The Digital Diversity Living Lab is a place to research the micro-level of individual subjective experience, the macro-level of their context and problem domain as systems and apply this to co-design of digital products and services to augment self-expression and develop auyonomy within the world.
Technology has huge capacity to both help or hinder marginalised and minoritised people. The intent of this space is to make it as positive a force as possible. The DDLL exists to support a vibrant digital social innovation ecosystem, involving a wider range of stakeholders to co-produce solutions to complex, messy problems that go beyond technology.
Applying purpose to technology considers it as a tool to be moulded and aadapted to individualised needs using Open Source for its transparency, privacy, community collaboration, interoperability and freedom.
What’s the problem here?
There are three interdependent problems which are limiting digital diversity:
- There is a gap between unmet needs and how technology is developed and delivered mirrored by understanding the audfience.
- There is a perception that targeting the margins is niche, which undermines predominant incentives on delivering profits.
- Applying an insider’s view of the audience to develop inclusive innovation requires inclusive access to resources needed.
By addressing these three issues together, we will support a virtuous cycle of improved accessibility to services, and improved participation in the creation of those services with diffewrent incentives to do so.
Why a “living lab”?
A Living Lab is a space for open innovation, where people from different backgrounds can co-create solutions to problems that affect them. Living Labs typically involve individuals with a particular interest and/or lived experience, alongside public bodies, academic institutions, non-profits and commercial companies.
The goal of a Living Lab is to bring together the skills and knowledge from a wide range of participants, facilitating and orchestrating the development of new approaches to otherwise intractable real-world problems.
What are you actually doing?
We are building a pluralistic, interoperable, platform-agnostic commons for digital social innovation. At the moment, DDLL is setting itself up. We are building the tools necessary to create a digital community that works for as many people as possible.
We are particularly focused on better collaboration and interoperability, as we’ve identified that as one of the major barriers to digital engagement and co-production. In the longer run, we hope to address wider issues including accessible design, usability and funding.
In the long term the DDLL will look many different groups and the various issues they face. We are starting with neurodiversity in the profession because that matches the skills and lived experience of the founders.
Co-designing for disability: A self-determination framework
Co-designing for disability: A self-determination framework
How can I get involved?
We’re welcome to any offers to get involved in any way you would like. Some possible examples:
- Contribute to one of the software projects within DDLL
- Volunteer for a role in organising the work the DDLL does
- Suggest a project you would like to run within DDLL
- Sponsor DDLL itself, or a project within it