Being a Digital Do-Gooder (IxDA Berlin Event #53)

Being a  
Digital Do-Gooder
IxDA Berlin Event # 53 I 2016
@cklavery
http://www.fondation-barry.ch/en/mediennews/hospice-dogs-are-back-pass

Are you all
feeling good?
You sure look great.

I’m going to change
that in the next 20
minutes.
At least I’ll try my best.

This talk may contain
traces of half baked
philosophy, social
romanticism and
self guilt.
Disclaimer.

And there will be no
cat content or Star
Wars references.
Sorry about that.

http://wonkette.com/522934/north-carolina-pretty-much-just-selling-poor-people-for-dog-food-now
Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBuC_0-d-9Y
LoveIy to see so many beautiful people here tonight.
I’d like to welcome you all by saying “Fuck the Poor” and show you a short video to illustrate my point: www.youtube.com/
watch?v=eBuC_0-d-9Y)

http://visitsteve.com/made/capitalism-works-for-me-truefalse/
So this is where we are currently living and it probably won’t change in the next couple of weeks. Does it work for you?

http://animalzfun.blogspot.de/2014/04/Hipster-Dog-Pictures.html
For many of us, working in a „cool“ digital agency or “disruptive” tech company or similar environment it probably does.

We love our products and care for them…

https://www.cnet.com/news/riots-suicides-and-other-issues-in-foxconns-iphone-factories/
…without caring THAT much about how they are made.

http://airbnb.de
We travel the world to stay in cute rooftop apartments in trendy areas like Berlin Kreuzberg. 
That’s if you happen to be a newcomer to Berlin and are labelled “Expat”, “Tourist” or “Zujezogener”.

Source: unknown
www.airbnbvsberlin.de
The purple blobs on this map denominate available AirBnB flats, the red blobs show flats available for rent on the housing
market (that’s 3 in total).

https://amzn.com/B003B4XTUA
Again that’s if you happen to be a newcomer to Berlin and are labelled “Expat”, “Tourist” or “Zujezogener”.

Source: unknown
If you happen to be a newcomer to Berlin and are labelled “Refugee” that rooftop view might not be so cute and your
last, desperate resort to avoid eviction or deportation.
Both rooftop views and realities are located less than a mile from each other in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
Source unknown

Feels familiar?
Seems like we are part of the problem(s).

How might we use
our skills &
privileges for
“something good”?
My HMW challenge for a few years now.
Not discussing tonight since we’ve only got 20mins: deeper philosophical or political questions e.g. is 
for profit inherently evil, are NGOs inherently good etc. It’s complicated.

Hard Easy
High
Low
Ease of implementation
Impact
Quit daytime job to join social company
Switch to an ethical bank
Switch to Green EnergyGo vegan
Help social project in spare time
Donate money on a regular basis
Consume less
Only buy ethically sound products
Donate at Christmas
Buy organic products
Raise awareness at conferences / universities
I started with thinking about what I could do to be a better person both in my private and professional life.
The traffic light colours show roughly where I am right now.

Becoming a
Digital Do-Gooder
(in progess)
So let me take you on my personal journey to becoming a Digital Do-Gooder.  
This is very much in progress and a constant challenge on many levels.

Without being a
complete pain in  
the arse (in progess)
Another challenge is talking about doing good without sounding too pompous or full of yourself.
I’m Clive not Bono (and it’s spelled arse not ass!)

http://www.dailyedge.ie/life-of-brian-quiz-2021283-Apr2015/
It’s also easy to be like those guys who you might have come across when being involved in some kind of activism. 
The kind of people that live in their ivory tower, love preaching and in-fighting over minute details and semantics and
seem to forget what they set out to do in the first place.

Bratwurst!
Put the
kettle on!
BTW: I’m Clive, son of a British (technically Cornish) father and a German mother. Born and bred “an Rhein und Ruhr”.

• 41 years on this earth
• 10+ years in the industry
• 6+ years in Berlin
Clive in numbers.

• Freelance UX Person
• Research, Strategy & Design
• Education & Social Good
Stuff I do for money and that I care about. Get in touch if you need UX support for interesting projects in Berlin
or all over the world (happy to travel for great stuff).

