How to Design to Get People Involved
Two startup founders use design thinking for civic impact
Civic engagement and civic literacy are cornerstones of a healthy society. Unfortunately, it’s a lot more fun to contemplate our next Netflix binges than to focus on complex policy issues. I recently attended a really great event where Karen Borchgrevink, Director of LA Tech4Good, moderated a lively discussion with Amit Thakkar, Founder and CEO of LawMaker, and Aaron Lyles, Founder and CEO of CommonAlly. Amit and Aaron discussed how they’re using thoughtful design and technology to address these extensive societal problems.
As they spoke, I noticed how they’ve skillfully employed design thinking to help them tackle these complex and daunting problems and enact positive social change. First, they empathized with their community and worked to understand their community’s core needs. Next, they decided what specific part of the problem they wanted to focus on, and then developed possible ideas and solutions to test out and collect feedback on. Finally, they continuously iterated and adapted their products to respond to challenges as they arose.
Understand the problem you’re trying to solve
In order to address a problem, both Amit and Aaron needed to define and deeply understand it. To…
