madeleinepractices

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Process Journal: Implementation

During our selection and implementation phase, team Chrysoprase experienced a pivot from focusing on broadly rural communities to dedicating research time to making progress in areas with Native populations and rural communities in Mississippi(a location we targeted due to it being ideal to pilot our programs). This shift was largely influenced by the fact that our audience was still quite broad and difficult to create one unified solution for. Additionally, Native peoples experience food deserts, lack of basic utilities like running water or electricity, poor or no access to the internet, resulting in adverse effects on life expectancy, addiction, safety and economic growth and success. 

Our group formulated several ideas for a campaign strategy paired with a public outreach program, ultimately selecting the one which would best address some of the accessibility issues that rural communities face, while spreading awareness and a call to action to city folk, who may not have had an opportunity to consider those who do without the internet – something that many city dwellers take for granted.

Based on our research, my team decided to focus on areas of Mississippi as a pilot for the first phase of library hotspot and digital literacy campaign, with other towns and cities to follow. Graphics, thoughtful verbal messaging, web advertising, and grassroots fundraising will likely be the bread and butter of this campaign and programming initiative, and I am hoping that at the end of the road we can ultimately push for rural communities to gain the tools and funds needed to establish local networks, to bring the internet into the homes of people who need it the most, saving them the hassle of driving to the nearest hotspot.

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Ideation

During the Ideation phase of our process, team Chrysoprase got together and jumped right into brainstorming ways to solve our problem of the digital divide in the US. We gave ourselves a few minutes to get all our ideas on a Mural board, then discussed and sorted them into identifiable attribute areas, voting on our top three. We took a day’s break, then got back together to discuss our top three choices, assessing the possibility of a business model for each option to make sure they could each be followed through.

There were some interesting ideas that came up, such as rethinking the Internet cafe model to fit our times, using libraries as places of internet access and employing librarians as potential sources of internet literacy and education. 

We used attribute weaving, especially when we realized that certain aspects of the problem fed into other aspects, which ended up creating richer, more interesting solution possibilities. We took the result of our brain dump and grouped problems and solutions together so to solidify our options.

In the end we decided to try leveraging publicly funded/community based orgs to establish an outreach strategy into communities of need. 

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Definition: Refined Problem Statement

As a team, we met and discussed our individual problem statements, and combined/refined our “how might we” statements to create what we see as the most appropriate problem+HMW statement for our project’s goals.

Along the way, we found ourselves making use of several facets/tools of the definition phase. All the while, we got out our thoughts by writing and talking them out, made it a point to prioritize distillation/boiling down of our concept and goals, 

We also discovered new unexpected aspects of the digital divide, mainly that access to quality internet does not directly correlate to one’s income bracket, but rather to their local infrastructure. This simple clarification completely redefined our audience and most importantly reminded us not to jump to conclusions without cross referencing what we believe to be factual. 

Ultimately, we had a lot of fun wordsmithing and exchanging perspectives as we worked toward defining our problem and objectives. Our refined statement+HMW is as follows:

Currently, in the United States there is a great digital divide. Low-income individuals, very often seniors, people with disabilities, people that are neurodiverse, people that live in rural communities, and BIPOC have limited or no access to broadband, internet-enabled devices, or digital literacy training. This can and does severely limit their opportunities and access to education, healthcare, higher incomes and social interaction. How might we leverage existing organizations and infrastructure in the United States to collaboratively launch a campaign to begin to strategically and directly address the digital divide and lack of access to technology, lack of equity, and lack of inclusion for BIPOC communities? (In order to further enable them to access services, opportunities, education, healthcare, and social interactions digitally).

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Investigation of Tech and Mental Health Pivots to a Focus on Digital Equity: Problem Statement Documentation

My group met to review our class’ feedback from our analysis phase, and collectively felt that a topic like mental health and technology, encompassing our additional subtopics would be too broad and overarching to assemble a problem-solution plan. Still, we felt that there was 

We mostly felt overwhelmed at this prospect and decided to talk it out, reviewing each subtopic and the merits of pursuing one for the purpose of this assignment. As a group, we deliberated and found a common passion for the social justice and public health aspects of our society’s relationship to technology, and were full of ideas and interest around the issue of digital equity and the digital divide that exists in the US. 

