PROJECTS
IMPROVING CURBSIDE VOTING EXPERIENCE
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I facilitated a design thinking session (online via Zoom and Mural) with key stakeholders from the Harris County Democratic Party. The topic was curbside/drive-thru voting. The goal was to come up with innovative solutions to allow people to vote from the comfort and safety of their vehicles using existing equipment/technology and at potential venues that could accommodate large volumes of vehicles.
The discussion revolved around examining the current steps involved in curbside voting and ideating around potential steps for accommodating drive-thru voting while ensuring the safety of both voters and poll workers.
VOTING EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS
A group of 10 people from a local community gathered to discuss the following topic:
"How might we improve the voting experience at our neighborhood polling location?"
Each person was given five pink sticky notes, five blue sticky notes, and five green sticky notes. For 10 minutes, each person quietly wrote one positive experience comment on each pink sticky note, one negative experience comment on each blue sticky note, and one potential experience on each green sticky note.
Afterwards, the group placed their comments on the wall, and then, after a lengthy discussion, arranged them in affinity clusters. What emerged from the exercises and discussion is that a significant part of the voting experience involves waiting in line to vote. Experiences that were discussed included the sense of community that is felt while waiting in line and the potential for adding an "EZ Pass" line for people who reserved time slots in advance. If the goal is to improve the voting experience so that people are inclined to stay in line to vote and then to repeat the process during the next election cycle, then next steps would involve a deeper dive into potential ideas that would enhance and expedite the wait in line.
IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
I talked to the owner of a Houston-based company to understand the nature of his business and customers and to get an idea of what problem he wanted to address. We then spent some time re-framing the issue before I facilitated two ideation exercises with five of the company's sales people. The topic for the ideation exercises was:
"How might we improve the customer experience so as to increase the purchase of a new product line from our company?"
After being given several prompts such as types of customers and means of reaching customers, each participant was given sticky notes on which to note ideas based on the prompts provided. After 15 minutes, the participants generated about 40 ideas!
The participants then selected a few of the best ideas generated, discussed them, and prioritized them according to impact and difficulty of achieving. The exercise led to a robust discussion and generated a buzz about next steps to realize some of the ideas generated during the session.
GARDEN HOUSE
Garden House sits on a corner lot in the Southampton Extension neighborhood of Houston, Texas, and is featured in the AIA Houston Architectural Guide, 3rd edition. During the planning stages, the primary goal was to carve out multiple garden spaces from the site and residence. The resulting design includes a front yard, a back yard, a courtyard, and two upper garden decks. Due to the thoughtful and energy-efficient placement of fenestration, the occupants enjoy a multitude of garden and tree canopy view, and abundance of natural lighting throughout the daylight hours, interior spaces seamlessly connected to outdoor living spaces, and a balance between engagement with the public and sufficient privacy to shield them from neighbors and traffic.
Programmatic needs are defined volumetrically and according to material. The central volume devoted to circulation and storage is clad with a rain-screen, hidden clip and ipe system. The remaining volumes are clad with a rain-screen, color-integrated, steel-troweled stucco system. Each light-filled space flows from one to the next, thereby enhancing the overall experience of openness and serenity.
