Service Design Picnic

An outdoor discussion where 40 designers connected within our natural environment to talk and reflect on the diverse visions of Lima and our design agency on it.

2020

experience /

experiential, research, urbanism

Context

A shift in approach to the protests in Lima

For over a year, a team of six designers had been developing a community-based experience inspired by my thesis research. However, the project couldn’t be realized due to the widespread protests and police repression across Peru, particularly in Lima’s Historic Center, a key national site for citizen demonstrations. As the protests persisted, we recognized the need to reframe our approach and relocate the experience to a different public space.

Process

Experience Sprint

In response to the ongoing socio-political conflict and its impact on our community, a team of six designers organized a picnic for dialogue and reflection in an oceanfront park—intentionally distanced from the protests. With Lima’s colonial anniversary approaching, we saw an opportunity to foster meaningful conversations on systemic urban issues and social diversity.

Despite a tight timeline, we applied design thinking methodology—empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing—to rapidly develop a prototype experience. Our goal was to validate it on-site and gather insights for future iterations, ensuring a safe, inclusive, and thought-provoking space for diverse perspectives.

Output

Interview for the podcast Diseño y Diáspora

Diseño y Diáspora, hosted by Mariana Salgado, explores social design through global perspectives. In this episode, she speaks with Peruvian artists and designers about their creative responses to the socio-political crisis. Among the guests is Shirley Rodríguez, a core member of the #ServiceDesignPicnic team, who shares our reflections, emotions, and design-driven actions in times of crisis.