In May 2012, a group of user experience (UX) designers traveled to New Orleans, LA at their own expense to do something that has never been done before: Use design thinking principles to invent new business and social service models for the local music community. As one of two teams during the 2012 UX for Good event, this team's challenge was: How can we re-arrange the elements of the New Orleans music economy to produce more resources for artists in need? The design brief: http://www.theinsightlabs.org/interview/dont-lose-the-beat The "Don't Lose the Beat" team included: Rob Chappell VP/Interactive Director, Peter Mayer @roblchappell Brynn Evans UX Designer, Google (Google+ Team) @brynn Ryan Freitas Co-Founder, Sr. Director of Product, About.Me @ryanchris Lee-Sean Huang Design Strategist, Purpose @leesean Tanarra Schneider Associate UX Director, Manifest Digital @saltysweetgirl Mark Trammell Senior Design Researcher, Twitter @trammell

1. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD

2. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD
How can we re-arrange
the elements of the NOLA
music economy to
produce more resources
for artists in need?

3. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD
How can we re-arrange
the elements of the NOLA
music economy to
produce more resources
for artists in need?
How do we create a
culture of care
for musicians in New
Orleans?

4. Define “musicians in need.”

5. Define “musicians in need.”
What is a
healthy Relationships &
musician? Community
Mind
Body Education
& Tools
Economic
Stability

6. Move beyond a crisis
response model to a
proactive wellness and
preventative care model to
create a more resilient
musical culture.

7. Crisis response.

8. A buoyant foundation.

9. Barriers
Musicians are often reluctant
or unwilling to ask for help.
Or they don’t know how or
where to get help.

10. Doreen
Classically trained
Jazz busker

11. Doreen
Classically trained
Jazz busker
•cash-based operations
•overhead takes her
away from earning
income & family

12. Nesby
hip hop DIY digital
entrepreneur

13. Nesby
hip hop DIY digital
entrepreneur
•self-taught, but still
hustling all the time
•looking for community
and connection

14. How to reach musicians
Offer musicians what they
need through what they
love.
Musicians love playing
music and spending time
with other musicians.

15. What does a Musician’s Embassy look
like?
• A single central embassy with direct access to
health, financial, and instrument repair services
• Music venues serve as local embassies
providing connection to central services and
host occasional daytime outreach sessions
• Local celebrities to host, lend their name, and/
or sponsor

16. Key components of the
Musician’s Embassy

17. Key components of the
Musician’s Embassy
Ambassadors & Diplomats
Places
Public Engagement
Metrics

18. Ambassadors
An accredited diplomat sent by a country as its
official representative to a foreign country.
A person who acts as a representative or
promoter of a specified activity.

19. NOLA has ambassadors already!

20. Diplomats
Someone who can deal with people in a sensitive
and effective way. They are at once host,
researcher and “case worker.”
These people are:
•passionate about music and its surrounding
community
•empathetic to the lifestyle of artists
•hosts of “open houses”
•part of the music community
•advocates to mobilize the larger populous to
support music workers

21. Metrics
Measurement is Proof.
If you can measure, you can compare and
create context.
Context helps build advocacy.
Advocacy can bring more opportunities for
funding.
If we’re going to dream big, plan bigger and
start small – then we need to measure to know
when and how to scale.

22. Measuring NOLA today
8.75 MM Visitors going towards 13MM in the next 6 years
$5.47 B in spending. Average visitor income is $50K+.
"These results are a reflection of the hard work of all those
in the hospitality industry and a testament to the
continued resilience of our great city," said Mayor
Landrieu. "Our city's reputation as a top destination only
continues to grow…”
Average cultural community member Annual Income
(2010): $17K
These simple statistics show a huge gap in support of the
lifeblood of the cultural economy in NOLA.

23. Continued measurement as a path to
success
First – define a baseline.
Begin measuring, gathering
existing metrics, and
understanding current state.
Pilot the program – start small.
Demonstrate that the ideas work,
and measure to determine how to
scale.

24. Metrics can help us define:
New needs
Programs that are working and aren’t
Benefits to the larger community
New connections for funding
Make it real for advocates and policy makers

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29. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD
How can we re-arrange
the elements of the NOLA
music economy to
produce more resources
for artists in need?

30. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD
How can we re-arrange
the elements of the NOLA
music economy to
produce more resources
for artists in need?
Aggregate resources
Lower barrier to entry
Public funding
= Culture of Care

31. Don’t Lose The Beat.
UX4GOOD
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.