OVERVIEW

STAGE 1 - BARRIER FREE LIVING

Research, design and build of Barrier Free Living’s Staff Room. Barrier Free Living is a NY-based NGO housing and supporting people with disabilities who are survivors of domestic violence. The brief was to transform the unused staff room using trauma-informed design principles to create a space that nurtures and empowers their staff. The room needed to be multifunctional - providing space for lunches, meetings and most importantly respite from the work they’re doing.

STAGE 2 - T.I.D.E. TOOLKIT

The experience of working for Barrier Free Living highlighted the disjoint between accessible design tools and NGOs - who can greatly benefit from understanding how our designed environment impacts our mental and physical health. TIDE aims to fill this gap by creating an experiential toolkit that democratises design theory. It is an affordable, time-efficient alternative to NGO’s who might be looking to create change but who might not be able to afford a designer or expensive design tools.

“The lounge, which had been rarely used, turned into a true diamond in the rough after Sophie worked her magic.”

— Barrier Free Living Staff Member

RESEARCH

UX Research methodologies played a critical role in understanding how staff wanted to and would use the space. This included gathering insights directly from staff using surveys and interviews. It was also important though to understand the day to day reality of life in the building. On-site visits and observations provided valuable insights which informed the design direction.

Research was also carried out into trauma-informed design theory - an area of design that has been under-researched. By taking the theory of trauma-informed care and translating this into design principles - a design brief was developed. This sought to acknowledge the deep impact our environment can have on our mental and physical wellbeing.

DESIGN

Designs were developed through synthesizing research insights and developing spatial planning and user journeys. This was done through sketches, plans and 3D renders.

The final designs were approved by Chief Program Officer and Chief Fiscal Officer. After designs were successfully pitched, the budget was doubled.

BUILD

The transformation of the room took place over one week with most of the work carried out by Sophie with support from some BFL staff. Due to the nature of BFL’s work, organisation and planning of deliveries and work were key to fit around the strict safety requirements of the building.

“This is the first time a volunteer has come in and created real change for us”

— Barrier Free Living Staff Member

REFLECTIONS & DISCOVERY

The overwhelmingly positive response from staff signified the lack of design solutions currently available for NGO’s like BFL. Inspired by the process, people and environment and noticing the lacking research available to such NGO’s - T.I.D.E. was established as a way to extend the impact that design can have for similar NGOs and democratise how design knowledge is used in these spaces.

DEFINITION

Further research and synthesis identified the large market that trauma-informed design could positively impact. This also demonstrated the growing need for such tools to exist - if we’re to fully acknowledge the power our built environment has on our wellbeing.

The interactive toolkit aims to:

1. Inspire NGO’s to use trauma-informed design principles

2. Translate design language and theory into practical experiences

3. Recognise budget, manpower and resource limitations of NGO’s.

DEVELOPMENT

Each component is inspired by theory in interior design. For example, the torch and compass look at how the sun moves around a home at different times of the day and year and aims to replicate that in a small handheld version.

The service blueprint shows how the toolkit could be developed for commercialisation. This would look to offering a tailored experience with variable components to meet the context-specific needs of each user.

REFLECTIONS

Having gained positive feedback from usability tests and industry experts, T.I.D.E. is looking to be commercialised - to continue the positive impact these theories can have for NGO’s such as Barrier Free Living.