Build Trust

Think about your efforts as part of cultivating personal relationships and design partnerships in order to achieve engagement goal "winning the community’s trust." Help community members in their daily operations, make a meal for them, or quickly meet one of their basic design needs. Show them that you are serious about partnering with them to improve their lives.

Approach each situation with an open mind and assume that your opinions will change as you work. As you build friendships with community members, their experiences should guide your research towards an effective design solution. The following two projects show designers working towards cultivating these trust relationships with very different communities: young boxers at an inner-city gym and students at elementary schools.