Design for America: Cincinnati History & Culture
A design sprint focusing on University of Cincinnati students and their involvement with the city.
Research led by Studio Leads Marcus Djuhadi, Shruthi Chidambaram, Emma Kronenburg, and Julia Sweet.
THE DEFINING QUESTION
How can we introduce students to Cincinnati's rich culture and history while attending the University of Cincinnati?
Design for America
The University of Cincinnati's Chapter of Design for America (or DFA) is a part of a national network of students that use design innovation for social good. We are constantly questioning how can we use human-centered design to solve problems in our local community. We address these problems in varying methods but primarily through design sprints!
Design Sprints
Design sprints are an active run through the human-centered design process, usually through a 6 step method. Identifying a problem space, immersing through research and questioning, reframing our problem, ideating a solution, building the solution physically or digitally, and finally testing!
Identify
University of Cincinnati students can go years without ever getting to know the city, and oftentimes feel disconnected from the culture and history surrounding it.
How can we introduce students to Cincinnati's rich culture and history while attending the University of Cincinnati?
Immerse
After exploring online secondary research, DFA Cincinnati took to the streets and immersed in Cincinnati's own culture and history in person. Through interviews with students and Findlay Market visitors, we were able to dive into what mattered to our target audience.
Reframe
After combining all of our research, we began narrowing it down to a singular "How Might We" statement to focus our solutions on. What barriers were most common? What stood out?
Ideate, Build, and Test
Final Product
T.A.M.M.Y.
The Adventure Making Machine Yo! or T.A.M.M.Y. as we call it, is an itinerary builder designed for UC students, families, and businesses! If UC students want to get out and explore the city, they can answer a short questionnaire and T.A.M.M.Y. will print out their own personalized itinerary! Local businesses are also able to get in on the experience through the Queen City Card, which helps boost the local economy.
T.A.M.M.Y. gets UC students involved in the city's rich culture and history, all through a fun and exciting new approach!
Illustration by Team Member, Varsha Vinod