MINIWORLD

an online platform to create

communities for former users
of arts and creativity based
organisations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is an initial step in the search of a solution for the challenge of how to follow up
on former users of arts and creativity based organisations. This problem can be framed
inside the major one of measuring the impact of the organisations in the long term.
Therefore it should be considered essential for a complete evaluation of the organisation
work, being also key to the success of obtaining funding.
This short research has been carried out both among and for organisations that aim to
improve peoples lives through arts and creative activities. However the result is thought to
be applicable to a wider range of organisations.
A Service Design approach was taken to complete the research, being eleven organisations
and professionals interviewed. The initial ideas were tested with potential users and with
some of the organisations. The eventual selected idea was defined by the use of
storyboards and an initial blueprint. It was prototyped and tested. The feedback was used
along with further secondary research to improve the prototype and to test it again. As a
consequence of this process, the necessity of creating a new tool to develop the idea
emerged. This tool was also prototyped and tested with potential users.
In addition to the preferred solution, a number of other ideas were prototyped and tested.
Some of these are also presented in this report to provide a more complete picture of the
design process.
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This research is not a finished and polished solution, rather it is a starting point for the
further development of a solution based in the creation of an online community through the
use of a bespoke private platform, in order to ensure the privacy, safety and intellectual
property of the generated data. This is especially relevant in the case of organisations
working with vulnerable people.

Mara Ruiz de Olano Fernndez

mruizdeolano@gmail.com
@maryfloppy
mariaruizdeolano.wordpress.com
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CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
Potential reach of the project
Benefits of arts
Impact and evaluation
Participation and social media

PRIMARY RESEARCH
Insights on the benefits of arts
Insights on the evaluation process
Insights on engagement

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DEFINING A CHALLENGE SPACE

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IDEA GENERATION
Early phase
Writing a vision
Individual brainstorming
Ideation workshop
Idea selection and testing

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CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Origin
Purpose
Concept
Storyboard
Personas
First blueprint
Prototyping and testing
First prototype results analysis
Iteration
Designing a new platform
Blueprint

NEXT STEPS & CONCLUSIONS
Testing with a specific organisation
A framework for content creation
A question of time
REFERENCES

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APPENDIX 1 73

BACKGROUND
This report provides an overview of the research process around the challenge of how
organisations can follow up on former users. The entities on which is based and for whom
this project is intended to, present some or all of the following characteristics:


They run long length programmes (minimum of 6 months)

One of their aims can be to improve peoples lives.

Among their intended outcomes are improving self-esteem, increasing confidence,

promoting wellbeing and ending loneliness

They can have an educational purpose

They use Arts or creative activities as a medium.

Developing artistic and creative skills can be their goal.

They have a charitable status.

Model for an animation. Theatre Nemo

Potential reach of the project

Currently there are 23,770 charities in Scotland including community groups, religious
charities, schools, universities, grant-giving charities and major care providers.
Approximately 50% of them have as a charitable purpose advance education. From
those that have educative aims 3,692 also have as a goal the advancement of the arts,
heritage, culture and science. If the criterion of advancement of health is added, this
number is reduced to 1210 charities. By instead adding the scope of providing of
recreational facilities, or the organisation of recreational activities with the object of
improving the conditions of life for the person for whom the facilities or activities are
primarily intended, this is further decreased to 754 organisations. (OSCR 2014)
These figures are restricted to Scotland and to charitable organisations, thus the reach of
the project can be wider if profitable entities and other parts of the UK are taken into
consideration.

Benefits of the Arts

While some of the research programmes worked with a focus in the development of
artistic skills, the majority of them also work through arts and creativity to pursuit outcomes
related to wellbeing, such as self-esteem improvement, ending loneliness, socialising,
team working, improving academic performance etc.
In the reviewed literature there are opposed positions around these so called instrumental
benefits. Thus, while some studies recognise the positive consequences of an early
exposure to the arts in the subsequent academic results (Catterall et al 2012) others refute
that these instrumental benefits can be achieved through other activities and advocate
more for encouraging the practice of the Arts for its intrinsic benefits (McCarthy et al 2004).
However, both reports recognise a lack of longitudinal studios that track people who
participated in arts programmes.

Impact and Evaluation

This lack of longitudinal tracking entails a failure in understanding the impact that the
organisations have in the long term. Thus, the following question arises: how can the
organisation know the continuity level of the claimed benefits in the long term in order to
be sure of having a real impact in peoples lives?
This point is strongly linked with the problem of how to follow up on former users and
should be considered as part as the evaluation process. In this way knowing the
perishability period of the outcomes and the degree of the drop off can be considered as
part of the summative evaluation.
As far as evaluation of social interventions is concerned the secondary research indicates
that the measurement of outcomes is gaining importance oppositely to the traditional
evaluation processes only based in hard data. Thus, in the evaluation process both the
breadth and the depth of the impact should be taken into consideration (ACUMEN 2014)
The breath concept refers to the number of people reached by the action, while the depth
tries to measure how much and in what way has someones life changed. Evaluation
systems such as Social Return on Investment and the Theory of Change are being
currently using for this purpose. The primary research indicates, however, that some of the
organisations are still having difficulties in the measurement and evidence of outcomes,
and also that the hard data is still overrated by the founders.
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Participation and Social Media

