOLOGY: While sociology focuses on group interactions, psychology focuses on how individuals behave. We studied communicative behavior, which dictates how we individually interact with others. Everyone has different communication styles, and understanding this is essential when being a citizen diplomat. We also found that the greatest barrier to strangers engaging with each other is anxiety and uncertainty. By creating welcoming and secure environments, anxiety and tension is naturally reduced because a “safe space” is created. The theme of “safe space” emerged repeatedly during our solution ideation.
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SECONDARY RESEARCH
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS:
The case studies group looked into eighteen case studies of social media campaigns, social experiments, and conflict resolution scenarios. Since we were creating a campaign for the Center for Citizen Diplomacy, it was important to the team to find comparable case studies. The singular criteria for the case studies we chose was simple: they had to spark genuine personto-person interaction. We identified their ability to Inform, Experience, and Amplify and analyzed this against their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. There were two case studies that stood out to us as being the most effective in communicating citizen diplomacy.
TV2 DENMARK: ALL THAT WE SHARE: All That We Share aired on the TV2 channel in Denmark. It started with people filing onto a stage and stepping into outlined “boxes” on the floor that were meant to define them. Then, a man begins to ask questions to the group: “Who in this room was the class clown?” “Who are step parents?” “How many of you love to dance?” Quickly, the “Us vs Them” narrative falls apart and people began to step out of their defining boxes. The lesson from this case study is that the visual representation of “othering” can be a powerful wake-up call telling us that we’re all just human, after all.
COCA COLA: REMOVE LABELS THIS RAMADAN: Remove Labels This Ramadan shows a group of strangers who have been invited to a dinner party in the dark. They talk about their interests and commonalities. When the lights are eventually turned on, a diverse group is revealed. The participants said that they were surprised by the experience, and that these were people that they wouldn’t normally interact with in their everyday lives. The lesson from this case study is that if you get people into a safe environment, and give them something to share with each other—in this case, food—they suddenly become willing to let their walls down.
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RESULTS + INSIGHTS: After we analyzed the case studies, a few commonalities emerged. In the most effective case studies, we identified that they: • incorporated humor strategically while still getting a serious message across, • had a “viral” quality to them, whether that be because of the cinematography or its aesthetic feel, • met people where they were and didn’t make people go out of their way to participate, • took place in a simple, relaxed, and unassuming environment, and • left you with a “feel good” type of feeling that made you feel more empathetic towards your fellow man.
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If the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy were successful, I imagine that we would be able to reach our target audience of everyone and create a positive change in the world involving human interaction. Kaylee Floyd
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PRIMARY RESEARCH 28
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CHAPTER 3: PRIMARY RESEARCH
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
HUMAN INTERACTION SURVEY ABOUT THE SURVEY: After the secondary research phase, we moved into the primary research phase to complete the spectrum of necessary research. The purpose of primary research is to go out in the field and collect information yourself. We split up into three teams: survey, interviews, and cultural probe. The purpose of our primary research was to fill in the gaps we identified in our secondary research, and to make our data set even more comprehensive.
RESULTS + INSIGHTS: Using Google Forms, the survey team assembled a Human Interaction survey. Our entire team shared the link to the survey on our personal social media outlets, and within in a few days, we had 300 responses. The survey consisted of a few background questions and ten targeted questions that focused on human interaction.
1 2 3 4 Despite our current political climate, people are willing to engage and be engaged with, especially in situations where people need help.
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With almost one-third of the answers, the most popular response to the question, “What type of person are you least likely to interact with?” was “People with different political views.”
For the question “Which attributes best describe you?” we put the six attributes of a citizen diplomat from PYXERA Global’s kick-off presentation. The two most popular answers were “Respectful” and “Open minded,” while the least popular answer was “Comfortable with uncertainty.”
When asked “Would you consider yourself a citizen diplomat?” over 50% of survey participants answered “I don’t know.” This told us that citizen diplomacy is not a concept that many people know about.
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I used to feed the homeless in Chicago every Tuesday night in high school. I got to hear some pretty amazing stories and learn a lot. Sometimes people just need someone to listen.
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A Human Interaction Survey Response
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PRIMARYPRIMARY RESEARCHRESEARCH
SURVEY SURVEY RESULTS RESULTS 35+
35+
17%
17%
YEARS OLD YEARS OLD
How Howold oldare areyou? you? 17-35
17-35
83%
83%
YEARS OLD YEARS OLD
FEMALE FEMALE What is your gender? What is your gender? 77% 77%
OTHER 1%
AGNOSTIC AGNOSTIC ATHEIST ATHEIST 24%
24%
16%
2%
1%
BUDDIST BUDDIST 1%
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25%
1%
SPIRITUAL SPIRITUAL 3% 3% BAPTIST BAPTIST 1%
NONE
22%
16%
JEWISH JEWISH
25%
MALE
CATHOLIC CATHOLIC
2%
NONE
MALE 22% OTHER
What is your religious What is your affiliation? religious affiliation?
