Part 1: Walking & Human Centric Design
This is the story of how a startup idea became a project on Kickstarter. Told by Jess Lowry, Founder of Key to the Street
Many years ago, I was living alone in Toronto, Canada near where I grew up. It was summertime and I had no air conditioning, but I rarely went outside despite the uncomfortable heat in my stuffy apartment. The temperature of the air outside was several degrees cooler, but I stayed indoors. This was during one of the more serious bouts of depression I’ve experienced in my life. I was twenty-two and had lost all connection to my community and myself.
How I learned to manage my moods is through walking. Its something that takes little effort. Walking is my therapy. It’s my tool. And I can usually walk just about anywhere.
When I feel isolated or lonely I go for a walk. And while I’m walking I meditate on what is going on in my life at that particular moment. I might start my walk feeling negative, but I always end my walk feeling hopeful. There’s something cathartic about walking. It transforms my mood.
Back in 1995, my mom sent me a pocket-sized version of Henry David Thoreau’s classic essay Walking, and I’ve carried this tiny book with me for 18 years. I’ve had it while hiking mountains in Georgia, walking the streets of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, across the UK, Europe, Australia and now it sits on my desk in Austin, Texas.
Over the years, I’ve moved approximately 50 times, lived in 6 different cities, 4 different countries on 3 continents. The walkability of a city is something I’m always keenly aware of. And I’ve been fortunate to live in some of the most walkable places in the western world.
In Melbourne, I worked as a User Experience Researcher. My work focused on digital platforms managed by companies who wanted to create tools that innovated their services.
While at National Australia Bank I immersed myself in service design. An internal team would contact me with a need to ensure a digital experience was simple and easy to use. I’d conduct customer interviews and user testing in order to identify the usefulness of a digital product.
I’ve been fortunate to work with the Environmental Protection Agency of Victoria, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Target Australia and other companies. Always aligning the intentions of the business with the needs of the user.
I enjoy my work because it allows me to help other people feel more satisfied by their everyday experiences. What’s most rewarding is uncovering their unconscious needs. These can sometimes be referred to as ‘ah ha’ moments. The truth is, we’re not always aware of what we need, but we usually know what we don’t want.
Walking and helping people through human centric design have become vital for me. Both these things save me from my own dark days. And they’ve kept me connected to my community and myself.