If engaging with current users to get qualitative evaluation can be tricky, as mentioned
during some of our interviews, trying to do it afterwards could be much harder. Although
new technologies can make this easier to achieve, there are basic principles of
participation that are valid both online and off-line.
The three components suggested by Fogg (2010) in his behaviours model motivation,
ability and triggers- can also explain participation. Thus, the degree of motivation is
strongly linked with the sense of reward and the personal benefit that users can get from
doing an activity. This reward can be material but also of skill acquisition, reputation,
creativity, self expression etc. In other words, the activity has to be meaningful for the
individual.
As far as the ability is concerned, the activity should be easy to do and not require a great
effort from the user. Therefore the chosen tool should be as flexible as possible, allowing
users to participate when and how they are most able (Simon 2010)
Finally, triggers such a correct facilitation have a vital role in the success or failure of the
activity. As Simon points out in her book participation is encouraged and focussed by
meaningful constrains. She also states that participants should be engaged through
personal entry points and progressively being directed towards social experiences.
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She calls this evolution me-to-we design and divides it in 5 stages.

1) consuming contents
2) interacting with contents
3) networking individual interaction in aggregate
4) networking individual interaction for social use
5) social engagement among individuals.

These stages are progressive and not all the projects require the 5 stages, as well as not
every user will participate in the same way.
This is clear in the case of Social Media, in which users can be divided in seven categories
(Forrester Research 2011), being the data for Europe and among users over 18 years the
following one:

Creators (32%)
Conversationalists (26%)
Critics (33%)
Collectors (22%)
Joiners (50%)
Spectators (69%)
Inactives (21%)

Therefore, It cannot be expected to reach all of the organisation users even with the best
social media campaign. As previously mentioned, a good facilitation is, however, essential
for success.
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David Dubois, Marketing professor assistant at INSEAD, mentions three key points for a
successful social media campaign:

The use of a common language for users when talking about the product/activity
(social base)
The specification of common or individual goals that people will pursue
(social engine)
The setting of codified interactions or rituals based on shared symbols that
guide actions (social glue)

Among the numerous recommendations found on specialist blogs the most common were:

To set goals
Find your organisation voice
Engage with users, not only broadcast but also ask questions and comment on
their posts.
Share valuable information: tips, ideas, links from other organisations
Plan and create your content
Time your content
Be honest
Be visual
Measure results
Say thank you

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Also Visser and Richardson (2013) state that the key element of a successful campaign is
a good timed content as a translation of the assets of the organisation in something to build
on. They further suggest four steps in the engagement process- reach, interest, involvement
and activate- establishing the rate of conversion from the first stage to the activation one in
1 user out of 1000.

Visser and Richardson (2013)

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PRIMARY RESEARCH
For the primary research semi-structured interviews were conducted, in person or via
Skype. The duration of each of these interviews was approximately of 45 minutes.
The interviewed organisations/professionals were:

Playful Communications
Theater Nemo (Glasgow)
Community Focus (London)
An Art Therapist working for the NHS
An Artist working in collaborative projects with different institutions
Space Unlimited (Glasgow)
Project Ability (Glasgow)
Edinburgh Museums and Galleries Outreach
Whale Arts Agency (Edinburgh)
A clinical psychologist
A Social worker working with young offenders.

All the information gathered through these interviews and from secondary research was
summarised in a deck of Index Cards (Appendix 1)

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A comparative chart of the interviews was also created in order to look for
common challenges
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Insights on the benefits of the Arts

From the interviews with a tutor from Community Focus and with an art therapist that had
previously worked in arts based social programmes we obtained interesting insights about
the instrumental benefits of the Arts. These included:

The use of art based activities have a beneficial effect in peoples self-esteem.
It improves the concentration skills.
It is also a way of socialising.
It provides an opportunity to learn new skills
It provides an opportunity for enjoyment.
It changes attitudes from I CANNOT DO IT to a feeling of pride and achievement.
When trust is achieved people talk out and reveal fantastic stories.
Success key is in the course/activity facilitator. The most important skills are
empathy and listening.
It is also important to establish an appropriate level of challenge for each activity/
individual and to make them exciting and different every week.
The value can be seen in the change of attitude, stories, study cases and the
quality of the produced materials.
The impact is difficult to measure, because there are a lot of factors that have
an influence.

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Insights on the evaluation process.

During the initial stage of the research we attended the Volunteer Fair happening at
Dundee University to ask several organisations about the methods they use to gather
feedback and to evaluate their programmes. From that visit we also arranged an interview
with a professional who has among her tasks the evaluation of projects.
Among the most mentioned ways of getting feedback were surveys, questionnaires, social
networks, observation and focus groups. Difficulties in getting feedback from young
people and in interpreting childrens feedback given by using drawings were pointed out
often. In addition indirect ways of collecting feedback were indicated such as asking to
teachers if working with schools or daily informal conversations. Attendance, smiles and
positive behaviour were also recognised as positive feedback. Other methods mentioned
were the use of postcards to give immediate feedback after the service and the use of
touch screens. Workshops are games were not so common.

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In a later stage, more interviews were conducted among professionals that work in arts
based social interventions or in which creativity has a relevant role.
In most of this interviews questions about the evaluation process were asked. The main
take aways from the answers given are:

Questionnaires are the most used system.

