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BOSTON + 311


︎Chapter 1︎︎︎
 Prototyping new forms of community engagement in Chinatown

 ︎Chapter 2︎︎︎
 Qualitative research and civic strategy with the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics 


Chapter 1
In this semester-long project, we worked with the Asian Community Development Corporation to prototype interventions to better the lives of Chinatown’s residents.

But first, we had to learn something about those residents.


1

INSTAGRAM SCAVENGER HUNT


2

FLYERS AND POSTCARDS

3

COLLABORATIVE MAPPING

4

URBAN DESIGN BOARD GAME

location based prompt and response


These conversations yielded three intentions:



1

Help community associations understand their constituencies with both online and in-person conversation.

2

Formalize valuable, unstructured community conversations without sacrificing complexity.

3

Maintain data transparency and ownership for citizens.



So we proposed Boston + 311:




Utilizing the existing digital infrastructure of BOS:311 which already has:
  • claim filing
  • map-based UI
  • a dedicated user base



Novel feature that allows community advocates to cite multiple claims into one actionable issue.





An auto-generated visual citation structure for data transparency and prioritization of issues.







“A platform for collaborative brainstorming about
quality-of-life issues in Boston.”






wireframe sketches:

Made in collaboration with Sooho Choi and Aaron Heskes




Chapter 2

As a summer fellow with the Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, I was asked to continue my work with the BOS:311 system. This time, the rules had changed - less blue sky speculation and more real world constraints.

As always, I started with...

Research


in-depth interviews internally with the following departments:



311 Call Center




Public Works

New Urban Mechanics



Neighborhood Services


Innovation & Technology




Transportation



And several relevant external groups:








Analysis and Brainstorming



what could I do in 6 weeks that would meaningfully contribute to a vast system that spanned decades and departments?


Synthesis & Strategy


I visualized the 311 system based on most-recent data:

I prototyped and made the case for specific feature implementations in the short term:



1. Accessibility
human-translated multilingual support

2. Efficiency
multiple photos for easier case response

3. Transparency
humanized updates
and alerts




and created recommendations for better interdepartmental collaboration: