FICA Brazil – Developing a comprehensive Services Communication Kit
Type
Academic
Project
FICA
Services
service design, service blueprint, storyboarding, communication design
Website
Project Summary
4 month external engagement with FICA, a non-profit civil society organization founded to make renting viable for low-income families in the centre of São Paulo. We were tasked with creating a comprehensive Services Communication Kit for incoming and prospective tenants of their student housing community Caburé. The final deliverable was a 64-slide deck and live presentation to the board of FICA, including 6 user-facing assets (3 videos and 3 Zines) across the three phases of the user journey: Promotion & Application, Onboarding & Orientation, and After Move-in Self Management.
Brief
In Fall 2023, FICA asked my Studio class to develop a comprehensive Services Communication Kit for FICA. The Services Communication kit needed to clarify the FICA difference and explain to users what it means to become a FICA resident.
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I was responsible for recreating the service blueprint and developing the storyboard for the Onboarding & Orientation Zine.
Source: FICA
Caburé Housing, Source: FICA
We employed service design theoretical frameworks and evolved typical service design tools such as the service blueprint so as to center service workers, lived experience, and strive for equitable access to services within the context of low-income student housing.
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We conducted an autoethnography exercise to surface insights from our own student housing experiences, then conducted research on FICA models and ways of working by analyzing case studies from FICA database. While we weren’t able to interview current or former residents of Caburé, we interviewed FICA team members to understand and flesh out current practices and possible improvements for the application, onboarding and management phases.
Approach
Understand
Desk Research
Stakeholder Map
Primary Interviews
Define
Problem Statement
Personas
Service Blueprint
Design
Storyboarding
Wireframing
Feedback
Client Review
User Testing
Summary of Process
Synthesis and Design
Developing a full-journey service blueprint helped us pinpoint touchpoints that required more intensive communication or clarification, and guided our determination of the most appropriate communication formats for each desired message.
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Based on our research, we developed an updated Service Blueprint that incorporated the tenant journey through all three phases. After feedback sessions with the FICA team, we further refined the blueprint, which we then used as the basis for our zine and video storyboards.
Result
A set of illustrations and Zine in storyboard form that successfully materialized the touchpoints and main interactions a Caburé tenant would experience during their onboarding and orientation process. The FICA team will use our packaged assets to develop the digital and print Zines, which will be available onsite at the housing community and online.