1%
CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN
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27%
27%
*Based of 300 responses *Based of 300 responses
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
SURVEY RESULTS CLASSMATES/ COWORKERS
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS
SOCIAL MEDIA
7%
8%
5%
FRIENDS
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEXUALITIES
34%
7%
Which group is most likely to influence your decisions?
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT RACES
12%
What type of person are you least likely to interact with?
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS 22%
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT ECONOMIC STATUS 19%
5
7%
4
FAMILY 21%
How likely are you to interact with a stranger on a subway? (1=unlikely, 5=very likely) 3
APPROACHABLE
19%
15%
26%
54%
ACTIVE LISTENER
32%
1
2
31%
18%
9%
TO COMPLIMENT THEM
IF THEY LOST OR DROPPED SOMETHING 29%
What attributes best describe you?
OPEN MINDED
PROBLEM SOLVER
23%
18%
IF I NEEDED DIRECTIONS
PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT POLITICAL VIEWS
RESPECTFUL 23%
I DON’T KNOW 8%
9%
Under what circumstances would you interact with someone on a subway?
DURING AN EMERGENCY IF WE HAVE A COMMONALITY 18%
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Would you consider yourself a citizen diplomat?
12%
YES NO
52%
40%
IF THEY INITIATED THE CONVERSATION 23%
*Based of 300 responses
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
INTERVIEWS
CULTURAL PROBE
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS:
ABOUT THE PROBE:
The interview team sought out and interviewed experts in the SavannahMetro area who specialize in things like peer-to-peer mediation, conflict resolution, or are people who are effective at bringing different types of people together in the community. Altogether, we interviewed fourteen people.
The cultural probe team assembled two different cultural probes that they ran at the weekly Forsyth Farmers Market.
The questions assembled for interviews consisted of three different levels of questions that ranged from fun and surface-level questions, to how they interact with different people in their own personal lives, to how they bring people together in their own work. The questions were intended as a loose framework for the interviewers to follow, so not every question had to be asked. Also, there was flexibility built-in to ask spontaneous questions that weren’t on the list.
A cultural probe is essentially an interactive survey, where 3D objects or activities are set up public spaces to collect data. Cultural probes are an interesting ethnographic research tool because they provide the opportunity to interact with the audience directly. The two cultural probes performed were Safe Spaces and Friend, Date, Enemy, both of which gave us a broader understanding of people’s views on the idea of citizen diplomacy.
RESULTS + INSIGHTS: We gathered some amazing insights from our interviewees. A lot of what the team heard were anecdotal examples of tactics people use when they’re interacting with people who are different from them—whether that be Aunt Tish at Thanksgiving or an overbearing coworker—their opinions on why our society is so divided, and other bits of information that confirmed some of our secondary research findings. These interviews left us inspired and optimistic about the larger issue we’re trying to address with the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
CULTURAL PROBE RESULTS + INSIGHTS: SAFE SPACES:
One of our major findings from the secondary research was the idea that a safe environment will make people more likely to open up to open another. The goal of our cultural probe was to create that safe space for people to express their innermost thoughts such as their darkest secrets, beliefs, biggest regrets, and their perceptions of themselves and the world around them. Each of our 88 participants was handed a questionnaire to fill out with these types of questions on them and were instructed to sit in a private, partitioned space that would make them feel comfortable. The biggest takeaway from the cultural probe was that safe spaces do, in fact, make people feel more comfortable in opening up about themselves.
