Client
Society
COMPANY
N/A
ROLE
Researcher, Strategist
How might we help food-insecure students and struggling local restaurants during COVID lockdown?
Challenge
There are over 1MM K-12 students in NYC and according to a few scources, between 60- 75% were eligible for free or reduced lunch.
Without public schools open, hundreds of thousands of students miss their free lunches. The NY Department of Education (DOE) is currently providing free lunches from 7:30-1:30pm at every public school to address that.
However, not all students are picking up the food being offered. There are vulnerabilities to these programs, i.e. free lunches are stigmatized aka "lunch shaming" and picking up lunches from schools prevent people from adhering to the social distancing recommendations. Districts all over the country are looking for innovative solutions to get food to students as food banks and food relief programs are struggling.
Process
This idea went from conception to launch in two weeks.
First step was getting a small team together and reading secondary research on food insecurity amongst NYC students. After gathering insights, we spoke to public school teachers and brainstormed potential ideas that could scale, avoid stigma, and be easy to launch quickly.
We shared the idea amongst social workers before launching our first prototype with 10 students. We set up a feedback form and Instagram page to have direct contact with students. An empathy map revealed a blind spot, which shifted our communications to avoid painting students as “needy” and making students hesitant to use the cards.
We continue to iterate the idea and process, incorporate student voices into the project, and designing with equity, mindfulness and care.
What it all led to
Treat Your Block is a live GoFundMe campaign and an idea centered on serving two communities with one digital gift card. After we fundraise amongst remote workers, we email restaurant delivery gift cards to public school students (whom we identify through social workers at schools or nonprofits who work with these students) and encourage them to order from local restaurants. These gift cards effectively generate business for the local economy and help students get food while avoiding public spaces, get a break from cooking, treat their families, and give them a sense of control during a time where we all feel uncertain and powerless.
The Work
Brainstorming & IDEATING
With a team of two we did rapid brainstorming in the form of mash up lists. Design criteria helped us evaluate which idea would work best. It was scrappy and fast but it worked because we got to our gift card idea!
Rapid Prototyping: Feed Your Block
We clarified our idea with diagramming, brainstormed a name, created illustrations to make the GoFundMe stand out and shareable. Within two week we launched Feed Your Block. We would fundraise amongst remote workers while reaching out to schools and teachers. Then we’d email $100 restaurant delivery gift cards to teachers/social workers, who’d forward the links to the students.
First prototype #FeedYourBlock
EMPATHY MAPPING
After we launched the GoFundMe, we shared is amongst friends and coworkers. We saw how people were sharing it—the words they used, the ideas they expressed. Our communications prompted theirs to be similar to “kids in need” which we knew students wouldn’t like. An empathy map exercise grounded us in what students were doing and feeling right now and the value the gift cards would provide them.
Iteration: Treat Your Block
We shifted the idea from Feed Your Block to Treat Your Block to focus on neighbors treating students, students treating themselves to a comforting meal or treating their families to a night without cooking, while supporting neighborhood restaurants. We then launched an Instagram page as our website, feedback forms for direct contact with students, and fundraised amongst friends, colleagues, and New Yorkers.