They combine statistical data with qualitative data.
Founders are still giving great importance to the number of users.
The most common format of qualitative data is individuals stories.
Every evaluation process should be different for every project.
Space Unlimited was the only organisation that mentioned that they had their own
evaluation framework.
Some organisations have had difficulties in the evaluation.
Young people find having to write annoying. Also users that have been in the
organisation for long periods consider qualitative evaluation made through written
questionnaires boring.
None of the organisations had a systematic way of following up with former
users or they do not always do it. However they found the idea interesting in
order to get a better understanding of their real impact.

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Insights on engagement
In order to know more about engagement, and more specifically with young people, some
interviews with professionals that have worked with young people were conducted. From
this research the main insights are:

There are different ways & levels of participation

Not everybody wants to participate
Participation is linked to empowerment
Engaging with young people is not always easy.
Time is needed to build trust
Be patient, responsive and resilient
Give them a voice, responsibilities and decision power.
Make a behaviour agreement.
Give them different roles during the whole process to make them feel the
ownership.
To be engaged, young people have to find the experience meaningful and
valuable.
Dismiss assumptions of superiority based in age and cognitive maturity

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DEFINING A CHALLENGE SPACE

The last insight listed above is related to the attribution concept: Are the benefits a direct
and the sole consequence of the intervention? What else is contributing to the achievement
of those benefits?
This concept is considered as fundamental in SROI (Social Return On Investment) reports
and its levels could be increased through collaboration among institutions (Nef 2011).
In addition to the attribution, another important idea pointed out in the same report is the one
related to the drop-off, or how can the organisation know the continuity level of the claimed
benefits in the long term in order to be sure of having a real impact in peoples lives?
This last question is strongly linked with the necessity of following up on former users.
Although none of the interviewed organisations does so on a systematic basis, is considered
as an interesting thing to do, and even during the interview with the freelance artist it was
directly required.
Another fact that reinforced the necessity of tracking former user is the lack of longitudinal
studies, which would ensure a theoretical back up, mentioned in the reviewed literature.
Therefore, and after the analysis of the data gathered from the secondary research and
during the interviews, the challenge space that this report is trying to contribute to can be
formulated as the following question:

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How can organisations that have arts and

creative activities at the bottom line of
their actions ensure a long term
relationship with their former users?

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IDEA GENERATION
Early phase
The initial steps of the research pointed towards the challenge of how to evidence outcomes
based in the instrumental benefits of arts such as ending loneliness. As it is pointed out by
Dorst et al (2001) in the creative process there is not a clear division among the research
and the ideation phase. Due to this co-evolution in the problem-solution space two tools
were created and tested while the final problem was not entirely defined.
These tools, namely Mood Tracker and My Social City, are explained below, since they were
conceived to be part of the evaluation process. Thus, these two tools would be part of a
formative evaluation while the final solution would be more related to a summative
evaluation to which it would add a longitudinal dimension.
Moreover, a number of other ideas that add longitudinal dimension were prototyped and
tested. Two of them, the Timeline and the Stickers, are also explained in this report, with the
latter being the seed of the proposed solution.

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Writing a Vision.
In order to find a clear design direction a short project brief was written. Setting up the
desired result would help to know the previous steps that should been followed in order to
reach the goal.
Looking backwards it can be said that this small manifesto was quite ambitious and it still
maintaining the link with the problem of evidencing outcomes and therefore accommodating
the tools described above.
To create a series of tools that aim to help organisations to evidence the impact that their
long term programmes have in providing, improving and shaping individuals soft skills.
It also will provide a way of knowing the real impact in the long term not only by tracking
individuals after their leaving but also trying to create a quid pro quo relationship

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Individual Brainstorming
A series of short sessions of
brainstorming were conducted
individually. In order to improve the
ideas a creative card deck was used.
This tool helped to look at the
challenge from different angles.
Among all the material generated a
timeline was the most remarkable idea.
Borrowed from the report New Lives in
the Making (Press and Cusworth 1998)
this tool aims to gather information
about former users since they left the
organisation.

Roger von Gecks Creative Whack Pack was used

during the idea generation phase.

The tool was designed in two formats. The first one is similar to the one used by Press and
Cusworth, while the second one uses the metaphor of a path and it comes with icons that
can be cut and pasted along the path.
Created as an alternative to conventional surveys, the Timeline/Timepath would be sent to
former users in order to gather stories, looking for learn about the impact of the
programme in the long term.
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Ideally the user would complete the tool

writing but also adding drawings or even
pictures. After completion the users should
take a picture and send it back to the
organisation by e-mail. To encourage
participation and creativity the possibility of
taking part in a competition will be offered.
In addition, along with the Timeline, an old
picture of the time spent in the
organisation will be sent. Moreover a task
completed by the user in the past such as
My Social City and the Mood tracker could
be also be sent. This aims to trigger
emotions and memories that motivate the
user to participate and perhaps to try to
keep in touch again.

PRESS M. CUSWORTH, A (1998) New lives in the

making: The value of craft education in the
information Age. Art and Design Research Center.
Sheffield Hallam University

A question to be explored is the way of sending the tool. Of course by e-mail is the
cheapest option for the organisation. However, if the intention is to boost creativity, it does
not look like the best option since it would require to print out the Timeline, requiring an
extra effort from the users. Being completed without being printed faces the problem of

the format of the document. Word looks like the best option because it is a common
format but is also a messy program to add drawings and pictures. Sending it by post is
probably more expensive but again it opens the doors to more actions that can encourage
participation.
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Idea Generation Workshop

The aim of the workshop was to generate
ideas to answer the question of How can
an organisation follow up on its former
users?
A team of five was gathered. The group
members had different professional
profiles: fine arts, tourism, service design,
IT and English Literature. The format of
the workshop was quite relaxed, with
two main exercises. We brainstormed by
writing our ideas on post-its and passing
them to the person on the right after ten
minutes. Then we had another ten minutes
to build new ideas from the previous ones.
After that we put the ideas in categories
and chose our favourite ones. From the
conversation we got new ideas too. For
the second part we used a deck of
creative cards to discuss and to generate
new ideas.