FRIEND, DATE, ENEMY: Another major finding from the secondary research was that people tend to “other� people who are outside of their social bubble. This cultural probe consisted of a board set up with pictures of different people. Each of our 64 participants was instructed to look at the pictures and pick who they think they would befriend, date, or consider a potential enemy. They were also asked to make other designations about the pictures such as who they were most likely to have as a roommate or coworker, who they had the most and least in common with, and who they would approach on a street, all of which was based on how approachable or unapproachable they appeared in the picture. This cultural probe allowed us to explore how stereotypes influence human perception of others based on their outward appearance.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
CARTER CENTER FIELD TRIP During our primary research phase, the entire team traveled to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Carter Center is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center, “in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.”* The purpose of visiting The Carter Center was to gain a deeper understanding of the tensions that exist between people and to gain insights and tools from experts who study these types of issues. During the visit, we heard from keynote speaker, Tom Crick, who is the Associate Director of the Conflict Resolution and Peace Programs at the Carter Center. He shared his knowledge and experience with negotiation tactics, which helped us to better understand the tensions that exist between people. We discussed the concept of group “bubbling” and “othering” with him, and he told us that the best way to prevent this from happening is to establish common ground between people so that they are better able to relate to one another.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH
FOUNDERY COFFEE PUB FINDING COMMON GROUNDS: As part of the primary research process, the team went to a local coffee shop called The Foundery. There, a group called Common Grounds Savannah facilitates weekly open forum conversations where the community is invited to discuss a different current event topic every week. That week’s topic was “Taking a Knee” and participants shared their thoughts and opinions about the NFL controversy around kneeling during the national anthem. The discussion was led by Michael Chaney, a pastor and a professor, who laid down some “ground rules” for the discussion. These rules included using “I” statements, speaking from personal experiences only, and allowing others to speak before you do. These rules ensured that the discussion remained in a safe space and gave us a better understanding of how we might create safe spaces in our work. After the discussion, we talked to community members about their experiences in creating meaningful conversations with people who have differing opinions than theirs.
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“
In my participating with the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy, I realized that a simple smile or a single act of kindness can start a conversation. Conversations have the power to create a better world. Dandi Gu
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4 AFFINITIZATION
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CHAPTER 4: AFFINITIZATION
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AFFINITIZATION
INSIGHTS
OPPORTUNITIES + CRITERIA
After completing our secondary and primary research, it was time to pull out the main insights. The method chosen was “affinitization.” Affinitization is an analysis method used to group like or similar information into their natural or logical categories. It is useful for distilling the meaning from large data sets, which is exactly what we had. Through four rounds of affinitization, we analyzed over 2,000 data points. In the end, six overarching themes, or key insights, emerged from our research. The six key insights identified were the problem areas that posed challenges for our design problem.
thrives in a safe space.
EDUCATION AND EXPOSURE ABOUT THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY lays the foundation for citizen diplomacy.
OUR MODERN POLITICAL CLIMATE escalates social avoidance, but people are still willing to engage with others.
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EXPERIENCES,
whether good or bad, create an opportunity and incentive for people to get to know each other.
The key insights were used to develop three “How Might We” questions, which we used to guide our ideation process. How Might We questions are formed by reframing insights into design opportunities. The How Might We format is a tool within IDEO’s Design Kit. IDEO is a global design company that has been on the cutting edge of design thinking for over two decades. The tool helps to reinforce that there is always a solution possible because of their open-ended format. For these reasons, our How Might We questions served as a guide for the later ideation process.
1 2 3
KEY INSIGHTS:
POSITIVE HUMAN INTERACTION
“HOW MIGHT WE...” QUESTIONS:
CREATE MORE SAFE SPACES?
THE TECHNOSCAPE AND MEDIASCAPE
influence citizens’ views on their country and themselves.
EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
are based on mutual respect and empathy.
OPEN OUR MINDS TO OTHERS?
EDUCATE PEOPLE ON THE VALUE OF DIFFERENCES?
DESIGN PRINCIPLES: After we formed these questions, the final step before moving into the ideation phase was to decide on design principles. Design principles are a key part of human-centered design and can serve as a “checklist” to compare our ideas to ensure that our campaign addresses the most important issues at hand. These design principles are:
1 2 3 4 5 “TRY IT ON” (PUT YOURSELF IN OTHER PEOPLE’S SHOES)
KEEP IT POSITIVE
PERSON-TO-PERSON INTERACTION
PRACTICE EMPATHY
BE APOLITICAL
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“
Participating with the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy has helped me become more mindful of my interactions—or lack thereof—with people outside of my “bubble.” I am now actively trying to engage and hold conversations with those that are different from me, and I appreciate the uniqueness of the people around me more than I did before participating with this nonprofit organization. Emma Walls
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5
SOLUTION IDEATION 54
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CHAPTER 5: SOLUTION IDEATION
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SOLUTION IDEATION
PERSONAS
IDEATION
With our research analysis and feedback from the client from a check-in phone conference, it was time to ideate design solutions. We needed ideas that would embody what we had come to define as citizen diplomacy and to fulfill PYXERA Global’s requests. We began ideation by reviewing the project brief, How Might We questions, and design principles. For a benchmark perspective, we created three personas based on trends that had emerged in our research findings. Although our target audience was “everyone,” personas were useful to provide a clear picture in our minds of the archetypes of people we were designing for. Our personas were inspired by PYXERA Global’s project brief where they mentioned “on a spectrum of ‘fully embraces’ to ‘adamantly opposes’ the tenets of citizen diplomacy, we aspire to bring citizen diplomacy to individuals who are less familiar with the concept in order to reach diverse audiences bringing participants with different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs.”
