This document provides instructions for methods to uncover people's "invisible borders" through interviews and observation. It outlines several methods including interviewing people one-on-one or in pairs, observing behaviors in public spaces, understanding a day in someone's life, and identifying relevant organizations. Questions are provided to guide interviews focused on living situations, aspirations, relationships to public space, and actions around barriers. The goal is to better understand experiences and find ways to compare insights between cities.

1. Hack (y)our
Borders

2. What methods can you use?
Select from any of the methods on the next slides to uncover people’s
invisible borders. You can add your own methods, using the template
on the next slide. Whichever method you choose, please:
This will help us produce an analysis that can help us compare
between cities to produce the scenarios & guide. Any questions, ask
your local coordinator!
Use the questions
Document the responses from people
Send us the responses

3. Method Template
 Description of the Method
Time it will take People you need Link to examples of method
Resources Needed This is a template for how
the different research
methods are described
on the following pages.
If you would like to
suggest a method, let us
know at
london@euroalter.com

4. These are the insights you will gather. The questions on the following slides will help
you come up with these insights.
Persona Questions
Area Insights
 Their living situation Who they live with, what their work / education / family situation
is, what area they work / study in
 Their aspirations What they’d like to achieve (i.e. from getting a house to living
healthily)
 Their interests & skills What they like doing and what they’re good at (i.e. from
travelling to repairing bikes)
 Their relationship
with public space
What public spaces they use, what they use them for, how easy
or difficult they find them, what spaces they don’t use, why they
don’t use them, what barriers they face in using them?
 Their actions What they do when they encounter barriers to using spaces

5. What is your living situation? Do you live alone, with others,
parents?
What is your work, education or care situation? Are they in full-
time/part-time work/carers/full-time/part-time education/other
What are the values that you believe in?
Questions I

6. What public spaces do you use?*
Why do you use them?
What barriers** do you face in using public
spaces?
Questions II
* If you are interviewing someone in a public space, change this question to “what brings you here today?”
** Advise that these barriers don’t need to be just physical barriers, can be social, cultural, economic or
psychological. Use examples of different types of barriers, if they want to know what you mean by barriers.

7. How does facing those barriers make you feel?
How do you deal with them (or break them down)?
How does dealing with those barriers (or breaking them
down) make you feel? (only if they can answer the above
question)
Questions III

8. What public spaces don't you use?
What prevents you from using those spaces?
How do you feel about not using those spaces?
What would motivate you to use them?
Questions IV

9. Target Audiences
People who experience the type of borders we want
to discover (i.e. social, cultural, economic)
People who deal with the types of borders we want
to discover in unusual/creative ways
People who see and hear what's going on in the
neighbourhood (i.e. shopkeepers, market traders,
housing workers etc.)
People who are connected with different groups (i.e.
community organisers, entrepreneurs, etc.)

10. Interview people where they interact
 Identify “visible borders” (i.e. roundabout, private/public space intersection, subway between
neighbourhoods, etc.) to see what “invisible borders” it might create
 Invite someone to accompany you to the place you have selected
 Decide between you who will be the Interviewer and who will be the Reporter
 Introduce yourself & purpose of the project to young people
 Use the Interview people one to one method
Resources Needed
 Questions
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Pen & Notebook
People Needed
 Interviewer
 Reporter
 Young people
60 minutes60 minutes Do it in pairs Look at http://bit.ly/spaceinterview

11. Interview people one to one
 Introduce the purpose of the project to the interviewee and ask them to sign the confidentiality
agreement
 Start with finding out who they are, then interview them using the Questions
 Listen to what the interviewee says so that you can adapt your questions. The objective is to dive as
deeper as possible into the person’s insights and not ask the maximum number of questions.
 Listen or watch out for the signals that the interviewee is giving you
Resources Needed
 Printouts of Survey
 Project Video
 Project Presentation
 Paper & Pens
People needed
 Interviewer
 Interviewee & Reporter
60 minutes One or two people Check http://bit.ly/interviewpeople

12. Your role is to ask the interviewee the Questions and make sure they’ve understood the
purpose of the interview and the questions and are comfortable with answering them
 Concentrate on the answers from the interviewee
 If you feel they want to talk more about a question, ask them to tell you more
 Question anything you don’t understand from the interviewee
At the end of the interview
 Ask them at the end if there is something you haven’t asked they’d like to share
 Thank them for participating, ask them for their email address so they can check the
interview and find out how they can get more involved in the Project
 Advise them that their interview will be published on our website
 Advise them that their interview will be used to make visible invisible borders
After the interview
 Organise a debriefing with the Reporter documenting your interview
 Make sure the Reporter sends the interview to london@euroalter.com
Interviewer