Some of the ideas emerged in the workshop

were similar to the ones generated during the
individual brainstorming. However other were
quite original and a fantastic starting point to
build on

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Idea Generation workshop

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Once the workshop finished, an affinity map was created. The ideas were grouped in ten
categories:
Pre following up
Surveys
Social Media
Trips
Competition
Observation
Task/Continue Creating
Stories
Party/Meetings
Others

This process made it clear that some of this ideas can be part of the same method and
also that they can be placed in different moments.

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Idea selection and testing

From all these ideas ten were selected. The Mood
Tracker, My Social City, the Timeline and the
Timepath were also tested. In addition, the Mood
Tracker and the Timeline were tried out on
individuals too.
The organisations that collaborated in this part of the
process were Whale Arts Agency and Edinburgh
Museums and Galleries Outreach.
The type of feedback given by these organisation was
different in each case. One of them provided specific
feedback for every tool adding examples of similar

Some of the ideas selected to be tested

tools/activities tried by the interviewee. The other, instead, made more general comments
about the evaluation process and about the necessity of longitudinal research.
However both considered competition as an incentive and the idea of sending a picture of
the time of the users in the programme or a similar item as a trigger of memories that can
encourage participation.
While one interviewee pointed out the importance of great stationery and the format in
getting better response, the other interviewee mentioned as key the simplicity and the short
amount of time needed to complete qualitative evaluations.
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Following these lines the most significant feedback about some of the tested tools is
highlighted.

Timeline/Timepath

Timeline presented to the

organisations.answered the
survey

The feedback from both organisations was positive. Thus, they highlighted as a good
resources to gather long term evidences, since there are not many longitudinal studies to
measure the impact of this kind of programmes. Their suitability for in depth courses that
try to improve employability skills also was suggested. The style of the instructions was
described as friendly and also the idea of sending an old picture to trigger emotions
appealed to the interviewees.
This Timeline was sent by e-mail to a group of 17 alumni of the University of Deusto.
(Spain) that graduated around 10 years ago. Unfortunately, no one answered the survey.
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This absence of answer can be explained due to the limited number of people that was
requested to complete the survey. In addition, the intangibility of the medium can also
explain the low response. Thus, is the survey is not answer when the e-mail is open for the
first time, it can be easily forgotten since there is not a physical reminder and there is not a
prize or a punishment that acts as a reminder.

Timepath

As far as the Timepath was concerned, the shape of the path was mistaken for the ups
and downs of life by one of the organisations. This would need to be taken into
consideration in any further development, which would also include perspective in the
drawing of the template.
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My Social City Tool

My Social City is a prototype aimed to map social networks. Using the metaphor of a city,
every house is a person with whom the user has a meaningful relationship. The users home
is placed in the middle of the map while the rest of the houses are designed for the people
that surround them. The user should write the names of owner of every house distribute
them in the space. Depending on the meaningfulness of the relationships the houses are
closer or further away. They are also more or less accessible following the same criteria. The
houses can be connected or separated with roads, motorways, rivers, parks, cliffs being
each of these elements a metaphor of the relationship between the user and that person.
The aim of this tool is to create an evidence for the outcome of socialising/ ending
loneliness. The map can be constructed at the start of the program adding at the end of it
more houses to show the relationships emerged during that time.

My Social City tool was

conceived in the early phase of
the ideation stage and it was
aimed to visualise the outcome of
ending loneliness

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My Social City tool generated a positive reaction with its better suitability for younger
rather than older users,being pointed out. The inclination of younger people to express
who they are was mentioned as main reason. In addition, the difficulties of using the tool
with older users with mobility problems and dementia were remarked. Thus, the
simplification of the tool by providing all the shapes and icons already cut and ready to just
arrange them was suggested. When asked about the metaphor the interviewee stated that
was appropriate and that specifically creative people could enjoy it.
From the second interviewee the answers were again more generic. This person
highlighted that the evaluation tools work depending on the context, pointing out that for
his organisation would not be fully applicable because its programmes do not have a clear
termination. It was also mentioned that the tool could be useful for the individual but that
not everybody would be up to complete it.

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Mood Tracker
This tool was developed in order to help organisations to visualise the outcome of
improving wellbeing and it is thought to be included as an evidence in the evaluation
reports. It is explained here because it can also be useful to monitor the drop-off of the
benefits experimented by the user as a consequence of the time spent in the organisation
and, therefore, it provides a longitudinal dimension.
The Mood Tracker is an easy way of recording the emotions experienced each day and
also the underlying reasons. It can be helpful to find patterns and to improve the
self- awareness of the user. Despite the fact that there are apps with similar aims,
handwriting enables reflection and can be much more cathartic than writing in a small
keyboard. It is also accessible to everybody and can be a trigger to start conversations.

