SOUTHWARK
COUNCIL
Client: Southwark Council
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Timeline: 2-month UAL Industry Placement
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Role: UX design, UX research, Research through design, Co-design
Designing a speculative research toolkit to amplify voices of residents in shaping the future of the borough.
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In the spring of 2023 we partnered with Southwark Council, to design a way to collect data and imagine the future, beyond survey and interviews. We designed a speculative design toolkit, as part of the Southwark 2030, an initiative created to amplify voices of residents in shaping the future of their borough.
Toolkit employs prompt cards as a way of guiding residents towards novel visions for the future of their borough and their community. Co-design and usability testing sessions with the Southwark community helped us refine our prototype and and collect research data for the council.
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DEFINING OPPORTUNITIES
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In 2023, Southwark 2030 was carried out in the form of Southwark Conversations across several south London venues. Christine and Fionnuala from the Southwark Council invited us to the Tate Modern Conversations, to participate and observe, and gather insights into the nature of these discussions and the extent of resident engagement.
southwark conversation as tate modern 13th feb 2023
During the forum, we took notes and photographs and conducted short interviews with the residents present. We then analysed using Rose, Thorn, Bud method. Mapping out what is being done and where we could do better, we identified two main focus areas of this brief: designing to prompt imagination & designing to increase engagement.
snapshot from our rose, bud, thorn map
PROBLEM DEFINITION & CREATIVE STRATEGY
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Problem definition, goal of the project and creative strategy arose from discussions with council members, who sough a new way of collecting creative and imaginative data, after limited with success with interviews and surveys. Additional insights were drawn from observations during the Southwark Conversations forum.
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The project’s objective was to develop a new research method that would engage residents in creative and imaginative thinking, elicit meaningful responses for the council, and transform them into actionable insights for the 2030 initiative.
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Given the community-led nature of the research approach, the method had to resonate with the people we were designing for, foster a safe space for creativity, and inspire ideas. We adopted the rapid throwaway prototyping process, emphasising quick production, testing, and iteration. This allowed us to test early with users, gather feedback, and refine the design continuously. The result was a method that worked effectively for both users and stakeholders, generating innovative insights aligned with the 2030 initiative goals.
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PHASE 1: DESIGNING TO IMAGINE (NOT SOLVE)
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First challenge was designing to spark imagination. Our research surfaced, that residents lack the tools to look past their current problems and current experiences and imagine «what 2030 could look like».
To support residents in imagining the best possible Southwark, we started developing our ideas for the project on the foundation of generative prompting. We built visual and verbal cues as a way of kick-starting creativity and imagination, and opening up new futures.We started with paper prototypes to support development and feedback turnaround. We tested and iterated each prompt to develop the most organic way to inspire individual storytelling, as well as community discussion around the given topic.
Designed prompt cards provide residents with inspiration for ‘how’ to start imagining the future, but not ‘what’ to imagine. Rounds of testing suggested, that imagery helps residents expand on their thoughts, and that a sense of challenge and competition of the point-based tasks facilitates a more creative problem-solving.
Task cards tap into memories and experiences which support ideation from within participant’s individual context. Place cards situate imagination in the Southwark borough, exploring how this space can be improved for 2030. Object cards help residents explore familiar everyday objects and tools within new context.
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PHASE 2: DESIGNING TO ENGAGE UNDERREPRESENTED DEMOGRAPHIC
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Second challenge of the project was designing to increase engagement. Young Southwark residents aged 15-23 (secondary school through undergraduate, or early career) were chosen as our target user group. It emerged from our discussions with council members, that while they are the demographic which grew up in the borough and is actively choosing to continue their education or professional life here, they are underrepresented in the Conversations with the council.
In second prototyping phase, we built on the success of our prompt cards. The game metaphor emerged as a productive means of organising participation.
We iterated and tested several game boards, choosing the one which best utilised elements of competition and collaboration, elicited enjoyment and participation, and supported creative ideation toward the desired outcome—rich, imaginative, future-based narratives with actionable insights for the borough.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES: SOUTHWARK 2030 TOOLKIT
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Southwark 2030 game toolkit is a versatile replicable research method, which can be carried out by the council without our directed involvement. To achieve this, we supplemented the prompt card and the game board with a rulebook, which details forms of engagement and our recommendations on how to gather and collect the stories and insights which emerge during the game.
Strategic compilation of developed elements ensures a seamless and pleasant user experience, foregrounding the adaptability and accessibility of our design solution.
Implementation of the game toolkit was carried out with 24 participants total, across three colleges in the borough, who generously donated their time and space - London College of Communication, South Bank College and Southwark College. 10 students under 18yo, 2 students had a learning disability.
Participants were from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures and abilities which led to a collection of varied narratives and insights for council. Collected insights were analysed using thematic coding method and delivered to council in a form of data deck.
snapshot of collected data (all data was disclosed to council with consent from the participants)
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IMPACT
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The game context we developed created a safe space for exploration and imagination. This approach supported participants in thinking innovatively, finding novel connections between objects and places, and constructing meaningful narratives.
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​As participants became more engaged, the 
facilitation of the conversations eased, and the discussions yielded richer information about the borough and its future.
View the weekly breakdown of the process 
on my Medium blog.
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LEARNINGS
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The game toolkit was developed in line with the new vision of sustainable development, which creates a more equitable future by increasing citizens’ active participation in the design processes.Collaborating with Southwark Council provided insights into the significance of community building, community-led design, and the use of participatory methods.Standing in contrast to research methods such as surveys and focus groups, our methodology of design-led creative prompting and toolkits challenges the hierarchy of conventional research methodologies.
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WHAT'S NEXT?
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A year after the project ended, in the Fall of 2024, we re-opened a conversation with the Southwark Council, about the options of developing the project further. We are currently working on scaling up the speculative toolkit by adapting it for digital use. This will improve citizen access to the conversation by removing barriers of participation in the southwark conversations, increase the reach of the research method and diversify the participant pool.