Project Core: A project for SOA by team Lagom

Project CORE Design Report

Community Outreach Refinement & Engagement Ashley Bernard, Drew Van Diest, Hardik Kumar, Yuying Li, Shalvi Sharma

Contents Executive Summary

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Introduction

3

Research Overview

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Research Findings, Insights & Opportunities

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Proposed Design Solution

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Sustainable Implementation

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Conclusion

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About the Team

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Executive Summary Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) is a global organization dedicated to cultivating young “Ocean Leaders� and accelerating solutions in the ocean health & sustainability space. Although profoundly impactful, this global reach comes with challenges. With such a large reach and small bandwidth, SOA struggled to fully understand the needs and pains of their Ocean Leaders. During our three-month project, with the help of SOA, we found that Ocean Leaders not only lacked an onboarding tool that would introduce them to SOA and prepare them to tackle their projects, but they also lacked a tool that would support them as their needs grew and changed.

We propose Buoy, a portal extension to the existing SOA website.

Buoy would offer onboarding support and other resources to empower Ocean Leaders in creating positive change in the ocean space. In the following report, we will highlight the research process, findings, and insights that drove the ideation of Buoy. We also propose a strategy for effective implementation.

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SOA Introduction

“ Heroic efforts are

necessary to save the world from catastrophic climate change.

SOA, based in San Francisco, is led by Daniela V. Fernandez and her dream team. Through the world’s largest innovation network of Ocean Leaders and solution accelerators, SOA nurtures the development of ocean sustainability and health solutions. Their Ocean Solution Accelerator program helps budding entrepreneurs build creative solutions that protect our oceans. The Ocean Leadership program connects and mentors young global members-- called Ocean Leaders-- to run campaigns and events, and affect policy change in their communities.

Ocean Leaders can spearhead these ocean projects on their own or develop high school, university, or regional-level groups called Hubs.

SOA is active in more than 155 countries and support over 1,000 ocean projects and start-ups. Their goal is to be the number one resource for young people who strive to create positive change in the ocean space.

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Project Introduction Our team, Lagom, partnered with SOA to explore issues they were facing in communication. After conducting secondary research, user studies, and data synthesis, we found that Ocean Leaders, one of SOA’s largest stakeholder groups, needed a more effective and integrated communication resource. We developed Buoy to solve for this need and tested it with various stakeholders. The detailed process is described in the following pages.

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Research Overview

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Overview Lagom’s research phase was completed over the course of two months and covered primary and secondary research.

During secondary research, we familiarized ourselves with SOA’s website content, media coverage, and projectspecific materials and reports. We learned about the ocean sustainability landscape, exploring its history and players.

We then kicked off our primary research by facilitating two meetings with SOA representatives to explore their organizational structure and operational challenges.

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We synthesized our learnings from those kick-off meetings with SOA and found three challenge areas: 1. Community Engagement: SOA experiences challenges in communication and engagement with their Ocean Leader community. They want to provide them with more educational curriculum and resources to support them and potentially help them to transition into SOA’s Accelerator program.

2. Organization: SOA faces internal organizational challenges such as telling a cohesive story of their two programs and aligning goals for their executive team. Even though they are a small organization they have a global reach and this creates limited bandwidth.

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Interviews With the help of SOA, we interviewed* four Ocean Leaders in positions of authority. We interviewed them via phone or zoom call to learn about their:

3. Aspiration: SOA wants to utilize all their community resources in order to grow and become the number one ocean organization in the world. The organization wants to give streamlined support to a wider variety and number of projects.

Based on our initial research findings, we concluded that focusing our efforts on SOA’s community engagement challenges would have the largest impact within the project’s set three-month timeline.

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Understanding of SOA’s brand and initiatives

Day-to-day activities in their Hubs

Communication with other Ocean Leaders and SOA

Troubleshooting activities

*interview script available upon request.

Onboarding experience

Experience with Mobilize, SOA’s social media/ community platform 9

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We heard from:

Christine, 22

Henry, 24

“Working with SOA

“There was no

“t would be great if

“(I would like

is great, I would

onboarding

SOA had ties with

support on) maybe

love to have access

process.”

people down here to

some tips on how to

come do a talk.”

keep growing.”

flyers to give out at university events.”

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The Hub Life Cycle

Dave, 22

to tabling items like

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*These names were changed to maintain anonymity of Ocean Leaders

Alexis, 23

Through our conversations with the four Ocean Leaders, we learned that they experience a “Life-cycle of Engagement” with SOA. 1. Interest: There are several ways that people can become aware of and interested in starting a Hub with SOA. The majority of Ocean Leaders learned about SOA through friends or SOA representatives. They begin the application process in this phase.

