Designing an inclusive grant program and policy for the citizens of Sydney
Aug - Sept 2021 with Meld Studios
Project team: Harold Kuan (Service Designer) and myself.
Client
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Design challenge
Sydney is a diverse community of people
from over 200 nationalities who form bonds around
identity, interests and place. The local council: The City of Sydney (CoS) recognised that many grant applicants were unable meet the required writing standard and were not able to navigate the complex application process.
Project approach
We worked with the CoS grants team and the wider operational teams to redesign the grants program and policy to ensure it responded to the increasing diversity of its applicants, including applicants from non-english speaking backgrounds, differing cultural backgrounds and applicants with impairments and/ or situational needs.
We engaged 72 people in the design sprint. Collaborative workshops led to the creation of 10 preliminary concepts that were further refined and then presented to an expert panel to garner expert feedback and elicit indicative buy-in.
Following these engagements we worked with the grants team to detail out the next steps and path to implentation and simutaneoulsy kicked of testing the deliverables with grant applicants to build out the grant application user experience.
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Project outcomes and outputs
Four final concepts emerged from the design sprint, representing four areas the City staff believe the grants program can be improved. Depending on the concept, different actions are recommended for the
next stage:
A set of grant experience principals accompanied the strategy to provide guidance to any future initiatives. These emerged from the discovery, ideation, and development workshops.
The grant program and policy principals include; flexibility; adaptation through self determination; building wealth in the community; thinking long term and supporting people over a longer period of time; leading with outcomes and ideas rather than categorisation and working together as an organisation to deliver a more inclusive experience for applicants.
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Project team: Harold Kuan (Service Designer) and myself.
Client
Local Municipality Government, City of Sydney (CoS) Grants and sponsorship division,
Design challenge
Sydney is a diverse community of people
from over 200 nationalities who form bonds around
identity, interests and place. The local council: The City of Sydney (CoS) recognised that many grant applicants were unable meet the required writing standard and were not able to navigate the complex application process.
Project approach
We worked with the CoS grants team and the wider operational teams to redesign the grants program and policy to ensure it responded to the increasing diversity of its applicants, including applicants from non-english speaking backgrounds, differing cultural backgrounds and applicants with impairments and/ or situational needs.
We engaged 72 people in the design sprint. Collaborative workshops led to the creation of 10 preliminary concepts that were further refined and then presented to an expert panel to garner expert feedback and elicit indicative buy-in.
Following these engagements we worked with the grants team to detail out the next steps and path to implentation and simutaneoulsy kicked of testing the deliverables with grant applicants to build out the grant application user experience.
Project outcomes and outputsFour final concepts emerged from the design sprint, representing four areas the City staff believe the grants program can be improved. Depending on the concept, different actions are recommended for the
next stage:
- The funding ecosystem: Multiplying the outcomes generated by the applicants by connecting them with what they need in order to succeed.
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A responsive, self-determined First Nations funding: A specific grant stream that provides no-fuss, fast-tracked funding, eligible to and shaped by First Nations peoples.
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Easy idea-led applications for innovative first time applicants: A dedicated stream of funds with an easy application to support innovation and first time applicants.
- Nurturing smaller event grantees:
Tiered event funding, where larger grantees support smaller grantees.
A set of grant experience principals accompanied the strategy to provide guidance to any future initiatives. These emerged from the discovery, ideation, and development workshops.
The grant program and policy principals include; flexibility; adaptation through self determination; building wealth in the community; thinking long term and supporting people over a longer period of time; leading with outcomes and ideas rather than categorisation and working together as an organisation to deliver a more inclusive experience for applicants.
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