Creating product ideas to help with poverty
Skills & Tools
I participated in a voluntary Innovation Design Day organised by Experience Haus for their alumni, on Saturday 30th September, 2023.
Design challenge
Gathering at their studio in Shoreditch, over 50 Experience Haus students and alumni came together to work on a brief, for social good:
Design a product (or service) that will enable Londoners in poverty to help improve their situations.
This subject is one of London's most pressing needs. According to analysis from the Social Metrics Commission (SMC) 2.5 million Londoners are living in poverty. This is around 27%, slightly above the UK average.
Outline
Process & solution
Divided into 8 small teams, we were able to choose if we wanted to focus on improving access to education, healthcare, improving wellbeing, helping with employability skills and access to jobs, or financial inclusion.
My team settled on healthcare, as we believed it had the potential for more immediate impact.
Impact & learnings
My team's idea was to create a “Living Wage equivalent for better eating”, which we gave the working title Eat Better Certified. By facilitating access to healthy meals in the workplace, whether through partnerships with healthy food places, supermarket vouchers, cooking facilities, employers could earn certification as “Eat Better Employers”.
This certification would signify their commitment to promoting the health and wellbeing of their employees, distinguishing them as an exemplary workplace that prioritises the health of their workforce.
Participating in entrepreneurial days like this one are an incredible opportunity for me to learn and practice both design and project leadership.