2. Onboarding: Once their application has been reviewed and they are given permission to start a Hub at their university, they begin a rigorous onboarding process. This onboarding process is cyclical as Hub committee members are phased in and out each year.

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Research Findings and Opportunites

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3. Day-to-Day Operations: This is where Ocean Leaders conduct their day-to-day activities, such as planning projects, communicating with members and delegating tasks, finding resources for their projects, and facilitating general and committee meetings.

4. Graduation: Ocean Leaders exit this life-cycle upon graduating from their university or being phased out of their authoritative roles in their Hub. Some Ocean Leaders also try to transition their Hubs from university to regional-level upon graduating.

As Onboarding and Day-to-Day Operations were the most iterative and lengthy phases in the life-cycle, we inquired into how we could improve Ocean Leaders’ experience at these stages.

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Key insights and opportunities: Insight

Opportunity

Insight

Opportunity

Ocean Leaders

Onboarding support

Ocean Leaders need

Financial and human

help as their Hubs

resources

wing it.

grow and change.

“There was no onboarding process.” - Dave

To maintain funding and support from their university, Hubs must meet a set of requirements given by their university. During an Ocean Leader’s onboarding stage, they not only have to align their Hub to their university’s requirements, but they must also align their Hub to SOA’s requirements and to their personal goals. Although Ocean Leaders have helpful contacts at SOA, ultimately, they develop these strategies and initiatives on their own. Our solution would need to meet this need by providing onboarding support.

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“It would be great if SOA had ties with people down here to come do a talk.” - Henry

As Ocean Leaders carry out their day-to-day operations, they spend a lot of time sourcing resources for their events and projects such as funding, event speakers, and print materials. There is currently no go-to place for Ocean Leaders to find these resources. Our solution would leverage SOA’s existing resource toolkits and database of potential event speakers and mentors, and point Ocean Leaders to resources that they cannot currently provide to all Ocean Leaders, such as funding.

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Insight

Opportunity

Insight

Opportunity

Hubs don't want to

Connection without a

Ocean Leaders need

Task support and

change the way they

mobile app

regular motivation and

inspiration

communicate with

assistance.

each other.

“General ideas about stuff we could do would be valuable.” - Henry “We don’t get in touch on Mobilize. Our main communication is WhatsApp.” - Dave

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Ocean Leaders spend a lot of time communicating and collaborating with other Ocean Leaders in their Hub and across Hubs. We found that although Ocean Leaders want help with finding other Ocean Leaders to connect with, they prefer to connect with them using their already established methods of communication and not through SOA’s social media/community platform, Mobilize. Some of their preferred communication methods include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Our solution would have to facilitate these connections while allowing Ocean Leaders to continue their conversations and relationships on their preferred platforms.

“I have 4 jobs.” - Christine

To maintain their morale during a busy student-life, we learned that Ocean Leaders want task support to help them stay organized. They also want project and event inspiration to keep them motivated to continue driving their Hub forward. Our solution would have to provide task support to help them track their projects and their Hub membership. It would also have to provide past event and project inspiration to give Ocean Leaders ideas on potential projects.

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Based on these insights, we began prototyping, asking ourselves the following question:

How might we provide support to Ocean Leaders through the largest stages of their hub lifecycle?

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Hub Theme songs: We asked Ocean Leaders, "If your Hub had a theme song, what would it be?" Based on their chosen song and reasoning behind their chosen song, we learned about their Hub's atmosphere and culture. We used those finding to guide our visual design choices.

Falling - Haim "And they’re calling Don’t stop, no, I’ll never give up And I’ll never look back Just hold your head up And if it gets rough It’s time to get rough"

“It needs to be a serious song. We have fun but we’re passionate and serious”

Beyond the Sea Robbie Williams "Somewhere beyond the sea Somewhere waiting for me My lover stands on golden sands And watches the ships that go sailing"

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Requirements

Proposed Design Solution / Prototype

During our Ideation & Prototyping phase, we developed concepts based on the following requirements:

As SOA works within a limited bandwidth, the solution should require minimal maintenance.

The solution should facilitate connections between Ocean Leaders and SOA stakeholders, however it should not act as a communication platform.

As the solution is aimed toward a younger demographic, it must accommodate their behavior by being mobile-friendly.

It should provide onboarding support, financial and human resource support, task support, and inspiration.

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Solution

Visual Solution

We recommend Buoy, an online platform designed for Ocean Leaders. It serves as a handbook, check-in system, and management tool. It’s designed to improve communication within Hubs, across Hubs, and between Hubs and SOA. The following pages are Buoy’s prominent features.

