Preston Spire

Break
Your
Bias

Corporate Social Responsibility / Nominee
Preston Spire

Corporate Social Responsibility

Nominee
"We had to figure out how to first get someone to engage and then how to take a topic full of friction and make it frictionless. We did so through utter simplicity in the experience and through truth and authenticity in the storytelling." Preston Spire

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Q: Can you describe your project and the concept behind it? A: The first concept had more video and longer-format storytelling to address polarity in society. Following George Floyd’s murder, right in our hometown, we connected with our client, the YMCA of the North and their Equity Innovation Center, to pivot to create an experience that explores the complex issue of bias in an approachable way. The site is a simple, effective tool for people to start addressing their own inherent bias and begin to change.
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Q: Tell us about your initial moodboard, wireframe, or prototype. How did things change throughout the process? A: Our initial plans looked similar to the final product. We originally had planned for more video, but in order to keep the content easily digestible went with a simpler approach. Following some initial feedback that there was difficulty understanding how to move forward through the quiz, we reworked the gameplay UX. We continue to add to, and change up, the end resources to provide a variety of options.
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Q: What influenced your chosen technical approach, and how did it go beyond past methods? A: As a team we had seen too many educational tools that weren’t made with usability and simplicity in mind. We knew to succeed we needed a short on-ramp. What we ultimately created was a super simple interaction that provoked people, then directed them to deeper information via the YMCA of the North’s Equity Innovation Center — the true experts. We just needed to do our jobs as marketers, get users interested and bring them to the right resources.

When did you experience a breakthrough or an "a-ha" moment during this project?

We used real people with real stories. Anything we could come up with wouldn’t come close to being as powerful, moving or interesting as real people. The fact that many of our participants “broke the mold” of what we expected — based solely on our own biases — is a testament to the concept of the experience and the complexity of humans. The more time we spent with the project, the more we understood just how useful this tool could be.

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Q: What web technologies, tools, and resources did you use to develop this? A: Break Your Bias was built on WordPress with custom Gutenberg blocks, hosted by WP-Engine and built in collaboration with Minneapolis-based Pixelsmith. The initial web animation was designed with JSON to create an attention-getting — but not too heavy — beginning sequence. Other animation was created in AfterEffects, then exported to JSON.
Q: How did you balance your own creative ideas and technical capabilities with a fair representation of the client’s brand? A: The experience has lighter, more curiosity-piquing questions at the front and harder hitting questions once users are comfortable with the test and people. This allows it to be more inviting and give visitors a reason to continue going through. Once finished, they are prompted with “next steps” via 1-min, 5-min, or 10-min options, offering a scaled approach with the hope they’ll dive deeper and find resources at YMCA’s Equity Innovation Center.
Q: How did the final product meet or exceed your expectations? A: The final product was pretty much what we hoped for — an easy, engaging interaction that gently provokes people before drawing them in to more serious questions and next steps. Break Your Bias was designed to be a starting point for a users’ journey to learning about their inherent bias. The site is successfully designed to be easily repeatable, and above all else, we drove traffic to the YMCA’s Equity Innovation Center for continuing education.
Q: Why is this an exciting time to create new digital experiences? How does your team fit into this? A: Nobody wants to feel bad or guilty. Doing something as serious as tackling racism and bias needs a gentle touch. Finding something quick and engaging, while also effectively getting a point across, is challenging. We had to figure out how to first get someone to engage and then how to take a topic full of friction and make it frictionless. We did so through utter simplicity in the experience and through truth and authenticity in the storytelling.

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