How can we use design to positively impact society?

Join Catapult Design for a full-day of labs led by nine of the Bay Area’s leading design talent to learn and practice new tools and methods in design that can spark social change.  

We've set up three 90-min tracks in the day.  Each track features three labs with topics ranging from sustainability to gamification to visualizing data.  An 'All-Access Pass' get you access to all three tracks -- a 'Half-Day Pass' get you access to two concurrent tracks.  All ticket holders are invited to join us for lunch and a post-event networking session with tasty treats and drinks.  

We want to keep each lab small and personal -- space is limited!  Register today to secure your spot. 100% of event proceeds go towards supporting design work in marginalized communities.

:: AGENDA

:: SESSION LEADERS

Catapult Design Team

 Co-founders, Catapult Design
 Twitter:  @catapult_design @heatherfleming

 Lab 01: "Democratizing Design: Co-creating With Your Users"

“Think about your user as your partner and change the power dynamic.” – Jim Fruchterman, Benetech

How do users become active participants in the design process as opposed to just sources of information? How do we tap into the tacit knowledge of our users without an existing relationship of trust?  We’ll cover the basics of co-creation, including when and how it is relevant in the design process, and methods for achieving co-creation in diverse cultures. Using case studies from Catapult’s portfolio as examples, we will develop new ways to create shared experiences between designers and users.

Catherine Howard Lovazzano

 Head of Consumer Trends and Foresight, Chrysler
 Twitter:  @chlovazzano

 Lab 02: "Creating Better Futures: Foresight and Insight for Social Change"

How can we make better, more informed decisions about the future? In this session we’ll discuss how to discover and anticipate the changing needs, attitudes, and behaviors of the people, communities, and organizations we want to serve through sustainable design. The tools and methods we’ll discuss are drawn from disparate disciplines such as scenario planning, futures research, anthropology, and design research. As a group, we’ll create artifacts from the future that prototype the change we want to create.

Valerie Casey

 CEO, Necessary Projects
 Founder, The Designers Accord
 Twitter:  @designersaccord

  Lab 03: "Change: the good, the bad, the ugly"

How does change happen? What does it mean to motivate change within our current cultural constraints? Why are social movements so exciting and disappointing all at the same time?Join our interactive session to tackle these questions and others. Leave with an awareness of cultural bias, a better understanding of the arc of acceptance of new ideas, and a few strategies for helping others to loosen their grip on habitual thinking. We are the change makers – let’s investigate the mechanics of change together.

Dawn Danby

 Senior Sustainable Design Program Manager, Autodesk 
 Twitter:  @altissima

 Lab 04: "Sustainable Design with Intent"

Adam Menter

 Sustainability Education Program Manager, Autodesk  
 Twitter:  @adammenter

 Lab 04: "Sustainable Design with Intent"

Environmental or human impact is never obvious at a glance. These days, the measurable issues - like specific energy use numbers - often get the spotlight. And yet sustainable design equally requires creative thinking: for example, the way that users interact with their products or surroundings has a powerful effect on how and whether energy is used. This is a designer's sweet spot. Co-led by a designer and an engineer, the workshop will begin with a very brief overview of design strategies for addressing ecological impact. Working together, we’ll then explore designing projects for sustainable behavior.  

Rachel Binx

 Design Technologist, Stamen Design
 Twitter: @rachelbinx

 Lab 05: "Creating Interactive Visualizations"

So you've got yourself some data — now what? Choosing the appropriate way to display your data is only the first step in designing a compelling visualization. Designers and developers should also think about how to make a piece interactive, allowing viewers to explore the data and make their own discoveries. In this workshop, Rachel will explore how to transform charts and graphs into interactive, responsive visualizations. Along the way, she will show examples projects from Stamen and others, unpacking what goes into each visualization to make it a successful piece.

John Gargani

 President, Gargani + Company
 Twitter: @John_Gargani

 Lab 06: "Measuring Social Impact: How to Integrate Evaluation & Design"

Every social enterprise wants to make a positive impact with its product or service.  However, few know how to measure impact.  In this hands-on introductory lab, you will learn how.  To begin, we will explore four big questions—What is evaluation?  What is impact?  How can designers measure impact?  Do designers have a moral obligation to demonstrate the impact of their designs?  Then, participants will work in small groups to apply concrete evaluation techniques to real social design problems.  The lab will conclude with a “mini-charrette” in which groups present their evaluation solutions and receive feedback from other participants. 

Nadya Direkova

 Senior UX Designer, Google
 Twitter:  @nadya_d

  Lab 07: "Game Mechanics: Designing for User Engagement"

How can you use game mechanics in your next project? Game mechanics have added awesome new tools to UX design and strategy. We’ll discuss how you can craft your user engagement strategy using patterns such as points, progression and rewards schedules.

• What are the most useful game mechanics?
• How to plan your user engagement strategy by applying game mechanics and game thinking?
• How can game thinking make your work and your life better?

Dr. Melanie Moore Kubo 

 CEO and Founder, See Change Inc.

 Lab 08: "Three Cups, Rosa Parks, & the Polar Bear: Telling Stories that Work"

Michaela Leslie-Rule 

 Senior Storyteller, See Change Inc.

 Lab 08: "Three Cups, Rosa Parks, & the Polar Bear: Telling Stories that Work"

"We are pattern seeking, story-telling primates trying to make sense of an often chaotic and unpredictable world.”   -- Michael Shermer, science journalist

Stories abound in the social change sector, but how do we actually use the stories we tell and hear?  What makes a story great?  Are some stories worth the telling, while others should be ignored?  How do we know the difference?  This workshop will explore the inherent value of storytelling for advancing social change goals, critique the ways we currently use and misuse stories in our work, and suggest a rigorous approach to storytelling for both story creators and story "consumers."

Patricia Moore

 President, Moore Design Associates 

 Lab 09: "A Top Ten List for Aging By Design"

Designer and Gerontologist Pattie Moore presents an “Elder Empathic Experience” for enhancing awareness of aging as a factor for design excellence in a workshop that will dispel the myths of growing older, while providing solution sets for an exemplary lifespan.

:: STUDENT SPONSOR

:: DESIGN SPONSOR

:: NETWORKING SPONSORS

:: IN-KIND SPONSORS

:: FOOD SPONSORS

For event sponsorship information, please contact: 

anna[at]catapultdesign[dot]org