Aspires towards Citizen Diplomacy Female | 20 years old • Just got her first apartment in a college town • Considers herself to be open-minded • Involved with the Multicultural Alliance Theater
Neutral towards Citizen Diplomacy Male | 35 years old • Has an office job in the Midwest • Does not identify with any particular religion • Considers himself respectful of others, but doesn’t actively pursue new relationships
Hostile towards Citizen Diplomacy Male | 51 years old • Family Oriented • Unlikely to interact with someone of different political views • Is a loyal sports fan
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? Conflict Avoidance
Incentivize
Fear of the Unknown
Three teams were formed based on trends that had emerged in our research: conflict avoidance, fear of the unknown, and how to incentivize being a citizen diplomat. Nearly sixty ideas were generated from each of the three teams. All ideas were presented and voted on until we had selected the strongest fifteen ideas that we believed best addressed the project deliverables.
60 15
9
Over the next week, we workshopped our ideas and narrowed them down further to nine design solutions to be considered by the client at our midterm presentation.
CHAPTER 5: SOLUTION IDEATION
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“
The most memorable experience of working on the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy was collaborating with people from many different backgrounds to complete a project that will potentially create a better world. Tyler Fotenos
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6 MIDTERM
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MIDTERM
PRESENTATION
TIMELINE
For our midterm presentation, Deirdre and Matt flew in from Washington D.C. The presentation took place at Kiah Hall, where we posted our ideas on the wall for the client to view and critique. We gave a presentation of the process to date. We only briefly highlighted our research as it was presented earlier during a phone conference check-in. After refreshing the client on our key research insights, How Might We questions, and design principles, we transitioned into sharing our ideas for how we could Inform, Experience, and Amplify citizen diplomacy with our nine design solutions. After a collaborative feedback session with Deirdre and Matt, our design solutions were narrowed down to our strongest three for further development. These ideas were selected based on how effectively they addressed the project brief to Inform, Experience, and Amplify citizen diplomacy. We organized the ideas on a timeline to identify what could be done immediately, could be implemented over the next few months, and could be used in the future.
Food for Thought: Social Media Campaign for the Holiday Season Immediate
Easily implemented by the Center for Citizen Diplomacy
Shared Spaces Easily done afer identification of corporate partners
Over the next few months
Lessons from Kindergartners In the future
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Easily packaged and developed into a program that could be later extended and distributed
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I think that working on the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy has been a great learning experience for the whole team. We have all become better citizen diplomats ourselves, and we are better as a result of this project. Kaley Blask
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OVERARCHING MESSAGE With the three design solutions to develop, it was necessary to create an overarching, or umbrella, message that would unify the three ideas:
CREATE A CONVERSATION, CREATE A BETTER WORLD. This umbrella message communicated the essence of what was going to be accomplished with the design solutions. In other words, being a citizen diplomat is as simple as creating a conversation with someone, and through meaningful conversation, we can strengthen our communities and ultimately create a better world. Over the next four weeks, we worked in three teams to further develop the design solutions.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Food for Thought is a campaign for the Center for Citizen Diplomacy to share on their social media outlets during the 2017 holiday season. With the campaign, we wanted to acknowledge that the holidays can be a tough time of year for people. They are a time when we gather with our friends and family members, who may have differing opinions than we do. The campaign then offers simple, fun reminders of how to be a citizen diplomat during the holidays. The campaign is comprised of six segments based off the the “six active engagement techniques for how a citizen diplomat interacts with the world” that were introduced during our kick-off meeting with the client. The universal commonality of food was used to leverage this message. Different foods are used to illustrate each segment because we thought that food was a great way to personify what the holiday season is all about. We all come together around food, share food with one another, and create conversations over food regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or political views.
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LISTEN
ACT
EXPLORE
It seems we’ve been distancing more than listening. Open your mind and ears and the rest is gravy.
Lately, we’ve become too passive with each other. Lend a little sugar to your neighbor. Sweet gestures will travel.
It seems we’re a little too comfortable in our bubbles. Sprinkle in other views and get a taste of something new.
RESPECT
LEARN
EMBRACE
It seems we’ve been unfriending more than friending. Extend an olive branch to an old friendship.
We’re running low on cultural literacy this year. Use the holidays to discover tradition.
Have we stopped connecting when we come together? Break bread and create a mutual understanding.
