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CoCreate Cremorne

Co-Create Cremorne is a network of people engaged with community-led initiatives for common good. The challenge was to develop service opportunities to help the group co-ordinate their efforts and generate new ideas whilst building community. Stories As Research Tools During the discovery phase, key service design methods were deployed through a combination of interviews, quantitative data, ethnographic observation and cultural mapping. Rather than asking our research participants to talk to us about their personal experiences, we used triggers about Cremorne to start conversations and uncover attitudes, experiences, challenges and competing interests within the community. We discovered that people lacked formal channels to engage and share their ideas. Despite becoming an innovation and creative hub, Cremorne remains a transient suburb where people felt that they had to adapt rather than be part of it. Furthermore, there was a lack of knowledge about Cremorne’s rich social history.

Strategic Design
Through our research, we uncovered a strategic opportunity for Co Create Cremorne—to foster conversations and share peoples stories of their connection to the place. The idea was to design a friendly and convenient space for conversation between residents and businesses. A space where the community could discuss their issues and plans but also share in their stories of living and working in the area.

The solution was to create a forum which also serves as an online archive, a kind of intellectual property for the community. A site for people to catalog their ideas through conversation, share community initiatives and immerse themselves in the rich social history of the area. Working closely with Co Create Cremorne, we designed and developed a new website as the touchpoint for discussions.

Designing For People Since the goal of the service was to evolve and scale over time, the framework had to be responsive to changes. The solution was to build the site on a CMS platform that would allow the group to easily add content, moderate discussions, and coordinate events. To ensure that participants had a voice beyond the digital space, we also developed a campaign in the form of paste ups and printed matted from content submitted from the new site. This provided a way for locals businesses to get involved and appeal to members of the community that were less likely to engage with the website, minority groups such as the elderly and children. A realistic roll-out and communication strategy was also provided to ensure that the service would make an impact over time.

Project Notes:
An industry partner brief with Co Create Cremorne and
the RMIT Master of Communication Design Studio.
Web design and development by James Ratsasane
Service design: James Ratsasane, Jacob L’Huillier Lunt,
Cameron Stevens, Claudine Lestarina in collaboration
with Co Create Cremorne.