13.  Your role is to document the answers in the Interview using the Questionnaire and send it
to london@euroalter.com
 Concentrate on the answers from the interviewee
 Write down the answers in the Questionnaire
After the interview
 Organise a debriefing with the Interviewer documenting your interview
 Write up the interview
 Send the interview to the Interviewee to check they are happy with it
 Send the interview to london@euroalter.com
Reporter

14. Observe the neighbourhood
 Organise a guided tour around different parts of the neighbourhood (particularly where there are
intersections between different types of places, interactions & communities) to identify “invisible
borders”, take photos or collect objects of places, objects & interactions that illustrate these borders
 Write a description next to these artefacts which describe what makes them invisible borders
 Use the photos and/or objects to stimulate discussion with the participants of the tour and other
people about what invisible borders they face
60 minutes60 minutes Do by yourself or in a group Check http://bit.ly/observehood
Resources Needed
 Survey Questions
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Pen & Notebook
 Camera / Smartphone
People Needed
 Reporter

15. Observe the neighbourhood
 As well as the actions in the previous slide, you can document how people act in, between & across
these borders, as well as:
 What resources in the space are available for people to use (i.e. using grass to play football, stalls to
sell food, road to walk through)
 How the border is being used (i.e. to relax, to meet friends, to take shelter) and how it’s being dealt
with in an unusual and creative way
60 minutes60 minutes Do by yourself or in a group Check http://bit.ly/observehood
Resources Needed
 Survey Questions
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Pen & Notebook
 Camera / Smartphone
People Needed
 Reporter

16. Understand a day in their life
 Ask people you’ve interviewed who would like to be shadowed so you can understand how they
experience and/or deal with invisible borders. Download the Day in the Life template
 Have a look at an example of how someone has created of a day in the life
 Describe how they would act, react, feel, think & interact using the template
 Find photos online or take your own photos that represent what you have written
 Add the photos to the template and send your “day in a life” to london@euroalter.com
30 minutes One or two people See http://bit.ly/dayinlifehack
Resources Needed
 Day in the Life Template
 Photos (optional)

18. Identify relevant organisations
 Download Stakeholder Matrix & identify organisations working in the neighbourhood to identify
further people you can interview
 Contact them and introduce yourself & EA, the purpose of the project
 Say you’re interested in the issue they’re working on
 Ask them if they would be happy to be interviewed and/or be speak at a debate on the issue they
are working on relevant to the project.
60 minutes Do by yourself Check http://bit.ly/stakeholdermatrix
Resources Needed
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Project Video
 Project Presentation
 Stakeholder Matrix

19. Interview people from organisations
 You can use the Interview people one to one method or you can email them a selection of the
Survey Questions for an email interview
 Explain the content of the debate will be published on www.euroalter.com
 Advise that it could also feature in a printed publication with content from other cities
 Ask them if they would like to get further involved in the Project or with EA
Resources Needed
 Invisible Borders
Document
People Needed
 Reporter
 Organisation
60 minutes60 minutes One or two people Check www.euroalter.com

20. Keyword Cards
 Provide visual examples of types of “visible” (i.e. Berlin Wall, national borders, etc.) and “invisible”
borders (like those mentioned above), characters (i.e. border guards, refugees, smugglers) or
objects (i.e. border signs, walls, etc.) that represent borders
 Ask people whether these images/objects/stories feel or look like borders to them and if so (and if
not), why? Ask them to describe the characteristics of what constitutes a border / invisible border
for them, like using keywords. Repeat the exercise with examples of “border hacks”
60 minutes Do in a group See http://bit.ly/semioticstimulus
Resources Needed
 Insights from your
research
 Card
 Post Its

21. Digital Ethnography
 Search online for groups in your neighbourhood
 Carry out secondary research into the neighbourhood (i.e. online forums, policy papers, research,
etc.) to see what analysis has been done on the types of “invisible borders” you’ve selected and
what action has been undertaken to “deal” with these borders
Resources Needed
 Survey Questions
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Pen & Notebook
People Needed
 Interviewer
 Reporter
 Young people
60 minutes60 minutes Do by yourself Look at http://bit.ly/spaceinterview

22. Day in the Life (post-persona)
 Select one of the Personas you’ve created and download the Day in the Life template
 Describe how they go about the day based on the elements of the persona you have chosen
 Have a look at an example of how someone has created of a day in the life
 Describe how they would act, react, feel, think & interact using the template
 Find photos online or take your own photos that represent what you have written
 Add the photos to the template and send your “day in a life” to london@euroalter.com
30 minutes One or two people See http://bit.ly/dayinlifehack
Resources Needed
 Day in the Life Template
 Persona/s
 Photos (optional)
This use of the Day in the
Life method is only relevant
when you’ve created your
persona/s.

