Encouraging the crowd-sourced development of a social enterprise with engaging community activities
Made in the Lower East Side (miLES) is a local initiative focused on revitalizing the local neighborhood and drives entrepreneurship by introducing short term engagement (including pop-up shops) in empty storefronts. Their team was looking to gain feedback from the community about their new social enterprise concept and wanted to take the pulse of their community’s needs.
TYTHE joined forces with their team and volunteers to lead a human-centered study neighborhood interest. Drawing on interviews with local residents and business owners, TYTHEdesign and miLES developed an interactive street activity to gather input from the general public. Through the activity, we asked individuals to share their vision for local, empty storefronts by writing on a ‘person card’. Each participant was invited to discuss their responses to further understand the context and needs of the community.
A firm groundwork for outreach
Using a collaborative planning approach from the outset, the group created a clear plan for how they would engage with their constituents.
A Clear Project Scope
TYTHE’s activities affirmed excitement, intrigue and a real need for the project scope and established a clear direction for the social enterprise.
Client: Made in the Lower East Side
Collaborators: Kristina Drury
Year: 2012 – 2013