copyright © 2018 jillian bak

simplifying the green waste feeding process for urban chicken owners.

the green feeder system

ethical consumption analysis.

strategic qualitative team research to understand the factors that influence consumer behaviors

how does the emerging urban adult consumer define "ethical"?

generating conversations to understand drivers.

we curated a set of generative interview tools to help us understand participants perspectives, morals, & values. interactive storytelling guided conversations towards tacit knowledge & allowed us to connect to participant's on an emotional level. 

visualizing & synthesizing data. 

how do people perceive their world & their impact in it?

what types of experiences are powerful enough to effect lifestyle/behavior?

what messages are received by consumers?


how can we visualize decision-making?

what are the interactions involved in the forming of ethical opinions?

ethics are just a part of the scope.

we discovered that although consumers would consider themselves ethical, they had a difficult time defining what that meant. that is because ethics are a part of a broader journey towards decision-making.

critical insights discovered:

values are fluid.

customers constantly are in a search for defining their values and companies are too quick to pigeon hole these into ethical structures that end up excluding people that do not fit those definitions

immediate need will always win.

buying ‘ethical’ is a privilege with no rewards or stakes & immediate need will always win. we need to be designing business models to offer & celebrate the small steps.

polarizing forces compromise.

current market of products/services is very black and white - a product is either ethical or not and there isn't much room for the grey area. people who cannot identify as one extreme or the other feel excluded.

be "better" not best.

idealized & perfect are not only difficult to achieve, but not on consumers minds. most people simply want to "do better" when they can & we need to empower that. 

when we respond to the evolution of morality, we can build effective ethical systems.

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