Once we landed on a direction we could all get behind, we got a lot of ideas out collectively, taking note of personal and professional experiences related to digital equality and access to the internet, as well as the research Richelle conducted around the topic initially. We touched on the fact that the state of our public health in the time of Covid-19 makes access to the internet a matter of life or death for many citizens. Additionally, we mentioned the need to reinforce healthy relationships with our technology, similar to how we raise awareness of heart disease or dietary health. If we can take stock of the many facets of this issue, accounting for existing government programs and organizations dedicated to this digital divide, we can potentially find a way to propose a more efficient means of access to millions of Americans who do without the internet: a service that is becoming more of a necessity of living and connecting these days, like water or electricity.

With all this in mind, I’ve drafted a problem statement: 

How might we gain a sense for the current state of digital equity in the US, to create a more effective plan meant to increase internet accessibility across the nation?

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Analyzing the Meeting of Tech and Our Mental Health

Team Chrysoprase took the topic of mental health and broke our research process of our experience of tech into three subtopics which play into emotional wellbeing: Tech + Mental Health, Social Media and Dating Apps present in Gen Z and Millenial Lives, and Digital Equity. With these starting points, the team conducted online research to gain a broad data set before coming together and synthesizing our findings. 

Once we accumulated articles, books, and journal publications around our subtopics, we divided up and conquered the task of assembling our findings into subtopic-based morphological analysis grids. Once we felt that each grid contained an adequate amount of information, we collaborated on a Mural document to sort and discuss the most impactful and relevant aspects of our findings into a larger morphological grid which we felt encompassed our topic of the relationship between tech and mental health. 

I look forward to using this progress as a jumping off point for the next phase of our process!

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Accepting the Challenge When Tech Meets Mental Health

For some time now, our civilization has found itself at an increasingly complicated crossroads as our mental health and wellbeing relates to the rise and dominance of technology in our daily lives. We’ve gone to immeasurable lengths to utilize and develop tech to serve us in our waking and sleeping—but what happens when our tech dreams come true? What side effects or unintended consequences arise and how to these factors enhance or destroy our human experience as a society? 

Together, my team and I are deeply interested and personally curious about what we may find when we dig for data and synthesize around this relationship of humans and their technology— more specifically how it affects mental health. As a student of the IYA, I seek a deeper understanding in this sphere as part of my degree path. Additionally, as a skeptic of social media, data security, and the Wild West of tech that we live in, I want to be able to approach matters of the human condition having done research and made conclusions of my own, with the support and collaboration of the team, of course.

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Creative Problem-Solving Interviews

I interviewed three professionals, all in different industries to see how they approach their inspiration and problem solving processes in their careers. Each person’s approach is entirely different and suited to their professional needs, which I was definitely inspired by, myself. Below are my collections:

Dr. M Bernadette Sanchez, DDS Private Dentistry Practice Owner

1. Since I’m a creative person, I’m always looking at how we can evolve with our environment at the office. My inspiration for this is making human contact with another individual. Doesn’t have to be about teeth, its just what’s going on in your life how are you doing what’s the latest. So it's a really interpersonal relationship with our patients. With staff I want to create the same evolution in their purpose. In the end, my patients, staff, and life experiences inspire me.

If I pick up negative energy from, especially staff, my flow doesn’t stop but it requires more strategy. More energy and consideration goes into my process. Whenever you solve a problem that deals with a person or group, the way you identify the need really needs to be spoken with a lot of care and sensitivity in that we aren’t trying to get people defensive. You have to make the idea resonate with them, like they could’ve thought of it themselves.

2. If there’s a problem, I ask myself whose problem is it? If it is a problem that only triggers me, I try to identify why I have the reaction that I do. Then I decide how urgent it is compared to other problems I'm dealing with. Then I brainstorm possible solutions. If it isn’t a sensitive problem, I involve my staff to collaborate, especially if it is a problem affecting our workflow at the office. Is it a quick response solution or more of a long term solution? Do we have resources now or will we have to invest in resources over time to address it? If it's possible for other team members to take ownership while solving a challenge, there’s usually more pride in being part of the solution. 

This same kind of process applies to patients too. There’s a whole psychology to certain issues. If a patient is in pain, I validate their feelings, face to face and level with them emotionally. I ask leading questions like, "what can I do” “what solutions have you tried.” I ask if they’ve had a bad experience if they are very apprehensive. I make sure to build a rapport and communicate what is going on during procedures to put them at ease. It's important to not make people feel like they have no options, especially when it comes to healthcare so I don’t press for quick big decisions, but instead address immediate needs as well as I can before our next appointment. 

Working toward the right solution for a patient is the point of dentistry, so we troubleshoot as much as possible before finalizing a treatment plan, to ensure that their treatment is right the first time. If a patient is dissatisfied, we apologize and acknowledge their time and reassess the situation. Referrals are always an option as well!