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SHARED SPACES Shared Spaces is about making people who are in the same space, but not talking to each other, realize that it is okay to spark conversation with each other instead of sitting in awkward silence. For example, people riding a subway together are practically sitting on top of each other, yet they choose not to talk to each other.
We then created a two-by-two matrix that compared how impactful the identified shared space would be vs. how feasible it would be to create. This was helpful for us in identifying spaces that would reach the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time.
The objectives for Shared Spaces are first, to inform people on the obvious—they are physically close to someone, and yet they are not communicating. Then, encourage these people to step out of their comfort
We discovered that many of our spaces shared the commonality of being in the proximity of hotels. So, for campaign purposes, we chose to leverage this opportunity by creating a series of Shared Spaces messages that people would interact with while on a trip that involved staying at hotels.
zone to simply create a conversation. Finally, provide people with the hard part of creating a conversation: the ice breakers!
The spaces we decided to focus the campaign on are:
To make Shared Spaces succeed, we had to first identify the spaces where these types of interactions are most likely to occur. To select these spaces, we began by compiling a list of every potential space in an urban, suburban, and rural setting where Shared Spaces could occur.
ELEVATOR SIDEWALK BAR/CAFE RIDE SHARING (LYFT) STADIUM Each space would have messaging that provokes people to create a conversation with people around them, for example, a catalyst or ice breaker they could both relate to.
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SHARED SPACES ELEVATOR
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SHARED SPACES SIDEWALK
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LESSONS FROM KINDERGARTNERS Lessons from Kindergartners is based on the paradox of modern times: thanks to technology, people are better connected than ever before, yet are actually the most distant they’ve ever been. Our world is filled with distractions and tensions that prevent us from creating meaningful conversations and forming new relationships. We asked ourselves how we could get to the root of these issues to bring people closer together, which made us think back to when we first learned the fundamental lessons of how to be kind, open people—kindergarten. Kindergarten is where one learns basic social rules like being kind, sharing, and listening. These concepts are so simple, yet they’re lessons that are often forgotten or dismissed as we grow older. The objective of Lessons from Kindergartners is to encourage meaningful person-to-person interaction by creating an experience that reminds people of the fundamental lessons we learned as children. What better way to learn these lessons than from the experts themselves? Kindergartners. Lessons from Kindergartners will be delivered using two different mediums: a short film and an animatic. Together, they will further the campaign’s goal of of informing people about citizen diplomacy, creating an experience that allows people to remember the importance of person-to-person interaction, and amplifying the experience through activities that can be shared, recreated, or expanded upon in the future. Lessons from Kindergartners will be delivered using two different mediums: a short film and an animatic. Together, they will further the campaign’s goal of of informing people about citizen diplomacy, creating an experience that allows people to remember the importance of person-to-person interaction, and amplifying the experience through activities that can be shared, recreated, or expanded upon in the future.
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LESSONS FROM KINDERGARTNERS SHORT FILM: The short film is a social experiment that is designed to be shared on PYXERA Global’s social media channels. The film begins with a group of adults in a room who have simply been asked to “participate in a collaborative project.” Once they are seated, their “teacher” for the day, a kindergartner, walks into the room and hands out a fill in the blank test. The “students” are instructed to fill out the test in silence without interacting with their classmates. The test features stories that are impossible to complete without talking to the other students in the room, however, since they are unable to speak to one another, they fill out the test to the best of their abilities. Once the tests are completed, the “teacher’s assistant” collects the tests, which every participant has failed. The “teacher” then gives the students a chance to retake the test, only this time, they are allowed to help each other to fill in the answers. At the end of the class, the teacher’s assistant discusses the importance of person-to-person interaction with the students before ending with “create a conversation, create a better world.” To amplify this experience, a toolkit was developed for PYXERA Global that includes other activities centered around elementary school lessons so the activity could be expanded in the future.
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LESSONS FROM KINDERGARTNERS ANIMATIC: The animatic has the same end message as the short film but delivered through a different medium: create a conversation, create a better world. The animatic follows the narrative of an adult looking back on his life. This nostalgic narrative will begin with the adult reflecting on how easy it was to create conversation as a child, even if it was about things like unicorns and candy. As the animatic progresses, so too will the story about how stressful and tense the world has become during their adult life. This same stress and tension can be felt all over the world, and if we could simply remember how easy it can be to create a conversation, we can create a better world together.
SHOT 1: Intro to Animatic and main problem/conflict. Slow zoom in on a sad earth with a bandaid on it. The earth may be crying a little bit. Narrator: “Lately, we’ve been facing a difficult question: Why have we become so divided? It’s a complex issue, but one solution might lie in a simple lesson from childhood...”