We used the answers from the Hub theme songs to dictate the visual design of our prototype: 1. Wavy patterns & blues to loosely simulate the deep sea 2. Energetic color palette to capture Ocean Leaders’ passionate and fun nature 3. Minimalist aesthetics and modern serif font family to ground Buoy in functionality.

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Getting Started

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Hub Manual

When an Ocean Leader first creates their account, they’ll be asked what level of experience they are at in their Hub. If they are newer in their Hub, they will be asked to complete the Hub Manual. This manual provides comprehensive, yet digestible guidance on processes they must go through during their onboarding phase, from hosting a founders’ meeting to drafting their strategic plan.

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Logbook

An Ocean Leader will track their project and Hub progress on the Logbook. They will also use the Logbook feature to track their Hub’s finances. This progress and information will simultaneously update SOA’s project/Ocean Leader database.

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Finance Planner

Using the Finance Planner, an Ocean Leader can learn about fundraising, university funding, and outside funding options. They can also use this feature to develop a budget plan and apply for funding from SOA. 27

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Event Planner

An Ocean Leader will use the Event Planner when planning and finding resources for their events. Using this feature, they can find the contact information for SOA-endorsed event speakers that best meet their needs, look at past event inspiration, and download eventspecific toolkits.

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Community Explorer

The Community Explorer feature allows an Ocean Leader to find other Ocean Leaders’ contact information and event details based on their needs and requirements.

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SOA News

Sustainable Implementation

The SOA News feature allows an Ocean Leader to stay up-to-date with everything SOA and ocean sustainability-related.

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Buoy Style Guide Recommendation To ensure sustainable and successful implementation, we recommend a timeline consisting of the following: 1. Usability Testing (Round 1): We underwent initial concept and usability testing with stakeholders using several paper prototype screens. Before development, we recommend further testing using an interactive, high-fidelity version of major screens.

2. Development Planning: Gather the various lists, databases, links, and information necessary for Buoy, such as the list of event speakers, links to toolkits, and funding requirement information.

3. Development: Recruit one to two full-stack software engineer contractors to develop Buoy.

4. Usability Testing (Round 2): Once Buoy is live, a second round of testing should be conducted with stakeholders to further refine and correct errors resulting from design or development.

As we are equipped to lead SOA through this timeline, in the coming weeks we will follow up with a proposal on how we can make Buoy a reality.

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Colors, typography, buttons, text fields, spacing, and visual assets that make up the visual design language of the proposed portal extension, Buoy.

Color Palette

#5D5C67

#0AB6B7

#834FE2

#2740C2

Steel

Teal

Violet

Blue

#EBEEF5

#000000

#A6A6A6

#FFFFFF

Grey Background

Black Font

Grey Font

White Font/ Background

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Typography

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Buttons

Style Name

Font - Weight - Size

Use

Header Large

Roboto Slab - Bold - 21 Major headers

Header Small

Avenir - Heavy - 14

Subheaders

Avenir - Book - 16 (25 line height)

Articles, large bodies of text, text fields

Avenir - Black - 14

Buttons

Avenir - Heavy - 10/12

Text field headers

Colors

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Spacing

Colomns: 4 Width: 53 Offset: 20.375 Gutter: 41

Text Fields

Visual Assets Progress Bar

Slider

Slider

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Conclusion In our design research process, we interviewed Ocean Leaders and organization stakeholders to discover pain points and opportunities within SOA’s current communication strategies. We found that Ocean Leaders need more support throughout the life-cycle of their projects, specifically when being onboarded and finding resources.

We believe that Buoy will provide Ocean Leaders with the support they need to make positive change in the ocean sustainability space. Buoy will act as a guide through Ocean Leaders’ onboarding processes, will connect them to SOA’s network of resources and people, and help them to track their project and Hub progress. SOA will also have access to this information, allowing them to stay informed and engaged with their Ocean Leaders.

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Conclusion The ocean is facing a myriad of problems today, including mass extinction, overfishing, climate change, aquaculture risks, destructive seabed mining, plastic pollution and more. The portal will enable Ocean Leaders to be more autonomous, self-sufficient, supported and connected in their efforts to make change in the ocean space. Buoy offers them the tools to pursue and actualize their dreams of a healthier ocean and world.

SOA can measure the success of Buoy with quantitative data, such as number of accounts made and level of engagement with the portal.

Qualitative data should be collected through interviews with Ocean Leaders on how supported they feel using Buoy. Continued testing and refinement throughout implementation will increase its efficacy.

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About the Team

Lagom is a dynamic team of designers.

