Joy by Design
By Addison Pann
In early November I interviewed Nancy Chang, Director of Digital Navigation Services for Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region, for a Dear Digital Equity profile. When I asked what Digital Equity meant to her, her response stuck with me a long time after we finished our conversation.
“Digital Equity,” she said, “is a joy-sparking movement.”
It caught me a bit off guard. When I was first introduced to the idea of Digital Equity, I thought it sounded like another government money pit that would strive for perfection and fall far short of its goal, all on the taxpayer’s dime. But when Nancy described the work being carried out in Washington State, which she referred to as a modern civil rights movement, she revealed enthusiasm that I hadn’t expected.
Empathy is a common sentiment for Digital Equity practitioners, who often approach their work from an angle that highlights the struggles of those most affected by digital inequity. And while it’s true that many in our state are in desperate need of support navigating the digital divide, Nancy framed her empathy as coming from a place of excitement. Digital Equity’s possibilities are worth celebrating, and it was refreshing to hear her frame it so sincerely, recognizing that there is a way to honor the adversity Washington communities face while also celebrating the immense impact Digital Equity can have on them.
Empathy and, subsequently, joy is also emphasized in the Stanford Institute of Design’s Design Thinking Process Diagram. The diagram asserts six possible phases that define any given stage in the design process: empathy is the first. While a push for digital inclusion, literacy, and training may not, at first glance, seem to relate to design, there are distinct similarities that are worth illustrating.
In design, we identify a problem, empathizing with whatever demographic the problem affects, iterate on potential solutions, and implement what we hope is the most elegant and efficient solution.Digital Equity work in Washington State follows a strikingly similar playbook. We are more likely to create valuable change for communities in need when we follow the Empathy stage of the Design Thinking Process Diagram, including conducting interviews, seeking out stories, and working to understand the emotions of the people we are supporting.
A goal as ambitious as Digital Equity for an entire state ought to be considered through a design lens. Designers follow a flexible roadmap that has been iterated on enough as to be quite reliable. Perhaps a target as complex and vital as Digital Equity requires a new way of thinking if we hope to hit our mark.