SHOT 2: Setting scene of a class, a new student is seen at the doors entrance being ushered by her teacher. On looking children watch them enter. Narrator: “One from kindergarten. In those days, when a new student walked in ...”
SHOT 3: Image of the new student sitting by herself at a table separate from the other children of her class. A young depiction of the narrator looks at her in concern/ interest. Narrator: “Shy and unsure... the teacher would help break the ice with three magic words... ‘Everyone introduce yourself.’”
SHOT 4: The young narrator is now sitting next to the new kid. They smile at each other and begin to have a conversation. Speech bubbles pop up with simple words and images as they talk. Narrator: “So that’s what we did. We introduced ourselves.”
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SHOT 5:
SHOT 9 + 10:
Images of various conversation topics flash onto and fill the screen as the narrator accounts for each one. Popcorn and candy falls from the sky, unicorns a dinosaurs bounce about etc.
Flashes of images, bringing us back into the narrator’s current adult world. In each scene no one is interacting or talking to one another.
Narrator: “Which led to talking and talking and more talking. About blocks and trucks. Popcorn and candy. Dinosaurs and princesses.
Narrator: “And we’ve forgotten how to talk to one another… we forgot how to break the ice.”
SHOT 6:
SHOT 11:
We zoom out to see previous images depicted but on a TV screen as our two newly found friends watch TV in a comfortable living room setting.
Last scene is depicted on a subway train. People are still to themselves being unsociable. Two characters in the foreground stand positioned away from one another.
Narrator: “And before we knew it, there were memories and lifelong friendships.”
Narrator: “but we have to start somewhere, and the solution still starts with that same basic lesson from kindergarten:...”
SHOT 7:
SHOT 12:
Same image as shot 4 only now the two children’s speech bubbles are filled with new images. Ex. One has popcorn and another a unicorn.
The individual to the left turns to the person on the right. They smile and greet Be nice and introduce yourself. Why not start with “Hello?”
Narrator: “It was that easy.”
Narrator:” Be nice and introduce yourself and why not start with “Hello?”
SHOT 8:
SHOT 13:
Same as shot 7 only now we see the kids disappear out of the image, leaving empty seats.
Closing scene. Depiction of a chalkboard with the overall takeaway message: Create a conversation, create a better world.
Narrator: “Now, the topics aren’t that simple…” End frame: Learn more at [Center for Citizen Diplomacy logo]
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CREATE A CONVERSATION, CREATE A BETTER WORLD.
THANK YOU: It’s truly amazing what can happen when strangers break the ice, communicate, and become friends. Over the course of nine weeks, sixteen students from nine different majors and two professors came together for the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy CLC. We were challenged with the task of inspiring citizen diplomacy in others, and in doing so, we became citizen diplomats ourselves. We would like to thank PYXERA Global and the Center for Citizen Diplomacy for investing their time, money, and energy in us and for providing us this incredible opportunity. We would also like to thank them for trekking in from Washington D.C. on several occasions to be with us, for making us laugh, and for believing in our ideas. It has been an absolute joy working with you. While we all began this process as strangers, we are leaving as friends, ready to spread citizen diplomacy throughout the world.
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APPENDIX SOURCES: 1. The Center for Citizen Diplomacy: About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.centerforcitizendiplomacy.org/about-us/ 2. The Carter Center: Our Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cartercenter.org/about/index.html 3. IDEO Design Kit. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.designkit.org/methods/3
CASE STUDIES: 1. Holograms for Freedom: Thousands join virtual demo against new protest law in Spain. (2015, April 10). Retrieved from https://youtu. be/BCvIx7BSdhI 2. UN Women. (2016, March 10). What if we switched roles: a social experiment. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-sUIqIq-zxM 3. Lean Cuisine: #WeighThis Installation at Grand Central Station. (2016, January 03). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/HGYUiLxoJFA 4. Google: “Building a Better Bay Area” Impact Challenge. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015 5. Couch Surfing: Meet and Stay with Locals All Over the World. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.couchsurfing.com/ 6. Cause Collective: The Truth Booth. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www. causecollective.com/projects/httpwww-insearchofthetruth-net/ 7. Media & conflicts: the Israeli-Palestinian case. (2016, November 21). Retrieved from http://www.euronews.com/2016/11/21/media- conflicts-the-israeli-palestinian-case 8. Rehman, S. (2013, April 30). Rainbow Rickshaws: Pakistan’s Vehicles of Peace. Retrieved from https://thediplomat.com/2013/04/rainbow- rickshaws-pakistans-vehicles-of-peace/ 9. Jane Elliott’s Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.janeelliott.com/ 10. Savannah Sustainability Community: Green Speed Dating. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://andrewmooredesign.com/green-speed-dating/ 11. Humans of Savannah-Chatham. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www. facebook.com/HumansofSavannahChatham/