The Mood Tracker was

conceived in the early
phase of the ideation
stage and it was aimed to
visualise the outcome of
improving wellbeing
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This template is to be used during the length of the programme as a personal exercise.
Simply marking with a dot in the smiley that represents the experienced mood, in the
morning and in the evening. Another dot during the afternoon can be added too. After
marking the mood reflections about the reasons, if any, can be made in the Why? box.
At the end of the programme the users will finish with a graph that records their moods.
This graph can then be cut and used as evidence for outcomes related to wellbeing since
if the project is helping to improve the users wellbeing, this would be reflected in a more
stable and positive mood.
Feedback from the users:
The Mood Tracker was tested with six people for a month. Most of them liked the idea and
thought that it could be useful to raise self-awareness, with only one of them not
understanding the purpose of the tool. However no one of them was able to complete it.
Most of them just forgot using it some days and two of them did not even start it.
Improvements such as providing more space for writing and recording the data were also
made. Some users suggested that the tool should be more visual and digital to allow it to
be carried everywhere and set up reminders.
Despite the fact that none of the users completed the Mood Tracker, the feedback is
considered positive because most of them saw the value in it. As far as the problem of
forgetting to use it is concerned, this is not as worrying as it would appear because it is
intended to be completed at the start and/or end of each session with the organisation, so
they could be reminded by the tutors.
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Feedback from the organisations:

The Mood Tracker was presented to two organisations based in Edinburgh.
From Edinburgh Museums and Galleries the feedback was quite positive. The responsible
pointed out that the tool could fit into the ideas of the Happy Museum project, which
provides a leadership framework for museums that want to undertake a holistic approach
to sustainability and wellbeing. In addition, the interviewee also highlighted the utility of the
tool to find out how people feel after every session.
From Whale Arts the kind of feedback given was less specific, the answer being a
reflection about why this should be done and for whom. However, the interviewee also
pointed out that could be an interesting reflection tool as far as the exercise is useful for
the user and not merely used to justify the outcomes of the programme to the funders.

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Stickers
The concept has been borrowed from a
project of the MuRAC museum/ artistic
initiative based in Spain. The idea is
basically to give the users some
stickers with the organisation logo or
programme name before they leave.
The users should then take pictures of
their subsequent works with the sticker
and upload them to the online gallery of
the organisation. It could be also
found objects(a tree, a nice house,
an old bench) in that way the user
becomes curator of the organisation
virtual collection..
This idea got positive feedback, with the only objection being a concern about where the
stickers would be stuck. The interviewees considered that it could work nicely if properly
encouraged and also depending on the group. The incorporation of digital resources was
also appreciated.

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CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Origin

The origin of the solution is the aforementioned idea of the Stickers. These have been
substituted by a self-standing three dimensional object to avoid troubles with the
placement of the stickers. It has been also decided to move the focus from the
organisation to the individual, so the object would be a representation of the user or could
even become a dreamed alter ego.

Moreover, the idea of recording meaningful moments with a small figure in them recalls the
sweetness and sense of humour of the French film Amlie (2001)

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Purpose
The main aims of this solution are:

To obtain data and stories about the former users.

To create a sense of community among former users that encourage them to

continue exploring and developing the skills that they gained in their time with
the organisation, in order to delay the drop off.

To maintain a certain degree of relationship between the organisation and its

former users.

To generate collaborations between users and with the organisation.

To create a platform to host the community that ensures a safe data sharing

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Concept
MiniWorld is an online community in which the former users of an organisation post
content about their projects once they have left the programme. The community is
intended to host projects mainly related to the programme contents but is also possible to
move to the terrain of the personal or to another peripheral subjects on occasions.
The main characteristic of the posts is that they should be mainly photographs and videos
taken by the users with their MiniMe in them. The MiniMe are little wooden figures
customised as the users alter ego.
Initially the community would be facilitated by the organisation and it would have a
gamification component in order to encourage participation.

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Storyboard
A storyboard was created to understand how MiniWorld project would work.

1 The organisation arranges a short workshop before of the end of the course. In this

workshop small peg people are provided along with materials for their customisation.
This activity is intended to create and attachment feeling towards the peg person in the
user. The quality of the resulted MiniMe can vary depending on the scope (if the main
activity is on crafts and arts or not) of the organisation and also on the skills of the user.

Alternatively a customization kit with the explanation of the project can be sent by post
to users that have already left the service.

After the customization activity is finished the purpose of the activity is explained in
relation to idea of a community creation.

Interested users sign up.

The organisation invite them to the group. Users download the app.

5
6

Users start taking pictures of their projects, inspiration places etc. with their MiniMe in
them. They upload the pictures to the group and comment on others posts.
The organisation collects stories and data from the pictures and comments.
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7
8

The organisation also posts pictures, makes comments and asks questions to try to
encourage participation.
There is also a gamification component.

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Personas
These organisations had a wide range of audiences. Which may vary from programme to
programme. In order to define the features of the MiniWorld project three different
personas have been created. Each of these represent a type of user and they are created
based in testimonies and stories found on the websites of the researched organisations.

Ross, 18 years old

Unemployed. Currently doing a course
to improve his employability skills.
Likes: Music, Football, Hanging out with
friends and DIY
Dislikes: School, Exams and Adults
telling him what to do
Story: He left school with 16 years old
Goals: Getting a job, continue learning
Motivating: Meeting people that work
in the same field, Keep in touch with his
classmates. Show his work.
Demotivating: Getting a job can make
him stop working in his projects,
specially if the job is not related with the
content of the course.

