00:10hi I'm Mallory hi I'm Harry we're ux
researchers at Google today we'll be
00:17sharing our learnings on the topics of prior
to inclusion equity and community co-design
00:22where OS is at the beginning of our product
inclusion and Equity Journey as we continue
00:27it we'll be sharing what we've learned to help
Drive progress in our industry and Beyond we
00:32would like to share how we've recently approached
community co-design in considerations you may need
00:37to take when beginning this work this approach is
still considered nascent in product development
00:42within Tech and because it's so new it has many
different names but for the purposes of this
00:48video we will be referring to this approach as
community co-design before we dive in we'd like
00:54to acknowledge that Community co-design is
a Strategic investment this work must be set
01:00up in a way that Fosters long-term authentic
and reciprocal relationships with communities
01:06first let's talk about the differences
between traditional participatory design
01:10and Equity focused design approaches traditional
participatory co-design is a research methodology
01:17that consists of Hands-On co-creation of user
interfaces and interactions with potential users
01:23Unity co-design brings an equity focused
lens to co-creation and focuses on Building
01:28Solutions with not for historically marginalized
communities in traditional co-design researchers
01:35employ the following tactics typically we recruit
participants based on Behavioral or attitudinal
01:41characteristics in community co-design we engage
with people based on identity culture community
01:46and context traditionally participants are
only seen as subjects to be researched in
01:53community co-design we treat people as subject
matter experts and co-designers of Technology
01:58we engage these experts not only in data
collection but throughout the design process
02:04in all research standard ethics must be considered
in community co-design we carefully consider
02:10personal identity and sensitive topics such as
safety and health we must ask ourselves are we
02:16the right person to conduct the research and how
can we ensure the study may not cause distress
02:20to those involved lastly traditional research
questions default to asking users to generalize
02:27their needs motivations and experiences
while Community co-design asks questions
02:31that are framed through the lens of identity and
context for example asking a community expert how
02:38they plan to travel as a woman in an unfamiliar
Urban environment May reveal completely different
02:44responses compared to asking a participant
how they generally plan travel identity and
02:49context matters and these insights can improve
how we build Solutions next we'll review some
02:56considerations for how your team can approach
Equity focused research and community co-design
03:03before starting this work consider a few key
questions first shut a community co-design
03:09project be done at all asking people for
marginalized communities to discuss their
03:13personal experiences regarding exclusion
and at times trauma without a clear action
03:18plan is performative at best and harmful at
worst before engaging in this work consider
03:24critical questions such as are you the
right person or entity to conduct this
03:28work in the first place are there already
Community Driven Solutions you can invest in
03:34what will the short-term and long-term impact
of this project be and who will benefit most
03:40second is the community co-design project
set up for success co-design can take more
03:46time and be more expensive but the quality and
longevity of outputs is worth the investment
03:51make sure you schedule enough time and resources
to adequately address learnings from the community
04:03power dynamics in research safety is critical
when setting up community co-design there is no
04:10one way to guarantee safety but here are some
areas to consider as you get started make sure
04:16research moderators are trained in equity focused
research practices if your organization does not
04:22have subject matter experts in the space consider
partnering with organizations that specialize in
04:28equity work as a research moderator build a
sense of community by finding common ground
04:35for example try to work with trained moderators
who are within the community you are working with
04:41if that is not feasible try to find shared
experiences and interests to connect with
04:46community members on a personal level question
whether the surveillance atmosphere of traditional
04:52research environments where team members listen
into sessions is appropriate for your project
04:58ask community members for their consent before
inviting team members in as a moderator provide
05:04informed consent transparency about why we
are asking certain questions and be open to
05:10answering questions during session create
a collaborate environment leverage methods
05:16such as friendship groups this is a form of
focus group where members bring a few friends
05:22within their Community to talk about shared or
personal experiences with more comfort and ease
05:29consider building trust through transparency
agency and knowledge building clearly Define
05:35the intention of the project and
keep co-designers updated on progress
05:40try to be explicit when sharing information
about privacy data and next steps
05:45for example when recruiting participants
we used Progressive disclosure to let folks
05:50know this test talks about sensitive content
before asking them to sign up for the research
05:55consider providing more agency and research
and deliverables make all questions optional
06:01provide updates the ability to erase or
edit a response and co-create narratives
06:07build community and cultural knowledge by
critically analyzing history and personal biases
06:14for example if your team is focused on gender
equity in the wearable space you can conduct
06:19the literature review of the history of women and
wearable tech focus on intersectionality barriers
06:26and opportunities in key areas like Hardware
design safety and health consult and compensates
06:33experts such as employee research groups and
Community organizers and work with your diversity
06:40equity and inclusion team to identify and
understand your own biases to avoid stereotypes
06:49ways to Value the lived experience of community
members and compensate them for their expertise
06:55in community co-design internal designers
should act as facilitators while Community
07:01experts take on the role of subject matter
experts include co-designers not only in
07:07research but in decision making and development
prioritize Community expertise and impact over
07:15design intuition and intentions as we build
more long-term relationships consider how we
07:21may push forward thinking around Equitable
compensation for example we could Grant
07:27company Equity Awards to co-designers or
invest in their professional development
07:33consider focusing research on healing and building
restorative Solutions versus evaluating exclusion
07:39in current products try to avoid the need to
rehash foundational issues of inequity with
07:46Community experts solely for the sake of telling
traditional user stories and problem validation
07:52this highlights a concept called the datification
of Injustice a phrase coined by ruha Benjamin
07:59this is when the hunt for more and more data
becomes a barrier to acting on what we already
08:04know and moving from identifying problems
to building transformative Solutions [Music]
08:11consider collaborative decision making
throughout the product development process
08:16consider co-designing the entire
end-to-end project from goals scope
08:20and intended outcomes with Community
experts this strategy helps to mitigate
08:25risks of making inaccurate assumptions and
keeps the needs of the community centered
08:30work with Community experts to create short-term
and long-term Solutions be transparent
08:36by technical constraints and re-engage code
designers when new decisions arise consider how
08:43you can leverage deliverables as a key part of The
Learning Journey for example in research reports
08:49make sure to highlight Community activists books
articles and important causes link resources so
08:57your team can support Community causes financially
to invest in the community you are working with
09:06prior to inclusion co-design are stages in Tech
we are sharing these learnings to begin an open
09:14dialogue with more people and partners so we
can start to Define this practice together
09:19special shout out to equity research
vendor dope labs for collaborating
09:22with Google on community co-design work
and learnings for more information on
09:28community co-design check out the resource
section below thanks for listening [Music]