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12. Step Up Savannah: Poverty Simulations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// stepupsavannah.org/get-involved/poverty-simulations/ 13. TV2Danmark: All That We Share. (2017, January 27). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD8tjhVO1Tc 14. Dinner with your Muslim Neighbor. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www. muslimneighbor.com/ 15. Soul Pancake: Tell My Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube. com/playlist?list=PLzvRx_johoA89chxxeg6luIhgaB027MeS 16. Coca Cola: Remove labels this Ramadan. (2015, July 04). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/84OT0NLlqfM 17. Ad Council: Love Has No Labels. (2015, March 03). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/PnDgZuGIhHs 18. Global Citizen Festival. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.globalcitizen. org/en/festival/2017/ 19. TEDxCincinnati: Cultivating Citizen Diplomats: Bob Herring at TEDxCincinnati. (2012, October 26). Retrieved from https://youtu. be/rxHdZvT7rbk
SURVEY QUESTIONS AND ANSWER CHOICES: 1. What makes you distrust someone? 2. Tell me about a time when you had a memorable interaction with a stranger (positive or negative). 3. Which group is most likely to influence your decisions? Choose all that apply. a. Friends b. Family c. Social Media d. Celebrities e. Classmates or Co-workers f. Significant other g. Other... 4. How likely are you to interact with a stranger on a subway? (scale of 1-5 where 1=not likely and 5=very likely) 5. Under what circumstances would you interact with someone on a subway?
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APPENDIX 6. How do you break the tension when in an elevator with a stranger? 7. What type of person are you least likely to interact with? a. People of different faiths b. People of different sexualities c. People with physical or mental disabilities d. People with different political views e. People of different races f. People of different economic status g. Other…
Level 2 12. What is the #1 current global issue to you? 13. How likely would you to be to interact with a stranger on a scale of 1-10? Why? 14. What type of person do you never get to interact with? 15. Do you ever attempt to interact with these people? 16. If so, how do you go about engaging them? 17. What was a specific interaction with a stranger that stuck with you? 18. In what environments do you find an opportunity to talk to a stranger?
8. Which attributes best describe you? Choose all that apply. a. Problem solver b. Open minded c. Respectful d. Approachable e. Comfortable with uncertainty f. Active listener 9. What does citizen diplomacy mean to you? 10. Would you consider yourself a citizen diplomat? a. Yes b. No c. I don’t know
19. How do you interact with someone with different opinions than yours? Level 3 20. What are events or experiences where you’ve seen people from differing viewpoints come together despite those differences? 21. How are you able to bring people of differing backgrounds together in your own work? 22. Are there any specific tools that you use to bring people together? 23. How do you, personally, mediate conflict? 24. Do you consider yourself a citizen diplomat? If no, would you like to be?
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS: Level 1 1. What is your occupation/major? 2. Where are you from? 3. If you feel comfortable sharing with me… 4. What gender do you identify with? 5. How old are you? 6. Are you religious? 7. Could you please describe your upbringing in 3 words? 8. Describe the type of people you interact with on a weekly basis. 9. What makes you distrust someone? 10. What is a fun or impressive icebreaker question that you like to use? 11. If someone needed to get to know you quickly, what 3 questions should they ask?
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B ackya rd BBQ
P ar k Fe s t i val
It’s not uncommon to host a backyard barbecue for friends and family. But what if your next
There’s nothing more fun than going to a festival on a Sunday afternoon, where you’re surrounded by music, food
barbecue could be different. What if you invited neighbors over? We pass by our neighbors - our
trucks, people and more. But even with so much fun opportunity, we don’t often take the time to actually meet and
townspeople - every day, but we hardly take the time to talk. So imagine: you send invitations,
get to know the people all around us. Unless you slow down and reconsider. Picture this: One day you go to a festival.
reach across the fence and they arrive. Allison Steinweg arrives with _____________ (Enter Allison’s
Perhaps you visit a booth and you meet David Steinweg, who happens to be excited at the opportunity to see
favorite family meal). It is meaningful to her because ______________ (Allison’s family meal story).