23. Living Library
 Invite people to tell their story of invisible borders or barriers they have experienced and practice
them telling you that story so they feel confident of sharing it with strangers.
 Recruit a “librarian” who will help “readers” choose a “human book”, based on what types of
barriers they would like to find out more about. They will also identify a venue which enables the
books & readers to talk quietly. “Readers” select one “human book” at a time and are encouraged
to ask questions and share their own point of view, but always with respect for the “human book”/.
90 minutes One or two people See http://humanlibrary.org
Resources Needed
 Venue
 Librarian
 Human books
 Readers

24. Invite speakers to debate the issues
 Find a venue and invite speakers from the Organisations you’ve identified
 Ask the organisations whose speakers you’ve invited to promote event to their members
 Email your local members to invite them to the event
 Nominate a Chair to ask questions to the speakers & take questions from the audience
 Nominate a Reporter to document the speakers’ responses and the audience’s questions
Resources Needed
 Organisations Contacts
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Project Video
 Camera
People needed
 Chair & Reporter
 Speaker
30 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/planyouractivity

25. Organise a debate on the issues
 Photograph the debate, write up the answers and send to london@euroalter.com
 Explain the content of the debate will be published on www.euroalter.com
 Advise that it could also feature in a printed publication with content from other cities
 Thank the organisation for participating and send them the Project Presentation
 Ask them if they would like to get further involved in the Project or with EA
Resources Needed
 Organisations Contacts
 Invisible Borders
Document
 Project Video
 Venue
People needed
 Chair & Reporter
 Speakers
180 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/planyouractivity

26. Make sense of the insights
 Bring together all the data you’ve collected
 If you’re feeling digital, you can add them online (using www.popplet.com or Many Eyes)
 Draw next to the wall of insights a table of the categories
 (Invite people to) read through all the insights
 Cluster the insights by theme
Resources Needed
 Insights from interviews
& other methods you’ve
used to uncover
people’s invisible
borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/haystackneedle

27. Make sense of the insights
 Bring together all the data you’ve collected
 If you’re feeling digital, you can add them online (using www.popplet.com or Many Eyes)
 Draw next to the wall of insights a table of the categories
 (Invite people to) read through all the insights
 Cluster the insights by theme
Resources Needed
 Insights from interviews
& other methods you’ve
used to uncover
people’s invisible
borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/haystackneedle

28. Identify the connections
 Look at the insights and draw arrows to show connections between them (see description of
different types of connections: reinforcing & contradicting).
 Pick out those issues which have significant connections or feedback loops with each other
 Identify intervention points which can tackle the issues & resources you can use to do this
 Come up with ideas that either tackle the underlying problem that’s creating the loops or that
building on the opportunity that’s creating the network effect
Resources Needed
 Insights from interviews &
other methods you’ve used
to uncover people’s
invisible borders
 You can do this exercise on
paper or use
www.popplet.com (see
http://bit.ly/infralifesystem
as an example)
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/systemsmapping

29. Identify design principles
 Write down the following insights on the left hand side – what motivates people to use spaces they
use, what puts people off from using those they don’t use
 Write down the following insights on the right hand side – what they do when they encounter
these barriers, how they deal with them or break them down
 Think of examples of initiatives that embody these design principles and write them down
Resources Needed
 Insights from interviews
& other methods you’ve
used to uncover
people’s invisible
borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/spacedesignprinciples

30. Develop design principles
 Combine a design principle for using public space with a principle/s for using technology
 Come up with ideas that embody this combination of design principles
 Combine a second design principle with another design principle and come up with ideas that
embody that combination of design principles and repeat the exercise until you run out of ideas!
 Go through the table and (invite people to) score them based on how well each idea meets the
design principle and then discuss the scores and which idea/s you’d like to take forward
Resources Needed
 Insights from interviews
& other methods you’ve
used to uncover
people’s invisible
borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/spacedesignprinciples

31. Prototype your ideas
 Start prototyping your concept using the design principles using materials available to you
 Identify what interactions people could engage with to break down the borders
 Work out how you want to get the users to test (i.e. show them a storyboard, mock-up website, 3D
model) and feedback on these (i.e. survey, mood board, etc.) and design an agenda for the session
 Focus on prototyping these specific interactions. Invite people to test these interactions and
provide feedback on how well it meets the need its designed to tackle and what could be improved
Resources Needed
 Ideas you’ve developed
to break down borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/how2prototype

32. Test our prototypes
 Iterate your prototype based on the feedback
 Invite people to test the interactions in the public space/s the prototype is planned to work in
 Iterate your prototype based on the feedback
 Invite people to test the prototype with all the interactions developed
 Finalise prototype ready for implementation
 Invite local residents to demonstrate the final prototype
Resources Needed
 Ideas you’ve developed
to break down borders
60 minutes Do as a group Check http://bit.ly/how2prototype