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Using interaction design principles to change the mental models of food bank employees
INTERACTION DESIGN | SUMMER 2024
Changing Mindsets
TIMELINE
6 Months
TOOLS USED
Figma
Illustrator
TEAM MEMBERS
MY ROLE
Product Design
Service Design
User Research
Usability Testing
Alameda is a county located in California.
As of 2020, there are 1,682,353 people in Alameda.
In 2024, Alameda's 10.75% sales tax ranks as
the highest rate in California, which itself
has the highest tax rates in the US.
State of California
BACKGROUND
For my capstone at the California College of the Arts,
I had the privilege to work with Alameda County Community Food Bank
Alameda Food Bank, located in Oakland, CA is a non-profit
organization that supplies food to 400+ Alameda County agencies.
The food bank distributes enough food for 300,000 meals weekly.
We collaborated with them for six months, during which I contributed to developing and implementing a strategic shift. This included creating educational tools and engaging stakeholders to drive systemic change.
We conducted a co-design workshop
with the employees at the foodbank
with the following goals in mind
Come up with a definition
for Food Justice
Principles or pillars for the
food bank to act on
And so,
THE GOAL
Explore what it means to move the Alameda Food Bank from Food Charity to Food Justice Model and build shared understanding about food justice among internal stakeholders
THE PROBLEM
1 out of 4 residents in Alameda County face food insecurity
To understand what Food Justice means we spoke to 10+
subject matter experts and employees at the food bank
Zoom meetings with employees of the food bank
“So much resources are spend on building out food charity but they don't tackle the underlying cause.”
- Xochi
Food Recovery Manager
“The food bank has always been very visionary. They don’t just want to be a distribution center.”
- Illham
Nutrition Specialist
“The inflation of food prices and access to healthy food are a big problem in Alameda.”
- Clarissa
Long Term Food Bank Employee
Effectively educate the internal stakeholders
(staff and volunteers) at the food bank about the principles and importance of Food Justice?
HOW MIGHT WE
We developed an iceberg model to uncover and understand
the root causes of the issue
We volunteered at the food bank to gain a deeper understanding of its
operations and to experience firsthand what it’s like to be a volunteer
What the Food Bank does
ADVOCATES FOR
FAIR FOOD POLICIES
WORKS FOR
HEALTH & HUNGER
DISTRIBUTES FOOD
TO AGENCIES
The Paradox
If the food bank is
successful they would
be out of work
To address this issue effectively both in the short term and the long term,
we recognized the need to shift the mental models of the stakeholders.
We brainstormed 3 ideas for it
we began prototyping the components of the toolkit
Prompt Cards
Designed to ignite discussions on food justice
with thought-provoking questions and statements.
What role does food play in your life?
Share your favorite family dish.
What does Food Justice mean to you?
Collaborative Posters
Large posters in common areas allow stakeholders
to facilitate ongoing dialogue and idea sharing
among stakeholders.
Recipe For Justice Card Game
The game challenges players to navigate and overcome
real-world obstacles while building sustainable and
equitable food systems using strategic card play.
IMPLICATION (MACRO)
Building out the food bank’s operations instead of targeting root causes
IMPLICATION (MICRO)
People making a living at the
foodbank do not want to put
the foodbank out of work
And so,
Booth
At a local community event or festival, ACCFB can host an interactive booth that teaches people about the Food Justice model.
Magazine
The Food Justice magazine would be a way to inform people about the ongoing efforts of the food bank to promote Food Justice in Alameda County.
Toolkit
The Food Justice Toolkit offers a sustainable pathway for individuals to engage in growing their own food and understanding food justice.
We conducted a workshop with the employees
to understand what resonates most with them
Toolkit
Production
& Materials
Medium
Regular
publishing
High
Banners,
Pamphlets,
Personel
Low
Cost
Reach
Effectiveness
Future
Reusable components
Needs someone to update
Needs someone to update
Based on how many people come to the booth
Hard to determine, will include a feedback form
Hard to determine, will include a feedback form
Magazine
Booth
Based on a poll of 100 employees,
the Toolkit emerged as the best idea.
The food bank was hosting a fund raiser event at
the Oakland Museum
This provided an excellent opportunity to test our card game
out in the real world with individuals who were unfamiliar with food justice
And so, we did
We iterated and conducted several rounds of testing the
card game with the employees at the food bank
After testing the game with 25+ participants from varying demographics
we learned;
01
We created an engaging card game, but
it didn’t deliver the educational impact we anticipated
02
We needed to step back and reassess
our objectives and impact for the card game
03
It was crucial to clearly define what
food justice meant for the food bank
INSIGHTS
Our findings from the workshop informed our decision
to incorporate these changes to the card game
1
Incorporate a game mechanic that prompts players to
discuss which actions taken by the food bank today
are considered "food charity" versus "food justice.”
2
By highlighting to stakeholders what food justice is not,
individuals at the food bank will begin to think critically
about how to shift operations from charity toward justice.
Also,
It became important to visualize the discrepancy
between food charity and food justice for understanding food justice
During the workshop we asked the participants to:
Highlight key terms or most important aspects of Food Justice
Using these key terms, create a definition collectively
List all the activities the food bank does
Rank these activites on a spectrum of Food Charity to Food Justice
Discuss what it would take to move the Food Bank’s activities
to the Food Justice side of the spectrum
Importance of Stakeholder Engagement:
Since we were not familiar with the space, we made sure to involve our stakeholders at every point of the process to ensure relevant and impactful solutions
Adaptability in Problem-Solving:
We designed a card game but lacked the impact measurement tools. This led to creation of the workshop to create a common definition and pillars of Food Justice which we tied into the game.
Defining Clear Objectives:
From our workship, we were able to clarify the difference between the Food Justice and Food Charity models. This allowed to create a more targeted and meaningful intervention.
REFLECTIONS
FINAL DESIGN
Definition for Food Justice
Food Justice is the right of
all people and communities
to consume good food.*
*Good food is food that is affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate.
Pillars of Food Justice
'Recipe for Justice' Card Game
Food Justice Posters
calbertfernandes.com
Mob. 628-225-9675
San Franisco, CA
© 2024 by Calbert Fernandes.
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