When you're in the face of a problem, what would you do?
Most people would say, "solve it immediately".
But what if it's a big, messy problem like climate change, increased crime rates or sanitation? What would you do? Would you run to the repair shop to find the quickest solution?
BCII is a degree that teaches you how to approach problems, no matter their scale, just as much as it teaches you a philosophy that you can apply to the small things in life.
It’s also a degree that humbles you—by continuously challenging your perceptions to expand your worldview and placing you in uncomfortable, ambiguous situations.
If BCII were an object, it would be an incubator of ideas, a chicken’s nest.
The typical degree prepares you for a career that already exists. Whereas BCII prepares you for paths that haven’t existed yet—a degree that hatches changemakers who dare to imagine.
THE PERSPECTIVE I BRING
Interconnectedness in the Real World
We all have said this at least once in our lives:
"I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm so exhausted, and my eyes can barely open right now."
But was it really the lack of sleep? Or were there other hidden influences and factors, or habits and routines in play?
We often think of these situations in a linear way—cause-and-effect, "if...then.."
Example of Interconnectedness in Daily Life.
(From class work done in Leading Innovation, a 3th year BCII subject)
Instead of thinking linearly, the concept of interconnectedness—all events & things are linked together, forming a cycle no matter how disconnected they seem—plays a central role in my thinking.
Thinking in an interconnected way can be applied in any real-life circumstances, be it a situation from our daily lives (example above) or a bigger-picture situation in which we play a part (example below).
Example of Interconnectedness in the Bigger Picture of Consumerism.
(From a group work done in Creativty & Complexity, a 3rd year BCII subject)
[CASE STUDY] THE FRED HOLLOWS FOUNDATION
Reframing & Redefining Engagement
Founded by the late Fred Hollows, an ophthalmologist and human rights advocate, Fred Hollows Foundation(FHF)'s mission is to end avoidable blindness and improve the well-being of people in some of the world's poorest communities.
80% of Australians recognise the image of Fred Hollows. 94% for those over 65, but only half of it among 18-24 year olds.
At first, the focus was to find ways to engage Australia's next generation in FHF's cause & work.
After diving deeper to understand the problem, we discovered that the conflict is deeply rooted in human needs waiting to be met.
I was part of a perspective-shifting project to create a strategy that reignites Fred Hollows Foundation with a new Gen of supporters.
My Role
Problem Investigator, Designer, Reasearcher, Ideator, Note-taker
Project Type
Strategy, Creative Problem Solving, Insights Discovery, Qualitative Data
Timeframe
10 weeks / 2.5 months
Transdisciplinary Teammates
2 Marketing Students
1 Engineering Student
1 Science Student
1 Communications Student
1 Design student
A TWO-PARTS SOLUTION
University Ambassador Program
Aiming to connect FHF with young people, this initiative is built on the value of reciprocity and mutual benefit.
The program is created to gather like-minded, motivated individuals who want to gain professional experience and be involved with Not-for-Profit Organisations like FHF by empowering them to organise and run the Fred Hollows Society (FredSoc) within universities in Sydney.
FredSoc's
Digital Challenge Calendar
As fun & community are key themes required to effectively engage young people, this initiative ensures long-term
participation and brand loyalty.
Due to their demanding and dynamic work and study commitments, the convenience of opting in and out of these events plays a major factor. So, the digital challenge calendar is designed to be widely accessible, flexible and enjoyable.
LO-FI MOCKUP & WIREFRAMES OF THE CALENDAR
Mockup (img. 1)
The Challenge Calendar features 4 events to be conducted periodically throughout the year.
The events consist of a Trivia Night and a Sharing Economy Market as one-off events and the Count your KM’s challenge and Minimising Screen Time challenge as ongoing events over the period of a specified month.
Wireframes (img. 2-5)
A look into the Challenge Calendar's platform. These wireframes provide a glimpse into the platform's onboarding process and events tracker.
To ensure long-term participation, this event tracker keeps the event-goers (FredSoc's members) accountable.
"90% PROBLEM, 10% SOLUTION"
But how did we get here?
Before my team and I could suggest these initiatives, we spent 90% of our time on research—reading reports and articles, interviews, and co-design—to fully understand the problem, empathise with the client to discover their deeper needs and identify leverage points right for opportunities.
This is extremely important for us to reach the root of a problem and avoid offering band-aid solutions.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” — Einstein
HIT this rewind button
to see our process!
THE PERCEIVED PROBLEM
The Fred Hollows Foundation’s supporter base is ageing. Eye health is not a front-line issue for most, particularly young people.
80% of Australians recognise the image of Fred Hollows — 94% for those over 65 but just half of that among 18-24 year olds.
How can the foundation engage the next generation in their cause and work?
INTEGRATING DIVERSE KNOWLEDGES
Since we are a transdisciplinary team of 6 people, we all have different educational backgrounds—arts, sciences, engineering and business.
Horizon Scanning / Desk Research (img. 1-2)
Using Miro as our primary platform, we started the first phase by researching different topic areas through the perspectives of our educational background.
Affinity Map (img. 3-4)
We then created an Affinity Map to integrate our perspectives and find common themes from our individual research findings. Our science teammate played a central role in synthesising both quantitative and qualitative data. As identified, the emerging themes include:
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Social causes young people(YP) support
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YP's values
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YP's charitable engagement habits (barriers & enablers)
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How the current media landscape influences donation-making
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YP's perception of eye health
INSIGHTS FROM SURVEY:
Money, Time & Trust as Barriers
To gauge YP's involvement with charitable organisations, our marketing teammates initiated a survey using Qualtrics.
Our survey gained 123 respondents—35% were over the age of 24, and 65% were between 18-24.
Although donating (money) and volunteering (time) are the most common ways charities and foundations interact with the community, these 2 ways are the barriers that limit YP from engaging with FHF.
The need for transparency (trust) is an increasingly common topic—respondents expressed concerns about where and how the money is being used.
A MUTUALISTIC SYMBIOSIS
Using Analogies to Reframe
Initially, the brief asks us to "engage the next generation". But what does this really mean? How will this look like?
Upon reflecting on the perceived problem and the research insights, it was clear that young people don't see the value of engaging with charities and instead interpret it as a transactional relationship.
Narrowing the scope to GenZ as our target audience, our research pointed out that GenZ has the largest variety of social concerns, with the health and medical sector not being too high of a priority, other values such as community, freedom, identity, and personal development should be leveraged upon to showcase the value of engaging with FHF.
THE ANALOGY
In biology, mutualistic symbiosis is when species involved in an interaction mutually benefit from the exchange.
The GIF above is a scene from Finding Nemo (2003). We imagine this scene as an analogy for our reframed brief: A school of young fishes (GenZ) is clinging to a majestic manta ray (Fred Hollows Foundation) in the ocean, joyously swimming together, shaping the direction they both want to go.
Although this is a scene from a lovely movie, the parasites and dead skin cells on the ray’s body are nutritious food for small fishes in the real world. As the small fishes are well-fed and protected by larger fish, the manta ray is spotless and surrounded by great company.
By emphasising the importance of a balanced ecosystem, we aim to highlight the unique attributes each fish could bring despite its size through a mutualistic symbiosis.
THE REFRAMED PROBLEM
If we view the issue of young people’s lack of engagement with FHF
as a matter of establishing mutual benefits,
we can address it by developing an initiative that facilitates an authentic and valuable relationship.
REFLECTIONS FROM AN