______________________ (Enter David’s favorite band). You get to know David a bit more as you talk to him and
Then you see Mark Addona, who was kind enough to be the neighbor who remembered the ice. He
discover that what he really loves to do is _______________________ (Enter David’s passion). Having engaged with
introduces himself: a _______ (Enter Mark’s profession) who lives by the rule that ______________
David, you decide to open up to others. Perhaps after grabbing a fresh fruit popsicle, you meet Désiré Hounguès and
(Enter Mark’s personal mantra). He’s filled with interesting stories, and though you might not agree
find it incredible that he has never been to __________ (Enter Désiré’s dream vacation spot) or that he dreams of one
with everything he says, it’s nice to listen to his passion and understand where he comes from. By
day _______________ (Enter Désiré’s future goal in life). After taking the time to listen to Désiré and his story, you
the end of the night, you realize that you’ve learned so much. You understand Scott Crotzer a little
meet Allison Shapiro-Davis near the stage. Allison starts to teach you how to do the ______________ (Enter Allison’s
more, discovering his goal to ____________ (Enter Scott’s future goal in life). You listen to Luisa
favorite dance move), and one fun dance move led to a conversation with Allison about her secret talent besides
Solano’s belief that _______________ (Enter Luisa’s primary personal belief ), and you listen to
dancing: _____________ (Enter Allison’s secret talent). You also meet Claire Johnson, who tells you about her love of
Cindy Murray and her dream to one day __________ (Enter Cindy’s biggest dream). And in the end,
music and how her favorite song ____________ (Enter Claire’s favorite song) reminds her of some of her best
you realize that a simple barbecue can open the possibility to engage with new people, create a
memories, like when _______________ (Enter Claire’s fondest memory). You realize that by simply going to a festival
conversation and create a better world.
and engaging with other people, you can have the opportunity to create a conversation and create a better world.
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LESSONS FROM KINDERGARTNERS TOOLKIT:
S port s Ga me Going to a sports game is a filled with excitement, from the thrill of watching your favorite players to the energy that comes from chanting for your team. But even fans from the same team hardly take the time to get to know each other. Now, imagine you’re at one of these sports games, and you’re sitting in the stadium bleachers. Next to you is Cameron Cartwright, who starts to tell you about his love for his team. You discover his first love: ______________ (Enter Cameron’s passion), and how one day he hopes to ____________ (Enter Cameron’s future goal in life). After talking to Cameron and listening to his passions, perhaps you decide to grab a snack at the concessions stand, where you meet Nicolai Diaz. Nicolai is wearing the opposing team’s jersey, but you decide to engage with him anyway. He brags about his team but you still listen, eventually talking about the best snacks around. Here you learn that he loves stadium snacks because it reminds him of home and ______________ (Enter Nicolai’s favorite family memory), and that he hopes to someday make his family proud of him and his ______________ (Enter something that Nicolai is proud of ). After taking the time to get to know Nicolai, you decide to engage with the person behind you in line, Stephen Hall. You start to talk to Stephen about everything from ________ (Enter Stephen’s favorite sport) to his fear of __________ (Enter Stephen’s biggest fear). By the end of half time, you realize that you’ve learned so much from the people around you. In fact, something as simple as a sports game gave you the chance to create a conversation and, as a result, create a better world.
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APPENDIX VR PROPOSAL: Step into Someone Else’s Shoes — a fully interactive story of a different life. At midterm, this idea of using VR to put someone into another person’s story was presented. While the client loved the idea, they felt that the Campaign for Citizen Diplomacy wasn’t the right campaign to launch this idea, rather, they felt it would be a great idea to carry on the conversation of citizen diplomacy in the future.
Because VR immerses you into someone else’s world, the viewer can experience firsthand the other person’s point of view, no matter how different they are from each other. In this sense, VR can be a powerful tool for creating empathy and understanding. The VR headsets can be placed within stations in large cities or used for PYXERA Global events and workshops. To extend their reach, Google Cardboard can be used, featuring a link that allows anyone with a smartphone to experience the stories anywhere they choose.
The common phrase of “taking a walk in someone else’s shoes” is about having empathy for someone different from you. The world today is lacking just that: people are too involved in their own worlds to consider how others feel. With VR technology, we can actually take a walk in someone else’s shoes by fulling immersing into their world. This technology can be used as a tool to generate empathy among members of society. A VR experience will take the viewer through a fully interactive story. The stories will be from people who are considered “others” in our society. From those living in impoverished towns to big cities, the experience will create deep empathy that isn’t obtainable with just hearing someone’s story because with VR, you can actually see someone’s story. 5 persona’s stories will be told. The stories will follow their daily lives, showing their personal ups and downs throughout their days. The 5 personas will be diverse. Examples are shown below:
• An African American male liberal who lives in Oakland, CA. • Mega-church attending Christian woman who lives in the Midwest. • An Indian housewife who lives in the suburbs. • Millennial urbanite gay woman who lives in New York, NY. • White, low-income, male farmer who lives in rural America.
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