Legal by Design led a collaborative eight-week co-design project with students from Queen’s University Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law and Schulich School of Business. The project involved the research and development of online learning content for legal professionals in the area of legal design as well as ideation and validation of an online platform solution in the area of Landlord & Tenant law.

The project applied iterative and exploratory learning pedegogy that incorporated agile methodology, systems thinking, business model generation, and prototyping workshops. Emphasis was placed on developing a design thinking mindset and how it can be applied to legal problem solving in a rapidly changing world. Students co-designed and provided feedback throughout the collaborative work integrated learning process, as well as conducted independent research and development of the platform. The project was executed remotely and participants used online design and project management tools, such as Slack, Goggle Jamboards, and Mural, to collaborate.

The ubiquity of technology is changing not only what we do, but also changing who we are. We created a Synthesis Map to investigate the relationship between the social media platform Instagram and mental health. The model allowed us to evaluate and visually showcase the many factors that influence the system from three interconnected perspectives: socio-psychological, socio-technical, and socio-ecological. 

The interrelationships of various parts and wholes, as well as patterns of change were identified. Our map was informed by various innovation research methods, including user surveys and image sorting. Through this process we were able to design several interventions that could serve to ameliorate deleterious effects using a system thinking approach. The Synthesis Map was presented at a session of Systems Thinking  Ontario.

As part of our submission to the Hult Prize, an international business competition which seeks to solve the world’s most pressing challenges, our team sought to leverage resources in a way that empowers women in Mexico City. Our goal was to create a sustainable solution that increases access to water through a lens of collaboration. Using a systemic design approach to problem solving, our collaborative team created the ‘Water To Women’ initiative, which combines product design for the North American market with strategic brand partnerships, and a solution that has both a profitable business model and delivers meaningful impact. Our team was selected as finalists for the Hult Regional Summit in Toronto.