• UX Mentor at Career Foundry
• Co-Organiser UXcamp Europe
• Co-Organiser UX Book Club
I also don’t mind a bit of UX on the side. Still working on my UX/Life balance…

Source unknown
The honest elevator pitch would sound something like this. Bit of a party pooper, really.
So what do you do as a UX Designer, Clive?
I move Sticky Notes around and draw grey
boxes so rich corporations can get richer.

Super
awesome!
We think a lot about HOW to design, disrupt and innovate things. But we generally do not spend too much time thinking
about WHY and for WHO.
Source unknown

https://www.designdisruptors.com/
We generally seem quiet pleased with ourselves and tell each other (or anybody who can’t run away quickly enough) how
much we are changing the world and solving problems with design…

http://www.ﬁrstworldproblems.biz/
… without thinking too much about what kind of problems we are actually solving.

http://www.ﬁrstworldproblems.biz/
You might be disrupting and solving some of the world’s most coolest problems - who cares about the boring
UN Global Sustainability Goals Simon Stegemann just mentioned http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
sustainable-development-goals/ ?

https://twitter.com/internetofshit
Perhaps you have also backed Kickstarter projects like these and thereby helped solving other  
substantial human problems.

Feels familiar?
Still seems like we are part of the problem(s). Agree?

Is it just me?
Or am I just a white, middle aged, middle class, self-hating hipster in a midlife crisis?
At 41 it’s about time for that anyway, I guess.

Based on ethical
reasons -
have you ever…
What about you? Let’s compare your answers to a survey I sent out to UX professionals in 2014.

… had second thoughts about a client or project?
Surveymonkey survey answered by 100 UX Professionals in 2014
Quick show of hands before I show the survey results…

… designed something for a client you really hate?

… refused to work for a certain client or project?

… quit your job?

80% IBelieve UX can play a role 
in contributing to Social Good
That’s a great result - but mind the gap…

75% IAre not involved in any activities 
for Social Good
Remind you of the „Fuck the poor“ video earlier on?

What I learnt so far
on my journey
Work in progress.

Learning 1
It’s nothing new
No surprise there.

– Theodor W. Adorno
“There is no right life in the wrong one."
So is this guy right?

“A business that makes nothing but money  
is a poor business.“
– Henry Ford
Or this guy?

“The problem with internet quotes is that you
can’t always depend on their accuracy.“
– Abraham Lincoln
He is definitely right.

quickmeme.com
Thinking about your professional ethics has been around for thousands of years…

https://www.aiga.org
… and has been considered by „traditional“ design associations, too.

IXDA Manifesto
http://www.ixda.org/about/ixda-mission
Even an organisation called the IxDA (you might know it) has it in its mission statement - check out the last bullet point.

Learning 2
There’s no good  
excuse not to do
something.
Especially in Berlin
Although there are of course many distractions - especially in Berlin.

www.youvo.org
Perhaps you feel like this?

Find your cause
www.xxx.xxxx
https://www.betterplace.org/en/volunteering/map
Good starting point: find your cause and match your skills on a platform like betterplace.org.
https://www.betterplace.org/en/volunteering/map

https://youtu.be/SB_GDF-mKTE
Get inspired
https://uxlx.23video.com/video/10734908/how-designers-destroyed-the-world
Watch inspiring talks by thought leaders who have all been there before.

Get inspired
http://thechanger.org/job-mit-sinn-karriere-ratgeber.pdf https://www.wickedproblems.com/
It may sound crazy: but you could read a book, too.

www.startupeuropesummit.com/hackathon/
Get out of the building
http://susjamberlin.strikingly.com/
Featuring 
Clive
Take part in Hackathons (quite techie but UX input is highly appreciated) or Design Jams…

http://thechanger.org/events/changer-hangout-berlin-immobilien-scout
http://www.labtogether.org/
… or upcoming Meetups and conferences in Berlin (there’s usually free drinks, too).

https://berlin.impacthub.net
berlin.socialimpactlab.eu/
Why not visit these social start up and co-working hubs (or check out their regular events) and check out the
companies being hosted there for inspiration.

https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge
Donate your skills globally or locally
https://www.goodgym.org/
You can e.g. create global impact online or local impact by organising online and literally working out socially…

www.youvo.org
Donate your skills (or money)
https://www.betterplace.org
… and use use online platforms like Youvo (aimed at more Junior Designers) or betterplace.org to donate your skills.