42

Sarah, 33 years old

Administrative.
Likes: Theatre, Afternoon Tea,
Reading and Crafts
Dislikes: People speaking loud and
crowded places
Story: She just moved from her hometown and she feels a little bit lonely. She
decided to enrol in a course of theatre to
meet new people.
Goals: Meeting new people,
Improving self-confidence, Stability
Motivating: Sharing her work,
Keeping in touch with classmates,
Getting Inspiration
Demotivating: Not very into Facebook.

Alex, 60 years old

Windows Cleaner
Likes: Gardening, Outdoors activities,
Watching Football
Dislikes: Staying In
Story: He had depression when he
first started the gardening course. The
individual work but at the same time
surrounded by a group of people helped
him to improve his interpersonal skills.
Goals: Stability, Feeling of Achievement.
Self-Management
Motivating: Showing his garden projects. Asking for advice, Inspiration,
Routine
Demotivating: He is new in IT, Privacy
Issues.

43

First Blueprint

An initial blueprint was created while using Facebook as a platform

44

Prototyping
A first prototype of the project was created using Facebook as a platform. Thirteen people
were invited to participate in the test. All of them from aged between 20 and 40 years old
and IT literate.
The instructions for the participation in the test were given in small groups and individually.
Some of the users took part in a short workshop to transform the wooden figures in MiniMe
and to explain the project. These informal activities were conducted in an individual
basis and run for approximately 40 minutes. The users engage deeply with the activity and
enjoyed it.

45

After the MiniMe were created, the

users were invited to a Facebook
group created for the purpose of the
project. The description of the MiniUs
group asked the participants toupload
pictures of meaningful moments with
the MiniMe in them.
The group ran for 15 days with a very
low participation. The facilitation was
intended to be subtle. The researcher
MiniMe commented on others MiniMe
pictures and posted her owns with the
intention of encouraging interaction.
The post of the researcher tried also to
be a reminder, since Facebook
provides notifications every time that a
post is submitted. Despite these
attempts, the engagement with the
users was not achieved, being 12 of
out the 21 posts created by the
researcher.

Screenshot of the group MiniUs during the

first prototype

46

First prototype results analysis

After the fifteen day trial the participants were asked the following questions:

What do you think about the idea?

Why were you not using it?
What do you like most?
What would you change?
Any other comments?

Despite the majority liking the idea, the participation was still low. Some of the reasons
mentioned to explain this were technical problems but the majority of the participants
pointed out having forgotten or lost the MiniMe. Other comments made reference to a
discomfort related to the look of their MiniMe.
One of the most valued things was the customisation process, being described as very
enjoyable and fun by several participants. Another positive points that were mentioned are
the paying of more attention to daily life and small things, the use of it as a dream
projection and the interactions and sense of game showed in the pictures of several
MiniMe together.

47

I think it is cute and sweet

I like the idea of documenting and

sharing life with other people
My phones camera doesnt work
and that makes it difficult

My drawing is bad, so my MiniMe looks very ugly.

I feel shame for posting in the community

I couldnt customise it properly,

I didnt have access to colours
48

Less positive elements mentioned by some participants include not being a big fan of
Facebook and therefore not being very used to post content or making comments. The
necessity of making sure that everybody has access to the tools to customise properly the
MiniMe was also mentioned, as well as a proper explanation of the activity, with more
specific guidelines to understand better what should be posted and what avoided.
Take aways

Customisation process is very important for creating a personal attachment with the
MiniMe.


Solution: Running a collective activity to customise the MiniMe providing

access to proper tools to do it.

Make the MiniMe wearable to avoid forgetting or losing it.

Solution: As a key ring or a brooch

Provide more specific guidelines about what to post and what not in order to avoid
trivialization.
Solution: Specific Tasks

4.

Make it more social

Solution: Encouraging interactions in the real world

Give incentives and try to make the activity rewarding on a personal level.
Solution: Gamification
Solution: Posibility of showing own work and learning from others
49

Iteration
After analysing the process and the feedback given by the users some changes were
introduced in the group.
In order to make the content more specific the participants were asked to complete an
easy task everyday. These required carrying out activities like introducing the MiniMe,
showing the workspace, the favourite place in the city, presenting your last project etc.
To encourage participation a score system was introduced in the community. Points were
given for every post. The posts in response to the daily task provided one point, while
others provided two points. Commenting on other participants pictures was also awarded
with one point. In addition a final personalized prize was promised for the winner. The prize
was intended to complement the reward that the community can provide in terms of
personal creativity, learning or reputation.

50

Participation Analysis
Despite the changes introduced in this second phase, the level of engagement did not
increased substantially. The uploading of pictures went up but it took place among a
reduced number of users. Although the amount of comments and likes was higher and
more distributed among the group members, most of the tasks were not completed.
When asked about the competition as an incentive the majority of the participants stated
that they were not interested in the competition or in the prize.
The main reason for this low participation is perhaps that the users did not share a strong
common interest. This lack of thread outside of the use of the MiniMe made difficult the
creation of content through which the engagement could be achieved.

