Design Strategy - NYC ACRE/Urban Future

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The Design Premise

This was a three month long project with the client NYC ACRE. Our team of 12 collaborated both in person and virtually, then split into smaller groups depending on the area of concentration. We used design thinking methodologies to explore possible ideas for the NYC ACRE accelerator program, current incubator program, and the Urban Future Lab's function; including exhibit design, both the physical space and content.

My specific area of concentration focused on the Urban Future Lab's physical space and creating content for the users we identified: the building owner and commercial developer. I created a mock-up for the physical space and designed an Urban Future Lab app to address the needs of these two specific user groups that would possibly be visiting the Urban Future Lab most frequently.

The section below shows the accumulation of our team's process, our proposed design solutions, and my contributions.

This video shows the before and proposed after solutions/product and vendor recommendations for the exhibit space.

The Urban Future Lab App

We felt an app might be just the ticket to inform and educate, but more importantly, truly engage building owners and commercial developers. The common theme we identified with these two users is that both are interested in saving money, so we designed the app with both the larger goal in mind to promote long-term sustainability with the short-term goal of saving money.

Content is Easily Changeable

You can make screens for what’s relevant at the time and perform updates as needed...and with digital content, you’re not married to that box of last years annual reports in the back of the storage closet.

Directed Toward Specific Users

In our group’s case, we looked at small building owners such as, people who buy existing properties and then rehab them for flipping, or rental income, and also commercial developers who are looking for information that will help them with big projects.

It’s Engaging and Educational

The idea is this… You have a plethora of information to share. Realistically, most people don’t have the time, nor the patience to sit down and read publications. ..but if they were merely introduced to this information in an engaging way, like maybe an app, then that might be the hook they need to want to know more later, and seek out your information -for example: in the prototype we added a ‘multi-window function’ that would have the Urban Future Lab App in one window and carefully selected partner websites in another.

Gamification Aspect

Cleantech, clean energy, and sustainable businesses of the future are trending, but the challenge is..how do we reach those people on the outside of these industries? The trick is, you have to make it fun. We know that gamification is a hot topic right now, and for a good reason, and quite simple actually. It’s because when you make something fun...it’s enticing,… it creates that ‘pull’ affect.

So thinking of this, in the app we added a section that’s called -just curious- Think of the Cheshire cat, form Alice in Wonderland. What is it about curiosity that draws us in? Like that elusive big red-button that says “don’t touch”. Of course!..we want to see what it’s about. So we added some fun to the app with a “Test Your Wattage Challenge”. In the end the user learns something about energy usage and may not even realize it, because he’s having so much fun.

Follow-up Opportunities for Post-Exhibit Experience

You might be thinking, well, all this is great but no one will remember any of this tomorrow. The app remembers what the user looked at, and prompts the user to send the information via email. ..and everyone’s happy, they get their info sent to them, and Urban Future Lab retains their contact info for future marketing purposes.