PRODUCT DESIGN-design

Design a new vision for the Voedselbank around the themes of food, people & places.

This page contains all the brainstorming, decision-making, conceptual exploration, prototype, evolatuion and refinement towards the end product.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Pride in being 100% ran by volunteers

Strong logistics

Wide range of ways to help clients

Wide reach within the Netherlands

Strong & inspiring mission

This is a tool to evaluate the Voedselbank's current position with the aium of highlighitn areas of intervention.

From the chart, I sketched out a few possible design directions by combining strenght and opportunities.

Advertising & communications

Outdated brand ambassadors

Not inclusive to undocumented immigrants

Being only volunteer run

Old generation

Digital marketing

Create job opportunities

Partner with restaurants

Connect with younger audiences

New generations of embassadors

Help poor students and immigrants

2Good2Go

Covid crisis

Volunteers shortage

VOLUNTEERING RAVE

100% ran by volunteers + New generations of embassadors

Collaborate with local musical artists on live performance where the specators have to be voluntering to experience the concert/DJ set

Strong logistics + Digital marketing

Door to door donation system organized 100% through users on an app

100% ran by volunteers + New generations of embassadors

Social media campaign where hip/young cooks/restaurants make recipes with the weekly basket live.

New generations of embassadors + create job opportunities

Young designers create a concept to be produced by people in need of a job. The products would be sold to raise funds for the food bank.

Designing for the volunteers

Design as a way to amploify the volunteers' stories

Celebrate their individuality

Use stories to attrack potential new volunteersCelebrate their individuality

Give a platform to share their stories

Give back to those who are making the organization run

Advertize and raise awareness of the foodbank, its volunteers and its misson

Products inspired by/visualizing unique stories

Campaigns that highlights unique stories

Things to consider

Who is the audiance to the stories?

What is the desired outcome?

What response/action do I want to get from the audiance?

Who will pay?

How can these stories impact clients/volunteers of the food bank?

Potential volunteers
- Retired people, students, autonomous workers, immigrants

Current volunteers
- Unemployed people, retired people, immigrants, students

Partners
- Rstaurants, influencers, markets, cooks, designers, artists

Places where people have time
- Parks, restaurants

Places where we can build empathy about the cause
- Restaurants, supermarkets, markets

Places where people would notice a pop-up message

Places with high traffick to reach the most people
- Social medias, public spaces, public transport

Wall art
Lighting
Tablewear
Textile
Candle holder
Toilets
Menu
Teresse

Sculpture
Game
Sitting area
Performances
Plants
Pavement
Lighting

Booth
Food baskets
Cash machine
Entrances
Market place on days off

Street paint
Billboards
Audio messages
Performances (smell? taste?)
Spatial design

Streets/Public transport

Post-pitch feedback

A priority for the food bank is to get more volunteers

They like the idea of the cookout the most

The concept direction has been narrowed down to a pop-up event that will involve volunteers, influencers & a public in the goal to coomunicate to the world about the food bank's volunteers & recruit new ones.

We will present our project proposals with prototypes at the Rotterdam Markthal for a week, where we will have the chance to gather feedback.

It is also very important for me to receive feedback from the volunteers at the food bank to keep them at the core of the design process

What needs to be designed?

Poster + prototype for the Markthal
Branding
Logistics of the event
Space & equipment of the competition
User interaction for people to sign up as volunteer easily
Campaign to recruit people to participate in the challenge

EARLY EXPLORATION

INFLUENCERS COOK OFF CAMPAIGN

DESIGNERS PRODUCTS

USER CENTRIC APP

The volunteers are the power and strenght of the organization.

Although the work is labelled as volonteer, many of them need to be there to receive unembployment benefits or to benefit of the food donation distributed after each shifts.

I decided to keep volunteering at least throughout the project, because I believe it is important to give back to those we take from during our design process. If we ask for their time, observe and use their lives, the minimum is to give a hand as well.

Participation in the system also gives me great and in depth insight of the people that I want to design for.

CONCEPT PROPOSAL

1/ Hosting a cookoff challenge

The challenge would be a reoccuring pop-up event that could travel from market to markets across the country.

It would also be broadcasted on social media platforms of the Voedselbank, contestants and maybe sponsors.

