Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22 - Issue 8

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October 2016 // Canadian Government Executive / 11
Design
and delivering potential responses to the
challenge question; and (3) exposing par-
ticipants to human-centred methods. The
hack participants were guided through the
process by table facilitators and one head
facilitator. Mentors from business, govern-
ment, and community organizations made
rounds to provide advice and support to
participants as appropriate.
The centrepiece activity of the process de-
sign was empathy mapping, particularly in
the context of an accessibility challenge in
which the lived experience of the user was
crucial. It focused problem solving efforts on
a chosenuser group to enable understanding
of potential pain and gain points the user ex-
periences. A second key activity was journey
mapping, to understand the touch points of
a specific user experience. This helped teams
find potential areas for intervention and to
identify opportunities to remove barriers or
leverage opportunities.
The two-week process was intended for
teams to refine, test, and develop their
solutions. Over this period, two optional
evening workshops were offered for par-
ticipants to learn and apply prototyping
techniques and business model canvases.
The prototyping phase was designed for
participants to “show, and not tell” their so-
lution ideas, and create a tangible artefact
to test with their intended users. The last
portion, a business model canvas, offered
participants a way to consider how to sus-
tain and scale their ideas in the long term,
and strengthen their pitches.
At the end of the two-week period, teams
were allotted seven minutes each to pitch
their solutions, with the winners receiving
cash prizes of $5,000, $3,000, and $1,000 re-
spectively. All participant teams were also
extended the opportunity to further devel-
op their solutions by joining an incubator
within the Ryerson Zone Learning network.
The Hack Post-Mortem
The energy was intense and inspiring on
pitch day, where nine teams competed (see:
). The
three winners were: (1) Abil, a program
that helps schools to connect with public
speakers, for students with disabilities to
be better represented in their learning
community, and for people living with dis-
ability to earn a secondary income; (2) Live
Notes, a real-time note taking platform for
students in post-secondary settings that
delivers a human generated text format of
the classroom dialogue on any wireless de-
vice; and (3) Clear Path Alert, a cloud plat-
form that provides real-time updates on
the status of built environments. It would
report and receive updates on devices that
provide a universally “Clear Path” of travel
in public spaces, business establishments
and other organizations. One participant
stated in a follow-up interview, that the
hack “…taught me more than I ever imag-
ined about accessibility and has changed
the way I see the world.”
In reflecting on the goal of using a hack
to tackle a policy challenge, the results
were mixed. Some participants thought
that hacks could be used to build policy,
where others were concerned and cau-
tious as only one of the winners produced
a solution that actually broached policy.
BII+E has since gone on to complete an-
other hack in conjunction with the Minis-
try of Environment and Climate Change
which tackled two core questions: What
challenges do people face in making low
carbon choices?” and “How might we em-
power people to instinctively reduce their
carbon footprint?”
Kelly McShane is Associate Professor
in Psychology at Ryerson University.
Leanne Wilkins is a Research Associate
in the Psychology Department. Andrew
Do and Annalise Huynh work in the
Brookfield Institute for Innovation +
Entrepreneurship