SECTION 8+
Challenge
Research and design for the wicked problem of affordable housing in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Wicked Problems & Transition Design
A wicked problem is a multifaceted issue that involves a tangle of different factors and stakeholders, often with contradictory interests and thus seemingly impossible to resolve. Transition design emerged as a way to make "design-led societal transition toward more sustainable futures." In my senior design research studio, we used transition design as a basis to research the wicked problem of affordable housing in Pittsburgh. To learn more, you can view my full process here.
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BACKGROUND & FRAMING​
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Three Horizons Model of Change
Our next question was, how do we design for a problem like discrimination? We used the three horizons model to imagine the long-term changes we might need to see in order to reach an "ideal state" where this problem was resolved. Backcasting from our ideal state, we looked for opportunities to introduce a disruption that might begin to shift people's mindsets away from the current stigma.
In our ideal state, we entertained ideas like cosmopolitan localism, where a new city infrastructure allowed housing and resources to be local and affordable; a radically different school curriculum that teaches cost-efficient and sustainable ways of living; even new societal norms that redefine what a house and a community are. These ideas were, of course, out of scope for a semester's work.
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DESIGN INTERVENTION​
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This project was deep dive into conducting design research on a complex problem. Learning outcomes include:
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Envisioning possible, probable and preferable future scenarios based on research findings
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Backcasting from desirable future scenarios to identify design opportunities for incremental change
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Researching and considering the STEEP factors surrounding a problem
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Designing an artifact that serves as both a research probe and an intervention
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LEARNING & IMPLICATIONS
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Mapping the Problem
We began by conducting research through a STEEP lens: socioeconomic, technological, economical, ecological and political factors that affect affordable housing. We also mapped stakeholder relationships to think about the aligning and conflicting interests of different groups in the matter. From this initial research, we realized that the issue was strongly tied to racial and social stigma, embedded in the history of how the city was built.
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RESEARCH​
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Finding Design Opportunities
We identified Section 8 as a touchpoint with opportunities for a design intervention. The program should help lower income residents find affordable housing, but it is largely inefficient and ineffective due to both flawed legislation and human bias. Among other issues, many landlords are reluctant to accept applicants to their building who carry Section 8 vouchers because of stigma surrounding Section 8 users, particularly the fear that they may have criminal or undesirable backgrounds.
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New Housing Application System
We began to outline a service that would educate and incentivize landlords to help low-income residents in need of housing, to counteract the stigma they face. From a business-incentive standpoint, we wanted to communicate the success story of low income residents who get homes, have better living conditions and stability, and then are able to acquire jobs, a situation which benefits the economy overall. We also considered further incentive for landlords in the form of monetary or credit reward. We dubbed the new system "Section 8+."
In short, Section 8+ would replace the current application process of Section 8 by using data about a resident's rent and income to preemptively enroll them. The resident would also receive information about affordable houses and apartments backed by the Section 8+ program. On the other end, landlords of those buildings would receive notices that their units have been recommended, and a reminder of the benefits of housing a Section 8+ tenant. The goal is to connect landlords and residents in need, to provide them with affordable housing before their need turns dire.
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Sketches & Iterations
Rather than focus on the actual artifacts in our system, we aimed to gather more research on how people would react to such information. We wanted to facilitate a role-playing experience for our primary target audience, the landlords, and place them in several scenarios, presenting them with different amounts of information about hypothetical applicants to a unit in their building in each one. Then, we'd ask them to choose one tenant to give the unit to, given the information they had. We hypothesized that revealing information in layers like this would help us find out where biases began to affect decision-making. For example, if a landlord chose Tenant 1 in the first round, would she choose him again if she later found out he was carrying a Section 8 voucher?
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We brainstormed personas for different types of applications, a few different methods for the landlord to learn about Section 8+, and a script for the amount of information revealed at each round of our facilitated experience. Below is a paper prototype of our activity setup.
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FINAL OUTCOME​
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Deliverables
Our scenarios were as follows:
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Basic persona information including age, rental history, employment and income, veteran status, criminal history and any disabilities.
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Present rental applications, with current Section 8 voucher.
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Present rental applications, with our redesigned Section 8+ voucher.
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Choose a community focus (sustainability, modern luxury, mixed income) for the building.
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After seeing the new information in each round, we asked the subject to choose a persona as their new tenant.
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Personas:
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Types of homes:
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The system (visual aid):
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Role Play & Feedback
In place of real landlords, we first conducted our research on some of our peers, whom we asked to role play as landlords. You can view the data and feedback we gathered. They gave us valuable insight on why they chose one tenant over another, as well as some feedback on parts of our deliverable to improve.
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Possible improvements:​
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The information design of the persona cards. People missed things like Jackson being unemployed, or Bob not living children though he had them. They made choices based on the incorrect information.
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The Section 8+ redesigned voucher can be further improved. Some of the copy should be fine tuned, and the layout could be reworked to better highlight the benefits section.
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Interesting findings:
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Some people were very business-minded or money-driven, possibly as part of the roleplay but maybe not. Others were more sympathetic to the tenants as people.
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We saw people visibly change their minds as they learned more information in the second round, with the first reveal of the application forms. We could play this up more strongly, so the first round is a “first impression” meeting of the tenants, and the application is more about background history.
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People were not confident in their understanding of Section 8 or subsidized housing. Since our users were not real landlords, we don't know how accurately this would map to our real audience.
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Everyone thought the redesigned voucher was more clear and more approachable. Those who initially glossed over the first voucher went back to look at it again.
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With the Section 8+ voucher, several users really picked up on the benefits offered, and Bob’s profile on the back of the page made them more sympathetic to his situation.
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One user claimed to be moved by the experience we had created. She was completely against Bob in the first round, but the application forms and the Section 8+ notice ended up changing her mind. To emotionally impact someone with our intervention like this is a dream come true!
Outcome
The conceptualization of a new housing application process, and a design research probe meant to help us understand its implications. By participating in our activity, our peers also learned more about the current affordable housing situation in Pittsburgh, particularly in relation to the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8).
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Teammates: Adella Guo, Noah Johnson, Hae Wan Park
Role & Contributions: User research, futures thinking, prototyping
Carnegie Mellon University | Spring 2016