This project presents a comprehensive digital strategy for the Young V&A, a museum focused on design and creativity for children and young people aged 0-12. The presentation outlines a plan to enhance the museum's online presence, increase engagement with existing and new audiences, and improve the overall visitor experience.

Key components of the digital strategy include:

Target Market Analysis: The strategy focuses on young parents aged 25-40, identified as the most likely group to return regularly to museums.

Digital Marketing and Social Media:

Increase online presence through various channels

Share weekly workshop information and exhibit details

Shift from broadcast-only to a conversational social media strategy

Run youth-focused contests and share content targeting young parents

Local Partnerships:

Collaborate with nearby restaurants to create a holistic experience for families

Address pain points such as long wait times and unfamiliarity with the area

Enhanced Museum Experience:

Offer diverse and interactive exhibits that engage both children and adults

Blend art history with pop culture to create engaging experiences for all ages

Measurement of Success:

Track social media engagement, including mentions, shares, and hashtag usage

Monitor partner restaurant sales growth and redemption rates of special offers

Analyze increase in museum visitors, especially during promotional periods

The presentation suggests an iterative approach, focusing on key actions with specific success metrics, aiming to increase member visits per year by 50%. It emphasizes the importance of user experience, mobile-friendliness, and the integration of digital experiences with the physical museum space.

This project aims to address the critical issue of public bathroom access in New York City by proposing an innovative, Uber-like solution. The concept connects toilet owners (businesses, residents, and restaurants) with visitors and citizens of New York who need restroom facilities.

The Problem

New York City faces a severe shortage of public restrooms:

Only 1,100 public restrooms for 8.3 million residents (8 toilets per 100,000 people)

68% of inspected public bathrooms had safety or cleanliness issues

Limited 24/7 access with only two restrooms open around the clock

Disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations like homeless individuals, delivery workers, and those with medical conditions

The Solution: Sink New York

ReliefConnect is a mobile app that revolutionizes bathroom access in New York City:

On-Demand Restroom Rentals: Users can rent private bathrooms for short periods, starting at $15 for 15 minutes

Diverse Network: Connects users with businesses, restaurants, and residents willing to share their facilities

Real-Time Availability: Shows nearby available restrooms with pricing and amenities

Rating System: Users can rate and review facilities to maintain quality standards

Earning Opportunity: Hosts can monetize their underutilized bathroom spaces

Invision Prototype to for customers: https://invis.io/CHPJQ3ZQBZ8#/336159033_A1-pdf_1

Invision Prototype for vendors: https://invis.io/6TPJQ80UARV#/336160129_B1-pdf_1

Ecoco is a subscription-based service that delivers curated samples of sustainable brands to consumers, making it easier to discover and support eco-friendly products. By connecting conscious shoppers with ethical companies, Ecoco promotes a more sustainable lifestyle while helping brands reach their ideal audience.

West Elm is a home furnishing company focused on Modern Design, Affordability, and Community. It is one 8 companies owned by Williams Sonoma inc.. Williams Sonoma inc. addresses sustainability through their mission statement, “our home, your home, the worlds home”. They are concerned with the impacts of their operations on the world, “our home”. They address the need and demand for sustainable products in consumers homes, “your home”. Lastly, they want to create a positive impact on community around the world.West Elm addresses the mission of “our home, your home, the worlds home” in 5 ways. This essay will illustrate the ways West Elm has a positive impact on the environment and society through their fair trade, handcrafted, organic, sustainably sourced, and local products. While West Elm is creating a positive impact on the world in many ways, the mission of this paper is illustrate how they can make a larger impact through more sustainable wood sourcing.

In 2014, West Elm was the first retailer to join the fair trade. In order to be certified by the Fair Trade organization, products need to be produced under safe working conditions, under high environmental standards, and by workers who are compensated fairly. Fair trade also requires West Elm to pay a premium to the manufacturer. These funds can be used however the company sees fit. A fair trade certified company in India used the premium to purchase supplemental healthcare for its workers and their families. West Elm works with 35 artisans around the world in 15 different countries, many of whom are certified fair trade. West Elm is committed to “elevating the maker”. They creates a transparency between the artisans producing the products and the customers purchasing the products. These artisans are featured in videos and catalogues to show how and where each of these handcrafted products are made. In addition, West Elm strives to give back to many of the communities by providing education through basic literacy, financial literacy and vocational training programs in many areas of the world.

West Elm is committed to supporting local craftspeople and small scale producers they recently launched “West Elm Local”. In New York stores, they sell products designed and made locally. This creates a community of local designers and allows consumers to get to know and support local businesses. “West Elm Local” is present is all of West Elm’s stores, supporting different creative communities in different areas of the United States.

Organic Cotton represents 1 percent of cotton production in the world. One of West Elm’s focus is that the use as much organic cotton as possible. They partnered with the Better Cotton Initiative in order in order to ensure that this is possible. The Better Cotton Initiative brings benefits to farmers and communities through better framing practices ensuring that workers are being compensated fairly. It also supports the environment by verifying that production uses less water, fewer chemicals, helps protect soil, and protects natural habitats. West Elm categorizes cotton products on a “Good”, “Better”, and “Best” system. “Good” means 70 percent, “Better” means 95 percent, and “Best” means 100 percent organic fabric. By 2020 West Elm estimates that 100 percent of their cotton products will be certified organic.

