Stakeholder Mapping at Emerson

Our completed stakeholder map. 

For our final weeks in this class, we have been presented with the following design challenge: How might we create an engaging experience for Emerson College students that sparks collaboration across disciplines? As a team, we, Kathleen, Paul, Sumi, and Hassan, have been working through the design process with the goal of addressing the challenge.

This week, our group facilitated interviews with potential stakeholders and held observations of different spaces on campus. Our findings, combined with the findings from the other two groups, led us to the conclusion that Emerson has the interest from stakeholders and the infrastructure to support interdisciplinary collaboration; although barriers might exist, the enthusiasm and opportunity for collaboration also exists.

Our foundational work for this document included doing an initial interview and observation in the Iwasaki Library. We found that the infrastructure for collaboration in the space exists, but the spaces and opportunities were not designed in ways that enticed engagement or even use. The library space is organized by volume, and the space nearest the entrance is the space where higher volume is acceptable. We envisioned opportunities for students to engage with each other in this space, then discovered that the chalkboard columns were potentially used for this as well (although sadly were not being used when we were in the library). We also noticed a participatory suggestion wall where students could write comments and library staff would respond!

Foundational visual field scan document for the Iwasaki Library. 

In our time at the library we interviewed Mariana, a senior undergrad Marketing major. Her insight, that this would appeal to her if she was a newer student, and her opinion of professional vs. interest/identity-based organizations was valuable to us.

In our interviews with other Emerson staff and students, we established the existing framework for collaborative spaces. Sumi attended an event held by the First Generation and Low Income Program (FLI). It was there that she met Christopher Grant, who was approached by two First Generation students to serve as the faculty leader for a First Generation student organization. The program only began this semester, so the word is slowly getting out, and Grant is focused on taking his time with their growth and programming in order to get it right.

Sumi talking about Christopher Grant's work for the FLI.

Christopher, in collaboration with the two students who helped to create the program, have been hosting First Gen Fridays and Social Saturdays to have a physical meeting space where students from across the campus can come together and build relationships that they wouldn’t have before. Christopher has noted that there are students of many different ages, years, and programs attending these events and coming together.

The turnout typically ranges from 2-5 students for general meetings but can get much larger depending on the event; The First Gen BBQ had a larger turnout with lots of mingling between students. The event also had two big poster sheets where students could write a word of advice to other first generation students and share their self-care methods.

Paul and Kathleen presenting their observations and interviews to the class. 

Paul also attended an Emerson event, Leonie Bradbury's Future Ancestral Technologies at the Media Art Gallery, and observed a mix of students, faculty, and staff interacting. Although the interactions were self-initiated, there was opportunity for discussion and participation in the event. His interview with fellow graduate student Elena Van Horn echoed the sentiments of his observation; Elena felt like there needed to be an anchoring common goal or interest for interdisciplinary collaboration.

In Kathleen's observation and interview at the graduate student lounge, she noticed the lack of this motivation to interact. The lounge, which is on the 12th floor of the Ansin building, is open to graduate students in any department, and serves as a place for them to study or socialize. She met a student named Julia there who wanted more of a graduate student presence in on-campus organizations.

Hassan, discussing his time with Derek Palmer.

Hassan, like Sumi, interviewed and observed an Emerson staff member, Derek Palmer, who noted how much he was able to learn from students. As a marketing photographer, Derek collaborates across the college with multiple departments because of the nature of his job. However, Derek noted that Emerson students have a multiplicity of skillsets that would be valuable to share.

Our map installed in class!

In creating our physical map, we wanted to create a simple and clean document that would be easy to follow and understand. We each added photos and drawings to collaborate.

Based on our observations and the observations of our classmates, we think more structure and more intentional design could be utilized in the existing spaces to initiate interdisciplinary collaboration. We have noticed that students are open to collaboration, but are not always aware of the spaces or frameworks in which they can collaborate. We are excited to start brainstorming some ways to tackle this design challenge!