Prototyping practice of Homeless SMS project. Presented at Social Inovatio Studio in Hong Kong co-organised by Mad School & Global Innovation Academy

1. Homeless SMS:
DESIGNING INFORMATION
SERVICE FOR THE HOMELESS
Click to edit Master title style Global Innovation Academy
05.09.2012 Hong Kong

2. Introducing Homeless SMS
• Started early 2010, founded by Will Brayne (UK).
• Objective: investigating a useful mobile toolkit for
vulnerable population in developed countries.
• In 2011, we achieved a proof of concept.
• In 2012, we aim to pilot the service concept on a
greater scale.

3. Three lessons learned
I would like to share…

4. 1.
An empathic understanding on
people is the missing viewpoint
about social problems

5. Google’s view:

6. Scale:
49
homeless day
centre (London)
3,673 450
recorded rough sleepers
in 2010, London number of supporting organisations (London)
400,000 17,000
hidden homeless (UK) homeless hostel beds (London)

7. Finance:
Cost created by one homeless person, based on actual cases (Crisis, UK)
£83,000
health services 48%
temporary accommodation 25%
police 17%
£15,000
temporary accommodation 46%
unemployment 26% failed tenancy 3.6%

8. Standing in other’s shoes:
As one way of understanding the
lives of London’s homeless

9. The experience of Mario
Mario is an illegal immigrant from Algeria being homeless for two years

10. A day of David
Daily routine and destinations of a rough sleeper in central London

11. Social relationships of Deepak and Jack
Social network of homeless persons established during their homelessness

12. Process of getting a bed at the shelter
First contact with information -> registered to agency -> referred to accommodation
Takes couple of days to several months depending on person

13. Shorten the duration of homelessness
The experience of homelessness is destructive for individual homeless and
very expensive for government.
Can a mobile service support this process quicker and cheaper?

14. First attempt:
Revealed the invisible
force that governs the
system

15. Problem:
homeless people struggle
with finding services using
the service directory

16. Problem:
homeless people struggle
with finding services using
the service directory
Solution:
enable homeless to search
local services
by sending an SMS

17. Problem:
homeless people struggle
with finding services using
the service directory
Solution:
enable homeless to search
local services
by sending an SMS
Reality:
they might have no
eligibility to access
local services!

18. Housing Act 1996:
179. Every local housing authority shall
secure that advice and information about
homelessness, and the prevention of
homelessness, is available free of charge to
any person in their district.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/
the matter thatcauses this problem
Reality:
they mighthave no
eligibility to access
local services!

19. 2.
Be clear with the matter that
you really need to challenge
(it is not necessary explicit)

20. Adapted solution:
Re-structuring the social contacts
of homeless people to provide
supportive information network

21. Problem:
homeless people lack of
positive social contacts
Solution:
take homeless part in the
tailoredinformation
network using SMS and
social media
Reality:
people and orgnaisations
are not well-connected
Click to edit Master title style

22. Problem:
homeless people lack of
positive social contacts
Solution:
take homeless part in the
tailoredinformation
network using SMS and
social media
Reality:
people and orgnaisations this is where the real challenge is
are not well-connected
Click to edit Master title style

23. Get everyone talking at the same table
design workshop involving current homeless, former homeless, volunteer, social worker

24. Transforming the relationships whilst
prototyping services
Face-to-face Non-face-to-face
Service Providers - Mistrust, Transferring timely service
Homeless manipulation info, better engagement
with services
Homeless - Homeless Sallow relationship Sharing usefulinfo,
supporting each others
Public - Homeless Ignorance Getting hear what’s
happening

25. WHAT’S NEXT?
Can Homeless SMS become an
interoperable service in different
cities across countries?

26. Gave a pitch several European cities and
Seoul to setup a pilot project

27. Seoul: +100k people are living in 3m2 rooms
A specific type of accommodation called “Gosiwon” invented and provided by market.
Residents are suffering from an extreme social isolation and are paying half of their
salary for rent (200 euro/month).
Residents are not identified by public authorities.
http://cafe.naver.com/kimrainbow/99

28. Beside of big supports some threatening
feedback I got…
“this idea cannot work because people
are not working in this way”
“even if we would like to implement this concept,
I have no clue how we spend our budget for this
project”
“giving a pitch to him is your mistake
because they might walk away with your idea”

29. 3.
Innovation from the outside of
institutions is believed, however
it is not a convention yet.

30. THANK YOU!
Ohyoon Kwon
hi@ohyoon.com
t: @ohyoonkwn
Click to edit Master title style www.ohyoon.com