Lastly, West Elm sustainably sources some of their wood, and this will be the main focus of the remainder of this paper. West Elm works with the Global Forest and Trade Network, Forest Stewardship Council, and Rainforest Alliance, in order to ensure that the wood they are sourcing is sustainable. Together they created a system to classify different sources of wood “Good”, “Better”, and “Best”. “Good” wood is verified by the Global Forest Registry . The Global Forest Registry ranks “risk for legality” by country. “Good” wood comes from countries that are “low risk for illegality”.“Better” wood is classified as repurposed wood including beams from dismantled building, pallet boards that are going to thrown away, and other recycled items. This program creates a positive impact by reducing the need for virgin wood. “Best” wood is categorized FSC certified wood. In order to be FSC certified, the wood supplier needs the conserve biodiversity, protect water resources, and treat its workers fairly in the harvesting process. As of now, “Good” represents 26 percent, “Better” represents 9%, and “Best” represents 8 percent of their wood production. West Elm hopes to have 50 percent of its wood sustainably sourced by 2021. What about the other 50 percent?

One of the main issues with West Elm is that they do not fully disclose where the remaining 50 percent of wood if coming from and if they are certified sources. This brings up the issue of deforestation which needs to be addressed immediately. The Global Forest and Trade Network has estimated that by 2050 the amount of wood required to sustain businesses will triple. In the past 50 years the amazon has lost 17 percent of its forests. 1.6 billion people depend on the benefits of forests every day for food water and clothing. One of the major contributors to deforestation is illegal logging. Illegal logging is when more trees are being cut than planted, when harvesting does not conserve biodiversity, when workers are being compensated unjustly, and when harvesting is not properly monitored or regulated by local authorities. The illegal logging happens in many places because it is much cheaper that legally sourcing wood. This makes legal wood appear extremely expensive. Many companies may un-knowingly purchase illegal wood. This illustrates the importance of purchasing wood from sources that a re certified by organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council. While illegal logging is somewhat rare in United States, West Elm needs to be concerned because they are purchasing wood products from all over the world. They need to ensure that all of their sources are managing their wood purchases responsibly. West Elm works with companies in Indonesia and statistics by the Global Forest Registry have shown that 40 to 60 percent of wood products made in Indonesia are made with illegally sourced wood.

Being a furniture and home goods company, West Elm uses a large amount of wood in their production. If forests and harvesting practices are being abused, it could lead to wood being a scarce commodity in the future. If wood is a scarce commodity in the future, it could lead to a dramatic increase of wood prices. They need to think of the future and these possibilities today. Instead of striving for 50 percent sustainable wood by 2021, West Elm needs to expedite the process and strive for 100 percent sustainable wood much sooner. They need to protect the nature and the world today because in order for the company to thrive they need to work with nature not against it. Ensuring that all the wood that they source and all the wood that their partner source is 100 percent sustainable. It is possible to be a 100 percent sustainably sourced furniture company, and the Cisco Brothers are doing it. The Cisco Brothers company recently acquired another 100 percent sustainable wood company called Environment. The Cisco Brothers focuses on using 100 percent Forest Stewardship Council certified wood as well as reclaimed or repurposed wood for all of their products.

It is clear that there is a want and desire for sustainable furniture companies. Consumers want to buy socially responsible and environmentally friendly products. West Elm is the most transparent of all the companies in Williams Sonoma, inc. when it comes to their mission of creating sustainable products that have a positive impact on society. West Elm is the only company that clearly indicate where their products are coming from and if they are fair trade, handcrafted, organic, sustainably sourced, or local products. When purchasing products on their website, symbols clearly indicate if the product being purchased is sustainable. Williams Sonoma’s largest brand, Pottery Barn, fails to be this transparent. If we look at the brand revenue growth of Pottery Barn and West Elm from 2015 to 2016, West Elm’s is growth is far more. In 2015, West Elms brand revenue growth was 14.8 percent while Pottery Barn’s was 1.9 percent. In 2016, West Elm’s Brand revenue growth was 12.8 percent while Pottery Barn’s declined 3.5 percent. Looking at these figures it it clear that a company can be transparent, sustainable, and a profit generating company. In this case generate more revenue grown than their less transparent sister company. With this said, West Elm still has a long way to go before they are 100 percent sustainable. The first step is to ensure that 100 percent of their wood is sourced from certified and 100 percent legal sources.

About the Project

The Center for Open Hiring at Greyston is known for employing the “Unemployable”. They provide jobs to anyone who wants them, it doesn’t matter is you suffer from mental illness, were previously incarcerated, or have been unemployed for some time. The only requirement is that the employee signs up on his or her own. No resume’s and no interviews required. Their program is so successful because of the services they provide to support the wellbeing of their employees after they obtain the job.  

