Creativity and complexity with Lara Giles

"Transport NSW was a really good partner to work with. It was clear from day one that all the clients that came out to represent Transport NSW were very engaged with the process and valued our insights. I think for me it's a great motivator to work harder and smarter when you feel like you have someone really invested in you."

Students were presented with three unique and diverse challenges in which they were asked to select one to explore more deeply. The first challenge being the level of noise within quiet carriages, the second being the lack of compliance with priority seating and the third being the general dislike for public transport.

We were able to see and think about how our actions have consequences and how those consequences can be used to positively or negatively impact the future.

"My group chose challenge 3 which revolved around making public transport the most desirable option for travel. After a day of fieldwork, we all came to a unanimous conclusion that public transport wasn't as bad as the wrap it received. This initial insight shaped how we entered the problem space. Our mindset in designing an intervention was about how might we help people to realise the value in public transport that already exists, rather than trying to create new value."

Students were then given three days to prepare a pitch that explored the problem space while also providing a feasible solution that Transport NSW could implement. 

"Our solution involved a multi-intervention approach that utilises personal travel data that is already captured by Transport NSW and social media. The social media approach inspired by Humans of New York and NSW Police would create a personality for Transport NSW, a body that previously was perceived as a hard and strict government agency. Secondly, the opal data of each traveller would be accessible to an individual and manipulated using a simple algorithm to show points of value that have been gained by using public transport. For example, the number of TV series that could be watched in your yearly commute time, dollars saved or unitary contributions to a reduced carbon emission. More or less making the additional value adders that go beyond the traditional purpose of getting from A to B related with public transport visible."

Lara's group idea was shortlisted to present their idea to Transport NSW at the conclusion of the intensive two-week school.

This school was my favourite school so far. We were able to see and think about how our actions have consequences and how those consequences can be used to positively or negatively impact the future.