Sylvia Harris, a founding member of the Public Policy Lab’s board, passed away on Sunday, July 24th. Our staff and board members are heartbroken, and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family, as well as to all of her wonderful staff at Citizen Research & Design.
I met Sylvia in 2006, when I was working at the Design Trust for Public Space, trying to put together a multidisciplinary team to consider the future of the New York City taxi system. Our fellows included thoughtful transportation engineers and urban planners, experts in public administration, a dynamic interaction designer — but no one whose role was to speak for the needs of the passenger.
I came across Sylvia’s bio on the web and was struck by her commitment not just to public-sector design, but specifically to the needs of citizens when interacting with public services. She was already a “service designer,” long before anyone was using that term. When I cold-called her office, she was remarkably gracious — especially given that I was offering the dubious opportunity to take a difficult role on a complicated project for a vanishingly small honorarium. She said she’d come to a meeting, and then decide.
This, I now know, was classic Sylvia: generous with her time, open to possibility, kind to the needy. She told me later that she fully intended to beg off; she had just promised her business manager that she would stop saying “yes” to so many things. But her fundamental orientation was towards engagement, to stepping up, not stepping away.
And the results of her mind engaging were formidable! Under her guidance, what would have been a relatively dry strategic-policy document was transformed into a lively meditation on the role and future of the cab in New York City life, complete with a graphic-novel style exploration of the taxi system, a photo essay on the life cycle of the cab, and policy recommendations that include contradictory back-talk from experts and industry lobbyists, arguing it out in the margins.
She brought this humanizing instinct to all of her work. In a project to assess Medicare’s enrollment communications, she went beyond the official scope of work to interview friends and neighbors and document their Medicare experiences — making real for agency staff the impact of confusing materials on seniors’ lives. At a recent research session for a hospital wayfinding system, she hit upon the simple, remarkable strategy of having participants pretend to chat with her on the phone. That bit of ‘everydayness’ transformed the process, allowing participants to explain what they understood in a much more natural way.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Public Policy Lab would not exist without Sylvia. It was her commitment to public service, combined with her faith in the ability of good design to transform lives, that was the driving force behind the establishment of this organization. Since our launch in February, she has been our tireless cheerleader, our design guru, and our wise counselor. We will miss her immensely.
Sylvia Harris, 1953-2011
Sylvia Harris, a founding member of the Public Policy Lab’s board, passed away on Sunday, July 24th. Our staff and board members are heartbroken, and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family, as well as to all of her wonderful staff at Citizen Research & Design.
I met Sylvia in 2006, when I was working at the Design Trust for Public Space, trying to put together a multidisciplinary team to consider the future of the New York City taxi system. Our fellows included thoughtful transportation engineers and urban planners, experts in public administration, a dynamic interaction designer — but no one whose role was to speak for the needs of the passenger.
I came across Sylvia’s bio on the web and was struck by her commitment not just to public-sector design, but specifically to the needs of citizens when interacting with public services. She was already a “service designer,” long before anyone was using that term. When I cold-called her office, she was remarkably gracious — especially given that I was offering the dubious opportunity to take a difficult role on a complicated project for a vanishingly small honorarium. She said she’d come to a meeting, and then decide.
This, I now know, was classic Sylvia: generous with her time, open to possibility, kind to the needy. She told me later that she fully intended to beg off; she had just promised her business manager that she would stop saying “yes” to so many things. But her fundamental orientation was towards engagement, to stepping up, not stepping away.
And the results of her mind engaging were formidable! Under her guidance, what would have been a relatively dry strategic-policy document was transformed into a lively meditation on the role and future of the cab in New York City life, complete with a graphic-novel style exploration of the taxi system, a photo essay on the life cycle of the cab, and policy recommendations that include contradictory back-talk from experts and industry lobbyists, arguing it out in the margins.
She brought this humanizing instinct to all of her work. In a project to assess Medicare’s enrollment communications, she went beyond the official scope of work to interview friends and neighbors and document their Medicare experiences — making real for agency staff the impact of confusing materials on seniors’ lives. At a recent research session for a hospital wayfinding system, she hit upon the simple, remarkable strategy of having participants pretend to chat with her on the phone. That bit of ‘everydayness’ transformed the process, allowing participants to explain what they understood in a much more natural way.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Public Policy Lab would not exist without Sylvia. It was her commitment to public service, combined with her faith in the ability of good design to transform lives, that was the driving force behind the establishment of this organization. Since our launch in February, she has been our tireless cheerleader, our design guru, and our wise counselor. We will miss her immensely.
— Chelsea Mauldin
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 6:15 pm by Public Policy Lab. It is filed under: Featured Posts, Policy [x] Design. This entry is tagged: Commentary, In Memorium.
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