Transform the conference experience

My contribution: Co-founded event, managed support team, developed underlying value creation system, managed event schedule, managed design brief creation, and continue to consult with current lead team to maintain integrity of BarnRaise's original values and intent
Team: Anita Lee, Bryan Spence, Christina Noonan, Gaurav Bradoo, Shanti Mathew
Type: Voluntary, outside of class hours
When: Spring - Fall 2014
Where: IIT Institute of Design, Chicago

What's the solution?

BarnRaise is a two-day maker conference that pairs design firms with local organizations to create viable prototype solutions for challenges that impact Chicago. It was created in 2014 as a new way to better engage the design community and those interested in learning new design methods.

How did we get there?

Our goal was to transform the Design Research Conference into a hands-on participatory experience that would better engage conference attendees. As we sketched out ideas for how to reframe the event, we thought about core elements that should be present. Participants should still learn from experts, but they should also make something. We should also inject ample opportunities to connect with other students and professionals, as well as share solutions. We achieved this by designing a make-a-thon format where design firms were paired with organizations to solve a specific design challenge.

LEARN

Although we were shifting the focus from a series of speakers to a make-a-thon format, we believed a select number of speakers would still provide inspiration for teams. On day two, we also added a panel discussion to hear different perspectives on prototyping.

 

MAKE

Defining the "make" component of BarnRaise was one of our greatest challenges. We realized the limitations of building out high-resolution and high-fidelity prototypes so we set expectations with design firm facilitators as well as possible given that this was an inaugural event. I communicated with facilitators to provide them with the appropriate tools and materials they needed in their groups. At the final share-out, some groups had primarily physical prototypes, while others had digital monitors, photos, storyboards, and other illustrated frameworks. 
 

CONNECT

People go to conferences to connect with other people, regardless of topic. Some of us on the leadership team felt that in 2013, we didn't have as many opportunities to connect with other conference attendees as we would've liked. So, we took steps to ensure ample opportunities to connect. We designated gatherings over the three days, but the team construction was where the deeper conversations took place. 

I curated teams to create a good mix of students, professionals, designers and non-designers. Through previous work in which I facilitated groups, I thought that heterogeneous groups generated richer conversations since there were many more perspectives at the table. I also created a position for ID students in which they would help facilitate teams, as well as assist facilitators with whatever they needed. This also afforded opportunities for students to practice their facilitation skills with design firms and client organizations. 
 

SHARE

The final share-out brought everyone together to present their concepts and celebrate all they had achieved in such a short time. Motorola Mobility offered us space at their headquarters to create more of a special atmosphere for the event. Displays were set up for each team and the event was open to the public. Once everyone had time to mingle and check out the displays, each group had a few minutes to present their challenge and prototype. 

Takeaways

• Ask yourself what every stakeholder will be doing at all times to maximize engagement. As a former teacher, I knew this was key to creating successful lessons for my students. For conference attendees, I thought they should become active participants and team members instead of passive attendees. 
   
• Be clear and consistent about what the conference is and is not. This was a challenge for us because we were still defining our concept while recruiting design firms and community organizations. We emphasized that this was more of a hack-a-thon style event where solutions would be quick and dirty. Some teams also wished they'd have more time for research and problem framing. We were careful not to over-claim the intended results of the event, since it's difficult to solve a large-scale challenge in two days. We passed this advice on to the next leadership team and these issues were mitigated with the more refined focus of 2015's BarnRaise on problem-framing with additional emphasis on front-end research in the weeks leading up to the 2.5 day event.
   
• Frame a prototyping conference as a prototype. We knew we wouldn't get everything right the first time, but we made sure to pass on a thorough list of reflections to the next leadership team. Since our first iteration, BarnRaise has generated more buzz about our school and attracted a wider array of people. It has also inspired similar conference ideas in the US and Canada. For example, students from the Parsons School of Design who attended BarnRaise created VergeNYC. It's rewarding to know that something your team created has inspired action in others.

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