Zeroth Labs

Closed to Open: An interdisciplinary approach to urban innovation

The resulting participatory design framework that emerged from Under The Hood

The resulting participatory design framework that emerged from Under The Hood

 
 

A hyperlocal participatory project combining quantitative and qualitative methods, Under The Hood investigated key factors behind intergenerational poverty in a Singaporean neighbourhood with a high concentration of urban poor.

We began with 4 months of internal research, used the insights to create a community brief, which in turn informed and enabled a more open approach involving the wider community over 2 months to generate solutions for the neighbourhood. I was overall project lead, and was also responsible for research and methodological design.

Methods used: Data analysis, ethnography, design thinking (for framing design challenges and for prototyping), systems thinking, lean startup method.

Partners included the Bukit Ho Swee Family Service Centre, UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence, and Google.

Resulting framework adopted by the following Singapore government agencies: Public Sector Transformation Group of the Prime Minister’s Office; Housing and Development Board; SGEnable for Persons With Disability; Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE).

Case study as published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation of Singapore Management University

 
 
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Factors Shaping Educational Progress

System dynamics map of factors

System dynamics map of factors

 
 

Our team constructed a system dynamic model that uses the Stock and Flow model in mapping the different influences a child in low-income circumstances growing up and how it links to educational attainment.

This work built upon prior research conducted in the Bukit Ho Swee neighbourhood, the site of a previous project. The model includes both cognitive and non-cognitive factors that have been identified via literature review and ethnographic research. Ethnographic approach was context-driven so that the causal links were valid in the Singapore context. The literature and model focuses on links relating to internalising and externalising behaviours insofar as they interact with parenting style. I was the overall project lead.

One finding was that parental involvement was a greater factor for children’s educational progress than understood by local social workers, and the environmental influences on children were greater in number and more nuanced than institutionally known.

Case Study in Systems: An excerpt

 
 
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Developing a New Public Service Model in Bangladesh

Prioritising challenges in Gazipur, from the perspective of slum-dwelling women leaders

Prioritising challenges in Gazipur, from the perspective of slum-dwelling women leaders

 
 

Our team led a project to make sense of the rapid urbanisation in Gazipur, Bangladesh, and to develop a new model for public services that would enable the municipality to cope with the city’s fast-growing needs.

We worked with the Mayor’s Office of Gazipur, the Gazipur City Corporation, and UNDP, as well as with healthcare workers, nonprofit services, community groups, local digitalisation support offices, and informal leaders such as women in the local informal settlements.

We used systems thinking, ethnography and human-centred design for this project, emerging with 4 prototypes of new services, including one for blind residents which did not exist before.

 
 
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UNDP South-South Innovation Toolkit

Workshop with Bangladeshi mayors in Beijing, where we distilled the key issues they were trying to solve

Workshop with Bangladeshi mayors in Beijing, where we distilled the key issues they were trying to solve

 
 

Our team created a toolkit for UNDP, based on systems thinking and human-centred design, for South-South knowledge exchange tackling urban challenges without having to reinvent solutions.



Our assumption: through process-innovation, knowledge and learning can successfully be transferred across different country contexts to achieve measurable/desirable outcomes.

The toolkit was developed based on an exchange between China and Bangladesh around studying China's one-stop service centre model to suit the needs of Bangladesh's urban population. I was overall project team lead.

While the toolkit was used to transfer essential knowledge and learning around viability, functionality, and design of one-stop service centres, the methodology can also be adapted to South-South initiatives around other products and services.

 
 
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Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration Capstone Framework

Slide I used to walk students through the high-level framework

Slide I used to walk students through the high-level framework

 
 

We developed the capstone framework for a graduate programme.

This was the process framework for the capstone module of Master of Tri-Sector Collaboration (MTSC) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Social Sciences. I also developed and reviewed the assessment rubric for said capstone module. As adjunct faculty, I also taught innovation methods for this programme.

 
 
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 A Care Model for a Singapore Hospital

Figuring out the Emergency Department process model

Figuring out the Emergency Department process model

 

Our team, in collaboration with a design studio and architect firm in Singapore, worked with Alexandra Health System to inform a care model for their latest hospital to be built in the Woodlands region of Singapore by 2023.

Using systems thinking and field ethnography, we uncovered insights on the public healthcare needs of the region and made sense for how they might shape a care model fit for purpose. A constraint was that beds were an increasingly scarce resource in Singapore’s ageing population, and political pressures were mounting for this need to be met yet at affordable cost.

By studying activities and programmes of surrounding social service organisations, we discovered underlying capabilities that had potential to be applied from a community development to a non-acute care context. This led to the development of a distributed care model for non-acute care, deploying a local network of nurses that would support patients with chronic, non-acute needs.

 
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Solid Waste Management in Ho Chi Minh City

Typical level of waste management in Ho Chi Minh City (image from fdi-vietnam.com)

Typical level of waste management in Ho Chi Minh City (image from fdi-vietnam.com)

 

We advised the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) People’s Committee on their strategy for dealing with solid waste management in HCMC.

Working with the UNDP Regional Hub in Bangkok, my role was to incorporate a behavioural dimension to the strategy through i) improving the robustness of the research process for strategy development, and ii) leveraging behavioural insights to the strategy itself. This was part of the Hub’s innovation efforts in the region.

 
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Creating New Business Models for Sanitation in Cambodia

One of the participatory workshops to understand what matters to the villagers of Kampong Chhnang involved in this research

One of the participatory workshops to understand what matters to the villagers of Kampong Chhnang involved in this research

 
 

We developed a new business model and strategy for the BoP Hub of the World Toilet Organisation.

The WTO, headquartered in Singapore, had operations in Phnom Penh. They were seeking to expand their coverage beyond the capital as part of their mission to improve access to sanitation for the under-served “bottom of the pyramid” (BoP).

However, they had little understanding of how they might do so, as rural Cambodians were a different demographic than they were used to serving. With my team, I conducted field research in Kampong Chhnang, participatory design with villagers, and uncovered a number of insights relating to behaviour, values, and business opportunities. I used these to develop a new business model and strategy for WTO.

 
 
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