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From YouTube: The Heart of the Matter: How Arlington County Used Empathy to Redesign Community Services
Description
This is Arlington County Virginia's recent experience implementing the Design Thinking principles developed by Stanford University's School of Design.
A
Hello,
my
name
is
Joan
Kelsch
with
the
Arlington
County
Department
of
Environmental
Services
design.
Thinking
is
a
different
way
of
getting
input
from
stakeholders
to
help
design
programs
and
policies.
That's
a
little
different
from
some
of
the
standard
ways
we
do
things
in
local
government.
Here
in
Arlington,
County
Virginia
we've
been
looking
for
new
ways
to
find
out
what
our
community
needs.
It's.
B
Not
always
easy
to
reach
certain
parts
of
the
community.
We've
tried
several
methods
over
the
years
community
meetings
in
schools
and
in
community
centers
and
typically
the
same
people
would
come
out
each
time.
So
what
we
decided
we
needed
to
do
was
try
something
different
and
that's
where
Design
Thinking
came
into
the
picture.
Design.
A
Thinking
is
a
system
of
methods
and
processes
that
use
a
designer
sensibility
to
match
people's
needs
with
what
is
feasible
and
viable
in
order
to
design
solutions
for
people
first,
you
have
to
empathize
with
them
a
great
way
to
do
this
is
to
collect
their
stories.
Once
you
have
their
stories,
you
can
define
their
needs
and
desires.
Then
you
brainstorm
many
ways
to
address
those
needs
and
desires
and
use
those
ideas
to
create
quick
prototypes
to
test
with
the
people
you're
trying
to
serve
design.
A
Thinking
involves
interactive
interviews
where
we
ask
open-ended
questions
of
folks
in
order
to
figure
out
how
they
really
feel
about
things
what's
important
to
them
and
what
matters
at
a
fairly
deep
level,
so
we
throw
out
an
initial
question
then
follow
up
their
answer
with
other
questions,
to
try
to
dig
a
little
deeper.
How
and
why
questions
are
particularly
helpful
for
that
design.
Thinking
is
a
great
way
to
design
things.
A
If
you
want
to
decide
in
a
grocery
cart,
for
example,
you
could
talk
to
people,
observe
them
in
a
grocery
store
and
figure
out
how
the
cart
works.
What
might
be
missing,
but
they
want
a
cupholder,
do
they
want
a
place
to
put
their
baby
etc,
but
in
government
we're
not
really
designing
a
thing.
We're
designing
processes
were
designing
programs
or
designing
policies,
and
all
of
these
things
are
very
people.
Centered
government
is,
after
all,
about
people,
one.
B
Of
the
groups
we
were
trying
to
reach
out
to
is
a
group
that
I'll
call
the
Metro
renters.
These
are
young
adults
between
the
ages
of
say,
mid
20s
through
mid
30s,
not
a
group
that
typically
comes
into
the
library.
We
were
curious
about
what
would
draw
them
in
what
they
like
to
do,
how
they
like
to
have
fun,
how
they
like
to
do
recreation.
So
we
found
out
in.
A
C
D
C
D
C
Like
to
hang
out
with
my
friends
but
I
also
like
to
meet
new
people
at
the
same
time,
and
sometimes
I
actually
like
to
combine
some
groups
of
friends
that
I
have
from
sports,
with,
like
my
comedian,
friends
and
I'd
like
to
put
them
in
a
social
environment
where
they
get
to
meet
each
other.
And
then
they
get
to
talk
to
each
other
about
the
things
that
they
do
and
their
hobbies
and
I
do.
D
A
Here's
what
we
learned
Metro
renters,
want
their
resources
to
be
quick
and
convenient
and
are
willing
to
pay
top
dollar
if
it
fulfills
their
needs
in
a
hurry,
they're
tech-savvy
and
they
can't
function
without
their
mobile
devices.
They're
highly
educated,
with
varied
reading
interests.
They
listen
to
NPR
on
weekday
mornings
and
track
the
news
online
all
day.
They
work
hard
and
play
hard
hanging
out
with
friends
is
important.
They
like
good
food
and
many
don't
have
cars,
so
location
is
important.
A
They
enjoy
a
quiet,
relaxing
environment
for
conversation
with
a
friend,
but
many
are
also
interested
in
meeting
potential
life
partners,
so
activities
and
places
that
give
them
something
to
do
and
where
they
can
meet
new
people
with
common
interests
are
good.
Most
of
all,
Metro
renters
consider
themselves,
hardworking
and
busy
people
without
a
lot
of
free
time,
so
almost
anything
they
attend
should
have
an
immediate
impact
on
their
lives
or
otherwise
be
important
to
them.
A
E
E
We
held
book
clubs
at
coffee,
shops
and
pubs.
We
threw
a
fancy-dress
ball,
which
was
so
successful
that
we
threw
another
one.
A
year
later
we
drew
almost
400
people
to
an
after-hours
game
playing
event
called
late-night
recess.
They
built
the
cardboard
forts
played
board
games,
charades,
tug-of-war,
dance
on
bubble,
wrap,
8
milk
with
cookies
and
a
lot
more.
Then
we
created
a
team
to
continue
prototyping
and
testing
ways
to
better
serve
mentor
Enders,
but.
A
Design
Thinking
isn't
just
for
libraries
Arlington's
Cultural,
Affairs
Office
is
using
it
to
explore
how
they
can
support
arts
groups
more
effectively.
The
Department
of
Human
Services
is
using
design
thinking
to
help
staff
learn
how
best
to
get
feedback
from
clients
and
the
office
of
sustainability
and
environmental
management
use
design.
Thinking
when
revising
the
green
building
policy
for
private
development,
resulting
in
a
policy
that
ensures
the
program
emphasizes
the
human
interaction
with
buildings
and
that
future
buildings
are
cost
effective
and
resource
efficient,
there
are
opportunities
for
Design
Thinking
everywhere.