 Our goal is to understand what Greyston does well and develop a strategy and tool for other companies to adopt this process. We are doing this through research interviews and testing.

Hero’s journey

So what’s the hero’s journey?It is answering the call for adventure. One must overcome fear. There is a willingness to change, to follow your heart and you know danger and pain is something you cannot control. It takes courage, a belief in yourself that is unwavering. We’re focusing on the point of intervention in the hero’s journey. We strive to tell the story of the unsung hero and how we can take action wherever we are in life by providing resources and services to companies seeking to implement social responsibility.

 Our idea

In designing for open hiring, we developed a 6x8 framework for shifting mindsets and transforming company culture because when you’re embarking on something scary and risk, it’s imperative to have a guide. One stop shop model of service provision, offering a array of in-house services, third party services and consulting These are your allies, mentors, tools to help you navigate the great path ahead.

 Journey map

The hero's journey begins when you’re called up to the plate and do something you never thought you could. Now of course this Hero’s journey is nested in a larger system. If a person doesn’t have hope, they stay stuck in their survival patterns, living life with resentment and the missed opportunity to pursue their purpose. Stigma: There is currently a stigma around people who are “unemployable”, suffer from mental illness, suffer from HIV, or have been previously incarcerated. The negative mindset is a hurdle in stopping people from achieving their goals. It is up to individual first to want to make the change, but once they commit, and we can support them on their journey - giving them the tools to succeed personally and professionally. Access: Currently, formerly incarcerated, disabled, mentally ill, individuals w time gaps in their resumes, and other disenfranchised individuals have limited access to employment opportunities. They also may have limited access to information that would allow them to find resources

6x8 framework

 Through our research, we identified 6 areas that are needed both on a personal level and system wide level if a company is to shift mindsets and create a culture that emphasizes resilience, continuous learning and purpose. The 6 are fundamental in overcoming obstacles: care, community, culture, creativity, coaching, connection.  

8 fold path

The 8 are inspired by some of the essential elements of the Buddhist practice. Greyston's history is rich and rooted in Buddhist beliefs. Practically the whole teaching of Buddha is found in the eightfold path. We didn’t think there was a better path to follow in changing a culture to prioritize caring and acceptance. These eight factors aim at promoting the three essentials of the learning journey: acquire knowledge, build foundation, and use overtime.

.Intro 6 Cs

 Without creating a foundation that includes some level of each of the 6 C’s, it will be difficult to dispel lingering doubts and prevent disruption.

 Connection

 We want to inspire, invest, build and value people, because inspired people drive change

 Community

 We want to build networks of community-based organizations and integrate community members into our co-design process to ensure we’re providing the social services that members need most.

 Culture

 It starts with gaining a full understanding of surrounding conditions, interconnected components. Need to gain empathic understanding of people needs, thoughts, feelings by listening, observing and analyzing

Care

 We need to be looking at people as human beings and we need to treat them as a whole.

 Coaching

 Helping to connect people to coaches, and also helping current OHs become peer certified is a huge focus for us.

Creativity

 One big focus here is to provide resources and services to encourage people to follow their passion and start their own business. 

6x8 tool

Once a company has interest in the OH process, they can download our pre packaged assessment kit from the platform. Each person in the company will receive the "circle" and go through and complete the activity. Those answers will be used to fill out the 6x8 matrix to look at the company's current state. They then get together as a company to map their desired future state. By the end of the assessment, the company has two numbers that give them their score. That score determines the areas that companies should focus on improving.

 Catalyst for change

 Creating a web-based learning and community platform can be a catalyst for radical change in human capital management and can simultaneously create shared value. Easy entry point for all organizations to learn about OH, analyze their culture and figure out a plan for adoption leveraging the network and available services in each area of focus. Database of all services, support, and people based on geography, type of organization, size, etc.

Sphero Rider is a concept to expand the existing sphero product line. It is a riding vehicle that can be used indoors and outdoors. Indoors it is used to play a video game on the screen of your tv. Tilt forwards and backwards to control the vehicle. A camera transports the users into the screen of the TV making it look like he or she is riding on a space ship in a fantasy land like Star Wars. This product could be used outdoors like an electronic skateboard. This brings video games outdoors and encourages users to be more active. Paired with an iphone app, users can video tape themselves. However on the screen of the app the would appear to be riding on the same fantasy rider they were using indoors. 

All of this technology has been invented by Sphero. I am applying it to a different concept. Sphero is an existing company that develops toys for kids to teens that blend the physical and virtual world. The company is able to transform a white sphere into any moving object on the screen of a smart device. I have done extensive research on the market and their competitors and developed a concept that is be a logical next step in expanding the Sphero brand. 

During this project I designed a a product to encourage conceptual thinking, creativity, self expression and value in middle school children education. It consisted of weekly visits to a middle school with different activities to understand the likes and interests of the students. Attached is an article about my experience during each visit and what i learned.

Mapping out the systems of companies with similar products. Keurig contributes to land fills due to their packaging. While Pur Pod’s compostable packaging can be used as fertilizer.