51

Designing a new platform

Despite the fact that Facebook is an easy and widespread tool, it is not totally perfect since
does not have all the basic features required. However, and after analysing some of the
mainstream apps, it was considered sufficient for the prototypes, with the main problem
being the impossibility of having an individual gallery for each user, accessible for all the
members of the group without the need of being friends.
Going private
Since the most important social networks are not able to tick all the boxes, the creation of a
private social network would be suggested. Other reasons that support this suggestion are
the issues of privacy and data security, which in this case is especially relevant since some
of the organisations work with vulnerable people.
Big institutions such as Standford University are turning to private social networks to

guarantee the data protection of their students (Fox 2014) In particular Stanford is using
Omlet for building group chats for students. Omlet is a great chat application that allows
users to create discussion groups, sharing pictures and videos with their contacts. Omlet
encourage the use of cloud systems like Dropbox and Box to store the data.
For the purpose of creating a bespoke solution we took as inspiration some of the useful
features that it presents. The main reason to not adopt this solution is that it lacks of some
features that can add extra value to the final solution such the possibility of uploading files.
However, before starting to design an specific platform it would be advisable to prototype the
community using this tool since can be found good enough in terms of costs and benefits.
52

Facebook

Flickr

FourSquare

Pinterest

Instagram

Photo/video
uploading

Comments

Who you were

with?

GPS

Individual
gallery

Need of being
friend to access
other peoples
galleries

In the version
for computers
is possible
to enter the
longitude and
latitude

Group

Who is close to
you?

Follow/Friends

Comparative chart of some of the most popular social networks

53

Features and wireframe

As a guide for the design a new social app a low-fi wireframe for tablets was created.
Users will be encouraged to use the cloud to keep their data. The app will offer a limited
capacity of free storage. Once this limit is exceeded the user will have the possibility of
buying more storage space.
The application is divided in 4 sections, clearly defined in the home page: Camera, My
Gallery, Messages and MiniWorld, group section after which the whole app is named.
In the next pages the features of
each section are listed and
illustrated by photographs taken
during the user test sessions. In
these pictures the wireframe of
several screens can be observed.

User at the home page during the

testing session

54

Camera

o
o
o
o

Camera for video & photo

Photo editing and filters
Comments, Tagging and GPS on photos and video
Sharing photo and videos with the group, individuals, via Facebook,
Twitter, e-mail, Google Drive
o Saving photos and videos to users galleries
o To be possible adding a digital MiniMe to the pictures.
o Individual privacy settings for each photo and video

User taking a picture during the testing session

55

Contrast value modifying

Commenting and tagging the photo.

Inclusion of a digital MiniMe

56

My Gallery

o Individual privacy settings for each photo and video

o Photos gallery

o Video gallery
o Albums

o Board to collect links, documents, other peoples pictures.

o Sharing photo and videos with the group, individuals, via Facebook,

Twitter, e-mail, Google Drive

o User profile

o Creation of a Digital MiniMe

o Portfolio building: Allows to select photos from the gallery, to arrange them

and to export the selection as a PDF or to get a link to be share with others.

o Timeline (built by the user, it does not contain all your publications,)

General view

View per year

Add text, Drag videos and photos

Privacy setting, if public will appear in the users profile

Shareable in PDF or link (can be used as a portfolio)

57

User dragging a video to the

Timeline during the test

User section first screen, with

Editable Profile, MineMe builder,
Galleries overview and Tmeline

58

MiniWorld

o Invited by the organisation. Possible to be member of more than one

group.

o Photo and video upload allowing comments, tags and geolocation.

o Files upload
o Comments

o Likes

o View of members profile

o Events arrangement

o Quick Surveys

o Private messages to the organisation and to other users

o Chat by proximity

o Following members

o Check in

59

User in the first screen of MiniWorld,

This section is similar to a Facebook group. The main
difference is that the gallery of the rest of the members
is visible to everybody whereas in Facebook, it is only
available to friends. In MiniWorld there are no friend
groups, just group members. Users can, however, follow
people in order to be notified each time that something is
posted or made public in their gallery.

Finding who is nearby and sending a

message to meet them.
This option can be deactivated by
the user at any moment.

60

Messages

o Private messages to the organisation

o Private individual or group messages to other users
o File attachment

User checking the list of messages during the

test

User writing a message

61

MiniWorld App Storyboard

62

Users Feedback
The paper prototype was tested with several users. None of them considered
themselves as a tech savvy person, and one of users did not have a smartphone.
The feedback was very positive as all of them stated that the application was easy to
use and very intuitive. About the functionality one of the users mentioned that perhaps
it included too many things and that the part of the boards did not make too much sense
for her. A lack of understanding for how the timeline and the PDF creation could be used
was also detected. Thus, the utility of these features had to be explained again. This fact
should be taken into consideration for the future in order to improve the communication of
the possibilities that the application offers.

63

Blueprint
PRE

AWARE

JOIN

-Currently attending to a course

or using the organisation space
and resources
-Has left the organisation
recently

-Attendance to MiniMe
customisation and project
explanation Workshop
-Social Media
-Getting a letter with a kit to
create your MiniMe

-Signing in after the

workshop
-Getting in touch with the
organisation to confirm
participation
-Downloading the app
-Signing in Miniworld

TOUCHPOINTS

-Activities
-Workshop spaces
-Staff
-Social Media

-Workshop
-Letter
-Social Media

-List on paper
-E-mail, Phone, in person
-Staff

FRONTSTAGE

-Classes
-Support and advice
-Learning how to use the
application

-Workshop facilitation
-Workshop activities
preparation

-Taking the names of the

interested people.
-Explaining how to download
the app.

