Design Challenge:
CicLAvia is a well known organization in Los Angeles, but has a reputation for being a “cyclists only” event. The design brief asked us to show the organization as one that celebrates city exploration and all forms of non-motorized transportation including walking, skateboards, scooters, and wheelchairs. Our team specifically was tasked with looking at the project through the lens of documentation and qualitative data collection.
Role:
Design Research, Prototyping, Storytelling, Photographer, Videographer
Year:
Design for Community Change Fall 2022
Project Team:
Chrissy Stevens, Tess Dziallo, Andres Muñoz Gutierrez, Bin Gao
Timeline ⏱️
Week 01 | Week 02 | Week 03 | Week 04 | Week 05 | Week 06 | Week 07 | Week 08-10 |
📝 | 🔎 | 🎙️ | 🧩 | 🎨 | 🚀 | 📝 | 🎯 |
Stakeholder Interviews | Field Observation Research | Subject Matter Expert Interviews | Define Problem Brainstorm Solutions | Prototype Phase 01 Event Prep | Prototype Phase 02 October Event | Stakeholder Feedback | Iterate Final Deliverables |
Problem 🔎
The majority of Angelenos perceive CicLAvia as a “just cyclists” event. However, the organization wants to be recognized as one that embraces and celebrates city exploration through various modes of non-motorized transportation including foot, skateboard, scooter, and wheelchair.
Insights 💡
- CicLAvia is a public space where art and culture can be amplified
- The success of CicLAvia events can be determined by measuring sense of belonging, happiness, and diversity
- CicLAvia community data is most effective when shared through human experiences
- Relational aesthetics can be fostered through collaborative co-creative spaces
Solution 🎥
Our team came up with a few solutions to tackle multiple parts of the design brief. In order to collect qualitative data from event goers we built a graffiti wall made of plastic wrap where community members could express themselves and how they were feeling on event day. Additionally we created a short documentary film on how CicLAvia was directly impacting local communities.
Research Methodologies
Field Observations 👁️
Secondary Research 📖
SME Interviews 🎤
Qualitative Data 🎨
Field Observations 👁️
As a team we began following the CicLAvia outreach team in downtown Los Angeles to learn more about the organization first hand.
Insight 01
💡Certain logistical barriers make it impossible for local businesses to take advantage of CicLAvia events.
→ Many local businesses in the DTLA jewelry district would not be able to safely sell their product in the streets. It was likely their regular clientele might avoid the area altogether because of street closures and parking.
Insight 02
💡 Outreach was fast and minimal. CicLAvia wasn’t offering any direct incentives for businesses to take advantage of.
→ Businesses are given the contact information of CicLAvia management, but there are no direct incentives to take advantage of events.
Takeaway
⭐ Approaching the design brief with local businesses as our main audience could prove to be especially complicated.
→ Our field observations deterred us from focusing on local businesses as our main audience. Instead, we turned our focus towards the CicLAvia community and event goers.
Secondary Research 📖
We looked at previous research papers published on CicLAvia from UCLA, published psychology research on co curating community spaces, and other open street events around the world.
Insight 01
💡 UCLA-RAND research was intricate and detailed with important metrics about CicLAvia’s impact
→ The published research showed data on air quality, transportation, social, and economic impact during events. We wondered why a simplified overview of the data could not be found on the CicLAvia website.
Insight 02
💡 A Cool Place Where We Make Stuff: Co-Curating Relation Spaces of Muchness by Jaye Johnson Thiel
→ The published paper describes a co-creative space built by researchers to foster things like creativity, sense of ownership, and focuses on “relational aesthetics”. We used Thiel’s strategies to when prototyping our graffiti wall.
Insight 03
💡 Ciclovía Bogotá provides great examples of how to engage communities outside of bike riding activities
→ We looked at the success of other open street events around the world as an inspiration to focus our final deliverable and design solutions.
Takeaway
⭐ The exceptional research done by UCLA could be simplified and showcased on CicLAvia marketing materials.
→ Providing a co creative space at events could improve the relational aesthetics at events. Additionally CicLAvia could use cultural activities presented at similar events in other countries to change its reputation from a cyclist only event.
Subject Matter Expert Interviews 🎤
Our team interviewed one of the original CicLAvia cofounders and two professionals apart of the UCLA-RAND research project as subject matter experts. We hoped to better understand the organization and some of its challenges through our discussions.
Aaron Paley
Previous CicLAvia Co-Founder and Director
“LA is filled with art and culture from all over the world.”
Christina Batteate
Previous CicLAvia Outreach Coordinator
“Storytelling is a powerful way to take the narrative from data to lived experiences”
Madeline Brozen
Deputy Director at UCLA for Regional Policy Change
“Lack of information is a problem but having data and info isn’t enough to affect policy change.”
Insight 01
💡 CicLAvia is a public space for people to bring their culture into.
→ Aaron Paley talked about CicLAvia as a public space. He described art and culture as a huge part of its DNA. He recommended measuring the success of each event through diversity, inclusion, mood, happiness, and sense of belonging.
Insight 02
💡 Sharing data through human experiences
→ Christina Batteate worked on the published research project between UCLA, RAND, and CicLAvia. She explained how important it was to share data through stories.
Insight 03
💡 Data alone cannot influence important societal policy change
→ Maddie Brozen from the UCLA-RAND research project explained data waswn’t enough to influence policy change. She told us if CicLAvia really wanted to influence local policy they would need to create a narrative around it in their main goals.
Takeaway
⭐ CicLAvia is a public space where art and culture can be amplified.
→ The success of events can be determined by measuring sense of belonging, happiness levels, and diversity. Data will resonate when shared through stories and lived experiences.
Plastic Graffiti Wall to Collect Qualitative Data 🎨
We gathered our new insights and built a plastic graffiti wall at the CicLAvia event on October 9th, 2022. We wanted to curate a collaborative creative space where community members could express themselves. We hoped to collect qualitative data on who the community members were and what they cared about most.
Insight 01
💡 Artistic activities encourage community engagement
→ People were excited to hop off their bikes and paint the graffiti wall. Event goers were curious and enthusiastic about expressing themselves through a non traditional medium. Children, teenagers, adults, and elderly audiences all participated. Overall graffiti art was popular and resonated culturally with the LA community.
Insight 02
💡 A sense of home and belonging was amplified while occupying the streets
→ An especially unique moment was seen when one woman wrote home on the graffiti wall. When we asked her what this meant she responded by saying, “This is home. LA is home”.
Insight 03
💡 People used the wall to promote their businesses and bike groups
→ The wall was a way for community members to promote their bike groups and weekly night rides. It gave us a better understanding of what people cared about most and why they were at CicLAvia in the first place.
Takeaway
💡 Graffiti art resonates with the LA culture.
→ CicLAvia can collect qualitative data on its community through artistic activities and understand what they care about most. Event goers want to promote their local community groups.
Finding a Community Perspective
We looked at other successful brands to gather inspiration on how we could tell the CicLAvia story through an authentic lens that resonated with the community.
Storytelling Inspiration
💫 KITH and Calvin Klein collaboration
→ The promotion video is based off of founder Ronnie Felg’s childhood growing up in New York City.
Brand Inspiration
💫 VANS as an ideal CicLAvia partner
→ We looked at how the VANS brand inspires skate culture and amplifies the identities of the audience it represents. One idea we pitched and prototyped was a potential VANS and CicLAvia sneak series designed by community members
Final Storyboards and Deliverable
🎥 The story of CicLAvia told through community perspectives in a short documentary style video