Food bloggers/influencers
Local cooks
Volunteers
Potential volunteers
Public

Desired outcome

Reach a high amount of people
Make the participants promote the Voedselbank
Get new volunteers to sign up
Cleberate the volunteers & connect them with the new ones

The volunteer's story is told through their participation in the process. Wether as judges, or as inspiration for the cooking.

Volunteers' stories

Logistics of the challenge
Branding
Booth design
Campaign to recruit participants

Define how to get volunteers involved and test it
Identify potential participants
Define design criteria for the booth
Create branding manual

2/ Volunteering rave

Series of events (weekly?monthly?)
At the distribution center
In other spaces where the work could be relocated

Current volunteers
Local performers/DJs
Their fanbase/new volunteers

Have local artists promote the Voedselbank
Attract a new wave of vounteers
Make the current & new volunteers connect through music

Desired outcome

Music selection inspired by taste of current volunteers
Give aplatform for volunteers to share about their story through music

Volunteers' stories

The event
Branding
Spatial design
Merch?

Collect stories about volunteers and music
Identify potential collaborators
Define spatial limitations & design cirteria for spatial design

3/ Product placement in restaurants

Series of events (weekly?monthly?)
At the distribution center
In other spaces where the work could be relocated

CONCEPT PROPOSAL

CONCEPT REFINEMENT

Feedback & Critical reflection

What message do I want to communicate? How?

How to convince people to become steady volunteers?

Make them understand the benefits from receiving free food
Make them understand the beauty of the social aspect of volunteering
Make the signing up experience more user friendly

Transportable pop up elements in markets
Influencers
Emotional & eye catching storytelling

How to reach people and get their attention?

What is the most exciting to the volunteers?
What is the most conveniant for the volunteers?

Problem statement

There is a lack of volunteers and trouble in recruitment methods.

Most people might know about the food bank but do not understand its beauty and the power that comes from volunteers

Many people could benefit from the social and material advantages of volunteering but are not aware of them

Although it is volunteer work, many of the current workers need to be there to receive their unemployment or for the free food. They are committed to the work they do but do not get much recognition for being there.

The teachers are not sure a cook off communicates the right message as it make it seem that it is easy & tasty to cook with the daily boxes.
- I personally think that, yes, we should celebrate the joy these boxes bring, not promote a narrative of pity/struggle.

The teachers said to give people options during the experiments to see what they respond to the best

The concept must aim at recruiting steady new volunteers and communicate the crucial need for volunteers.

The concept should illustrate the beauty of the volunteer work force

The concept should inform people on the benefits of volunteering.

The concept should aim to celebrate, benefit & give back to the current volunteers.

Design criteria

I believe that to create a meaningful concept I msut stay true to the core element that motivates me: giving back to the volunteers themselves. Feedback is a key part of the process to understand what to question and an opportunity to reinforce a design.
I therefore took a moment after this self reflection to define my project at its core and keep working from there.

What platforms are the most powerful to broadcast?
What does a cook off communicates?
What kind of cooks/partners do people look up to?
How can people sign up more easily?
What prevents people from becoming volunteers?
What is the most exciting to the volunteers?
What is the most convenient for the volunteers?
How to convince people to become steady volunteers?
What attracts people to listen?
How to illustrate the need & lack of volunteers?
What message do I want to communicate? How?
What story creates the most engagement/empathy?
How can people sign up more easily?
What prevents people from becoming volunteers?
What does a cook off communicates?
What kind of cooks/partners do people look up to?
What prevents people from becoming volunteers?

Things to consider

TO DO LIST:
- Upload photo research
-Upload audio research

- Identify what areas of the ideas need to best tested
- Design ways to test the ideas
- Design posters presenting the ideas

MID TERM PITCH & EXPERIMENTS

Part 1: Digital experiment

VERSION 1: Focus on the food
- Vlog in the stret OTW to volunteering
- Presenting the free food I got today
- Vlog explaning how to volunteer

VERSION 2: Focus on the importance of the cause
- Video of the volunteering work
- Picture with statistic about the food bank
- Video of explaining the importance of volunteering & inviting mroe people to do so

VERSION 3: Focus on the social aspect of volunteering with a friend
- Vlog with my friend on the way there
- Talk about the music theyre playing
- Vlog about the amazing people I me there, learning language & ask people to join next time