The role of passion and equality in the design of services for social justice activists

Abstract

This article describes and discusses a case of redesign of service journeys for the tech enablement of women's rights activists. It examines how a group of business consultants interacted with a small non-profit organization to rethink its services and systems for social justice activists, which relied on volunteer advisors from Silicon Valley. The article also analyzes the outcomes of the redesigned journeys and the positive impact they had in both the activists and advisors who participated in them. We argue there were two key elements to the success of this design process: A focus on bringing out the passion which both activists and advisors have for social justice; and the creation of processes which made them contribute as equals. Interestingly, those guiding themes emerged in spite of the traditional, businessand results-oriented mindset of the consultants. We explore this design process in the context of the passionate politics and feminist movements and the historical backdrop of conservative attacks on women's rights.