Lagom is a dynamic team of designers dedicated to empowering social impact organizations in their journey towards inspiring and creating change. We support our clients by delivering concrete and actionable people-driven solutions by way of user research & insights, strategy, and product & service design. Using human-centered principles, we connect with our clients’ and stakeholders’ deepest needs through empathy-based inquiry exercises as well as divergent and convergent problem-solving.

Our team of five includes Ashley Bernard (Communications Director), Shalvi Sharma (Project Manager), Hardik Kumar (Visualizations), Yuying “Tina” Li (Design Strategist) and Drew Van Diest (Creative Director). We are powered by our unique backgrounds, experiences, and capacities, and by the interteam synergies that they create. We use our powers to help our clients dreams, solve problems, and inspire change for the better.

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Meet the Team

Shalvi Sharma Project Manager 628-999-4881 shalvi@cca.edu

I design because human experiences matter. This is the reason I choose to design professionally, every day of my life.

Growing up in India, I became passionate about finding solutions for human needs in my community. I worked with multiple non-profits and craft communities in rural India to design solutions that would improve their people's livelihood.

Now I'm building on those skills and venturing to bring about change for more communities by pursuing my master's degree in Interaction Design

at California College of the Arts. I am at my best when I am designing to foster human connections and facilitate positive behavior change.

The complexity of the human mind inspires me to 'make and break the grid' in areas related to community building, health, education, and climate change.

Some keywords that describe me are curiosity, community, and connection.

My key understanding is in user experience design, human-centered design, design research, insights, strategy, and need finding.

Ashley Bernard Interaction Designer 407-404-0172 ashleyb@cca.edu

Yuying (Tina) Li Product Designer 585-775-7627 yuyingli@cca.edu

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I immerse myself and others in stories.

I believe that we can unlock powerful hidden opportunities by observing the patterns, systems, feelings, and human needs in stories. Because of this, I listen to and learn about people deeply. Using that knowledge, I build better products, services, or experiences. I rewrite stories through improved strategy and design.

I’m good at creating structure out of chaos, gathering and synthesizing information, analyzing problems, and

closing the loop. I am powered by learning from and working with curious people of diverse backgrounds and thought processes and I'm motivated to engage my energies with organizations that embrace the power of empathy in creating positive change.

My specialties: Design Thinking & Human Centered Design / User Insights / Product, Service & Experience Strategy / Prototyping & Innovation / Storytelling, Future Visioning, Social Impact.

I am a divergent thinker. I observe and absorb life, and use it as inspiration when I design. My design superpower is my divergent skills, which enables me to solve problems creatively. I am passionate about problem-solving because I care about people. This value not only drives me to be a human-centered designer, but also a relationship builder. I bond with my team by deepening the bond with each individual. I find strategies to fulfill people’s needs through design and fulfill

the needs of peers through being a good friend.

I've completed global-centric programs with colleagues from different backgrounds, and I've learned that collaboration amongst diverse contributors makes for better designs and better outcomes for the world. I would love to meet with you to explore shared interests and the potential for future collaboration.

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Hardik Kumar Visual Designer 628-666-8254 kumar.hardik@cca.edu

Drew Van Diest UX Designer 440-670-4966 drewvandiest@cca.edu

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As a designer, engineer, and artist, I've always believed in the possibility of merging divergent creativity with systematic approaches.

Everything about this elegant field inspires me, and I wish to use this inspiration to tackle problems that logic can’t solve alone - through communication, collaboration and leadership. My experience helps me establish what doesn’t work, and my passion helps me answer how it can. Data Designing,

Systems Thinking and Creative Tinkering are some of the interests I have. But at my core, I’m just a humble storyteller who uses badly drawn doodles to get his point across.

I’m someone who wants to absorb as much information thrown at them. I'm a glass-half-full, doer, data-cruncher, team-mascot kind of guy. I’d like to be the leader who wants to understand the thinking and process of my team, so that I can be what the team needs me to be.

The possibility of an improved future for our planet and society is my greatest motivation. It is no longer appropriate to design just for individuals. We must take into account the holistic landscape of the systems that mark our times. It is from this standpoint that I strive to lead as a designer, writer, artist and future-forward thinker.

I have always been told by colleagues, teachers, mentors and friends that I look at the world through a different lens.

This alternative vision enables me to see ideas where others find roadblocks,

opportunities instead of challenges, and cultivation where prospects have been deemed to wither.

Great ideas and experiences do not come from a vacuum. I use my empathic listening skills to hear the needs of others and converse with them about how we might improve products, concepts, projects, and lives. Listening also helps me to cultivate ideas and strengths in others including my teammates, friends, and clients. Connect with me to explore opportunities and design strategy.