Hatch
Hatch is a platform for climate refugees that unifies access to all their available opportunities from private companies, NGOs, and government organizations. Hatch supplies climate immigrants with personalized services, providing what they need, tailored to them as individuals and their unique situations.
Hatch Product Video
Context
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human security and mobility. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that by 2050, up to 250 million people will be displaced by climate change impacts such as rising sea levels, floods, famine, drought, hurricanes, desertification and the negative impacts on ecosystems. We were asked to explore complex systems, questions and opportunities, envision desired futures, and then design and prototype services that help communities in Copenhagen transition to futures where there is better support for climate refugees.
Concept
Hatch is a personalized, government-sponsored service that helps new refugees feel well-connected and optimistic about their future in Denmark. Hatch hand-delivers a customized welcome kit, and connects new immigrants directly to a select network of organizations. The system helps to save time and other resources by carefully matching organizations with immigrants based on unique needs, establishing the first contact, and hosting conversations through one channel.
Service Blueprint
.
The Welcome Box
The kit is comprised of items that could help refugees with their transition into Denmark. The items are highly personalized and based on each individual’s unique situation. The box is hand delivered to the refugee’s residence shortly after signing up with the platform. Hatch partners up with local government agencies, brand partners and businesses to source the items in the box.
The App
A companion app can help refugees manage their communication channels and also serves as a help guide. Hatch will match the user with a selected network of organizations, providing programs and services for integration, volunteering, and employment. Furthermore, the system assists in getting into contact with organizations—consolidating conversations and meetings in one place—transforming a once-complicated process into a friendly and personal experience.
The Chatbot
The chatbot collects feedback that helps Hatch understand the unique needs of the refugee—for instance, if they have a young child or are looking for employment. Based on the responses, Hatch is able to personalize the welcome box as well as connect them with relevant services and organizations.
Welcome Screen
The Welcome screen informs the user of upcoming interviews, meetings and events in the city.
The Profile
The profile allows users to provide important details to Hatch, including address, refugee ID number, and hometown.
The process
Step 1. Research
The team investigated how the current system in Copenhagen works for refugees. In-depth interviews were conducted with organizations that work with immigrants and refugees (DFUNK, KVINFO, Sjakket, Global Hagen Cafe, and AHHA!) and intercept interviews with refugees and newcomers at International House, Nørrebro Library, and Trampoline House.
The research showed that it’s hard for newcomers to navigate opportunities to integrate. There are many services that are provided by the state, private companies and NGOs but they are often muddled and not unified. This dynamic makes it overwhelmingly hard for newcomers to have an understanding of and access to all of the available opportunities. Some key quotes from our interviews that stood out:
“Refugees are often treated as a group with all the same needs. But they are individuals with individual needs.”
“Many parents don’t work. They have psychological problems because they ran away from home or were even tortured. They don’t speak Danish, they don’t have Danish friends.”
Step 2. Prototyping & Co-creation
To prototype the Hatch service experience the team decided to focus on designing touch-points—the app and a welcome kit—for refugees as this space has more frictions and challenges. Co-creation sessions and testing different fidelity prototypes were conducted to simulate the experience and get feedback from the user and the partner organizations. We made further iterations to tailor the service and its “trustpoints”.
Impact
Refugees have been through a lot, and we don’t want to make them scour websites and scattered services endlessly to see what kind of integration offerings are out there. By offering both a welcome box filled with tangible goods, and connecting them directly with relevant services and organizations in Denmark, Hatch provides refugees a much needed helping hand during a very difficult period in their lives.
Roles: Design Research, Prototyping, Service Blueprint, Photography
Collaborators: Rina Shumylo, Abhishek Kumar, Sareena Avadhany, Juliana Lewis
Hatch was the student winner of the Core77 Awards 2019 for its contributions in Service Design, a finalist of the Danish Design Awards 2019 under the category Young Talent, and shortlisted to the IXDA Awards 2019 under two categories, Connecting and Optimizing.