Make it a Win-Win
+ 600 EUR
- 11 kg
https://www.betterplace.org/de/fundraising-events/16204-aktion-speckgurtel-reloaded http://www.akinda-berlin.org/
Learnt Squarespace basics
Raised 600 €
& lost 11 kg
Two projects I was involved in supporting http://akinda-berlin.org: fundraiser and new website.

http://bcorporation.eu/
Change your career
http://thechanger.org/
Check out companies that support and sponsor social good events and activities or are a certified B Corp  
(“B Corps […] aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems.”)

https://wigwam.im/
Change your career
ﬁrebellydesign.com
Design agencies with a focus on social good.

http://www.ac4d.com/
Each one teach one
https://www.cooper.com/training/ux-boot-camp
Get them while they are young and raise awareness in the industry.

http://www.redi-school.org/  
Watch intro video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TN4II0iAck
Each one teach one
I aim to be involved in teaching students at ReDi School for Digital Integration. Check out their great approach to the  
so-called refugee crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TN4II0iAck - they always need support if this appeals to you
or your company.

Service Experience Camp Berlin
Spread the gospel
Hyper Island Manchester
Talk about it with your peers and colleagues at events; raise awareness with young designers starting out in the
business at design schools and universities.

There are tons of individual efforts but not one go to place or website (AFAIK) and often very similar initiatives don’t
know of each other. Seems like a lot of missed collaboration opportunities - a lot of dots to be connected…

Learning 3
Look for the
right keywords
Google better to do good.

#socialimpact #purpose-driven #socialenterprise
#SocEnt #socialgood #socialstartup
I started googling terms like „UX for Social Good“ or „Design for Social Good“ - I found some stuff but this strategy
seems to narrow and thinking in silos (which as we always preach is bad).
Broader terms you can see on the slide yield more interesting results.
https://blog.dogbuddy.com/expert-marketing-tips-dog-sitting-business/

Learning 4
No Do-Gooder is  
an island
Suprise, surprise…

http://ofﬁcialhuskylovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dogwalker.jpg
Don’t try to do it all: find a cause you really care about and team up with others, ideally with complementary skills.  
A lot of NGOs / social organisations are like startups i.e. ever changing contact persons, chaos and lack of structure so be
prepared for that and maybe that you have to take the lead.

I set up this LinkedIn Group to connect like-minded people - it does feel a lot like me talking to myself most of the time
so the future of it is a bit unclear.  
 
Perhaps a public Twitter or Product Hunt list is more effective.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8206434

Learning 5
Focus &
Commitment
Surprise, surprise…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Basset_Hound_600.jpg
When you team up with others ensure there is a reliable commitment from every team member - otherwise be prepared for
frustration and low project moral.
If you don’t treat a side project like a “proper” commercial project it’s destined to fail and feel more like a burden than
something you really want to do.

What’s next?
Next steps before we all turn into totally awesome, disruptive Digital Do-Gooder unicorns:

I’ll upload this presentation to Slideshare (and perhaps Speakerdeck) and am aiming to curate some related Twitter
lists since I have collected so much more example material and URLs.
This presentation might also turn into a Medium article but don’t hold your breath.
@cklavery

Lets try to connect the dots in our local design and tech community, perhaps a regular MeetUp or one-off Jam might
come out of this.
I any case hit me up and let us share ideas and beers.

Hope you’re feeling
good again.
Thank you! 🐶
Next slide: How to get in touch.

@cklavery
I’m @cklavery on most of the internet. I trust you to find me :)
 
And of course feel free to get in touch if you need UX support for interesting projects in Berlin or all over the world
(happy to travel for great stuff).

Being a Digital Do-Gooder (IxDA Berlin Event #53)

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