Social Issue Briefs
Creating brief research papers that describe complex issues + potential solutions to all audiences
— founding member
information design
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details
may 2017 - may 2018
project type - personal
ballardbrief.org
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background
Law reviews and business periodicals have been standard for years, but newer fields like social innovation haven’t had a similar resource. Until we set out to make one. Luckily, BYU houses the largest university-run social innovation center in the world. Myself and other interested individuals from the Ballard Center formed the pioneering team.
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skills
problem framing
qualitative analysis
form giving
versioning
depth
How do you create a database that is simultaneously rigorous and accessible?
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solution
A research brief that uses a strategic structure and a specific, approachable voice.
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process
We brainstormed which elements would be simple, thorough, and flexible enough to become a highly-trusted academic source that could also be read by audiences like middle-school aged children.
To prototype these elements and the brief forming process, each of us selected a topic and began writing a brief.
key elements
— contributing factors
—
consequences
— practices
- description
- impact
- gaps
My topic was inspired by prior travels to India and my fierce belief that lifting up women accelerates progress across the board. The previous summer I had traveled to India with a humanitarian group where we partnered with a local non-profit to build self-sustaining latrines, provide english lessons, create a fundraising campaign, and offer togetherness at a leper colony.
I poured myself into research—filtering through complex, international sources—simultaneously parsing interconnected factors as well as connecting the dots. We met as a team regularly to share our learnings of the process.
To ensure execution of an accessible voice, we paired up as editing partners.
lessons.
01• I love scaled, positive impact
With the number of competent human-beings around the globe, I know we can solve these issues. I loved contributing to that in one small way. This project solidified my goal to make a dent in girls’ and women’s empowerment.
02• Simplicity & complexity can co-exist
We live in a complicated world with an ever shortening tolerance for product complexity. But these two conditions do not have to be mutually exclusive.