-Including the use of MiniWorld

in the organisations strategy

-Workshop arrangement:
place, time, materials.
-Confirming postal addresses.
-Prepare the kit to be sent.
--Writing instructions

-Gathering all the

participants names.
-Inviting them to the group
-Creating a content strategy
using the framework by
Visser & Richardson or other
similar one
-Enrolment statistics

-Buying materials for the

workshop and for the KIT
-Sending the KIT

-Technical Support
-Peg People Stock

USER

BACKSTAGE

-MiniWorld training session

preparation and running.

INTERNAL/
EXTERNAL
PROCESSES

-MiniWorld Application
Purchase

64

USE

MAINTAIN

LEAVING

-Taking pictures of their works with

the MiniMe
-Posting pictures/videos
-Reading, Liking and Commenting
on others posts

-Content generation
-Conversations with other users
-Sharing, posting, liking..
-Arranging online activities
-Taking part in off-line activities
-Buying more storage space/deleting
content/ off-line storage

-To stop using the app

-Deleting their profile

-MiniWorld App
-Reminder E-mail

-MiniWorld App
-Organisation Premises
-Staff
-Reminder E-mail

-MiniWorld App
-Reminder E-mail
-E-mail to thank the user and to
ask feedback

-Group facilitation:
-Content Posting: links, tips,
organisation news
-Support: Technical & Physical e.g.
MiniMe replacement

-Group facilitation
-Content Posting
-Offline activities proposal
-Competitions proposal and delivery

-Content Creation
- Data and Stories Gathering
-Data Analysing
-Information synthesis
-Report writing

-Offline activities arrangement (time,

space, staff, catering)
-Competition Arrangement (rules, score
system, prizes)
-Content Creation
- Data and Stories gathering
-Data Analysing
-Information synthesis
-Report writing

-Deleting the leaving user data

from the system.
-Feedback analyzing

-Technical Support
-Outcomes communication

-Technical Support
-Outcomes communication

Technical Support

65

NEXT STEPS & CONCLUSIONS

Testing with a specific organisation.
The next step for the further development of the project would be to test a new prototype
with the users of a specific organisation. This third trial would ideally test the creation of
a community using a more finished prototype of the proposed platform. Thus, the project
would not only be close to a real scenario but it would also be easier to create the content
needed to engage with the users.
The two prototypes on Facebook have demonstrated that although the MiniMe introduce
a sense of fun and playfulness and can reinforce preexistent links and even create new
interactions and synergies, the concept is not sufficient in itself to generate an emergence
of a community that would last long.
Therefore it is necessary to build on a subject of common interest among the users.
This common ground should be the interests, skills, works, employment prospects and
experiences occurred during and as a consequence of the time spent in the organisation.
The contents can also be based on the organisations values and assets.

66

A framework for content creation

As the secondary research shows and the testing results demonstrate a meaningful
content for the users in essential. That content should be also linked with the mission
of the organisation and therefore part of its communication policy. In order to ease the
creation of a content strategy here the utilization of the framework proposed by Visser and
Richardson (2013) is suggested.

Framework by Visser and Richardson

67

The research also proves that a sense of reward must be achieved in order to maintain
the participation. From the results of our second prototype it can be said that participation
increased. In this second test gamification was introduced, however, the feedback given
by the users do not point towards this as a direct prompt of participation. Therefore we
can conclude that although competition can encourage users to take part, the way of
ensuring this is through providing reward in form of personal growth, knowledge and skill
acquisition, sense of achievement and proud etc. This again is normally achieved through
content. Nevertheless, actions such a competitions with material awards that fall in the
above mentioned categories could be also proposed occasionally in a later stage of the
community development. These awards could be events happening outside of the digital
such the exhibition of the winner pieces of work, the celebration of an auction and the
attendance to certain course to improve specific skills.
In other words competition can be used to maintain participation and as a decoy but not so
much as the basis to create a long last community.

68

A question of time
As pointed out above building a community is a question of time. The reviewed literature
suggests a minimum of 6 months to be able to develop a healthy community.
Time is necessary to get use to the platform and also to the rest of the users. The
feedback given by the participants of the prototypes suggests in the majority of cases that
not knowing other members of the community is not making them feeling uncomfortable.
However, the activity of the users shows that interactions among users that do not know
each other took a little more time to occur.
As time is needed to build and to consolidate here it is suggested that organisations
implement the creation of the community with enough time before the users leave. This
will allow not only the conducting of the initial MiniMe customization workshop and to solve
enquiries about the use of the app for the less tech savvy, but also the encouragement of
people to participate in the online community directly, with the running of actions combining
both off and online participation.

69

After having taken into consideration all the aforementioned next steps
and conclusions, it can be affirmed that MiniWorld is a potential answer
for capturing users over time that will enable the organisations to find
out the real impact of their activities in the long term. This is essential
not only to design new activities and to improve the organisation
performance, but also to make arguments for getting funding and
institutional support.

70

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PRESS M. CUSWORTH, A (1998) New lives in the making: The value of craft
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org/courses/social-impact-2/ 72

APPENDIX 1
INDEX CARDS
Some of the Index
Cards used during
the research in
order to arrange
the information
and to make its
use easier

Images taken from the

organisations websites or
from the articles

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84