The Connective
Timeline: 1 Year
My role: Lead Designer
The Connective started as a website by the City of Seattle to promote businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and connect them with industry partners. As I began discovery, however, interviews showed that just listing businesses wasn’t enough.
My work made the team and client realize the City of Seattle needed to foster stronger relationships, leading to workshops focused on trust, sharing stories, and helping businesses grow.
This shifted the from website to service design, creating deeper partnerships to support long-term, inclusive growth. A pilot program launched to test these ideas, helping refine the approach before expanding further.
A Directory that could do more
Initially, the project assumed that providing an accessible, visual directory of BIPOC-owned businesses, along with a procurement pledge, would effectively connect businesses with industry opportunities.
It was believed that highlighting business stories and sharing procurement pledges from organizations would be sufficient to drive engagement and growth for the small businesses involved.
My team built a rudimentary prototype that we tested with our client’s community partners. It was really important for the client that small businesses, larger businesses, and community advocates bought off on the design and implementation of the project.
Listening and learning from Community
In testing, several small businesses and community advocates mentioned an existing database called The Intentionalist, a well-known directory in Seattle’s BIPOC business ecosystem.
The Intentionalist already had strong brand recognition and was trusted within the community as a valuable resource for discovering local businesses of color.
Many community members and business owners compared our initial prototype to The Intentionalist questioning how The Connective would be different.
This feedback highlighted that a competing directory could create redundancy and even foster mistrust within the community, especially if it appeared that OED was duplicating existing efforts without adding unique value
Reframing the vision for impact
In leading our background research, it became clear that a simple database or directory would not suffice in achieving The Connective’s goals.
Initially, the plan was to build a searchable database where industry partners could find and connect with BIPOC-owned businesses.
However, as we interviewed small business owners and procurement specialists, it became apparent that a more holistic, service-oriented approach was needed to foster genuine connections and long-term economic benefits.
A Case for Service Design
Go Beyond a Directory:
The Connective needed to pivot from a simple listing of businesses to a service-oriented platform supporting deep engagement, relationship building, and capacity-building for small businesses.
Iterative Feedback Loop with Community:
Continuous feedback through co-design workshops and direct engagement was essential to build a platform that genuinely met the community’s needs and expectations
Service Design was Crucial:
The focus needed to be on organizing resources, infrastructure, and communication to create a service that truly addresses the needs of BIPOC-owned businesses. This required a shift from building a directory to designing a multi-touchpoint service that could be integrated into businesses’ growth strategies.