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Rene H. Sanchez, MS, CISM, CBCP Manager, Information Security Risk Management University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

I seek to understand the problem, look to understand the environment, and to do that there’s customer engagement. Stepping inside their world to understand what they experience related to the issue at hand. The customer leads me to where I need to look for ideas. Our stakeholders ultimately inform how we build data security standards into business processes. When we understand a business process, we are then able to ask the tech questions. What IT and tech run a business? Sometimes that involves institutional software apps that manage biz tech. Sometimes it involves a family of app software systems and associated tech infrastructure.

What inspires me is engaging and learning with the customer, we collectively shape solutions together. That empowerment and transference of ownership that I find rewarding, inspiring, and a source of energy that drives the interest in providing solutions for more customers. It gives the entire team this energy. I try to plant a seed of thought initially with my team as to possible solutions as a starting point, then involve the team to reflect and build and pivot on that initial thought. Doing good work in this industry thrives in team perspective and engaging those perspectives. Perspective is so important in the ideation stage. You have to engage the individual because you value their perspective. Everyone on my team has differing perspectives making them invaluable to any discussion, leveling up the positive and creative energy throughout the team and ultimately to the client.

There are often situations where convention can get in the way of reaching the goal. Convention presents often in the form of industry vernacular, or which gets crossed and confused when different stakeholders cross thoughts and ideas. 

Things we encounter sometimes come down to non adherence to standards and conventions when it comes to bringing different systems together. This can get in the way of major data migrations or data immigration, causing project plans not being met or delays. 

In cases like this we go back to idea generation. High risk, high impact. I still find energy in that. Where does the problem lie? We analyze past performance data, identifying failure points, helping us zero in on a problem area. Involve auditors to do due diligence on areas we missed to make sure all parties have similar data standards and norms. Then we identify what it will take to fix the identified issues immediately or over time. Negotiate the purchase price of this solution. It's all a very logic based process. In the end this creates team engagement, enablement and empowerment in a solution.

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Ben Alcaraz, University Instructor

1. I put pen to paper, sketching, quick iterations and thumbnails. I look at my students’ products and challenge their point of view to bring about stronger results. I am inspired by the students’ motivation to do better with each iteration. Their commitment to each step of a project is admirable. I am inspired by others’ drive and motivation like that. It isn't hard for me to be inspired, its kind of an ongoing experience of being inspired. It is also an active process — I try to be inspired by new ways of approaching color and others’ work with color helps be bring ideas to class and to work. A class’ prescribed curriculum can feel limiting, so I have to make it unique to me. How do I make my class a “Ben” class? I try to overcome this by being true to my nature and creative sensibilities and thought processes and trying to impart that. on my students. Combining my approach and my logic with my students’ individual approaches makes for a unique class experience. 

2. Talking through a prompt, sketching, visual and tactile explorations help guide my problem solving journey. Asking questions to my students helps me isolate struggle areas as well. Posing questions to the larger group and staying receptive helps me solve student problems, which are the main kind of issues I face in my work.

I believe that in class a problem is usually solvable through asking the right questions, and ultimately navigating my students through their own processes without necessarily handing them directions or answers. My job is to guide them, not solve their problems. 

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Exploring and Defining Creativity

I define creativity by the ways it impacts and enhances our lives — it exists in all people and comes into play in many ways, but the top examples in my mind are the following:

Creativity as a Learning Tool

I believe all people are born with the urge to wonder and approach life’s questions with a creative mind. We give our children open, colorful, and pleasant learning environments to bring out their playful nature when approaching new learning topics. Teaching our youth to embrace the endless possibilities and power of knowledge sets them up to bring openness and understanding to future problems in their lives.

Creativity as a Means of Escape Drawing from our natural urge to create and have fun while thinking creatively, we see that most games, experiences, and recreational activities center around fostering creativity. Video games, gardening, hiking, painting, cooking, are all examples of ways in which people explore their abilities as creators. Life’s increasing stresses and pressures create a greater need for us to recreate and have enjoyable activities to turn to. 

Creativity as a Means of Survival Since humans evolved, we’ve needed to adjust to the changing environment by assessing current problems and emerging from them with new solutions and ideas to make living easier for the next day or the even the next generation. These days, we see creativity is in short supply in some industries, which ultimately suffer as a result. Looking into the future, we will need the ability to approach large problems with a creative mind to ensure the continuity and survival of these industries, and ultimately our planet.