Hotline: Design For America Sprint

Spring 2025 | Design Research | Design Thinking | Ideation | Prototyping |









Design for America (DFA) is a national organization that utilizes fast-paced, human-centered design sprints to create social impact in our communities.


Objective
This semester, we partnered with Africa Fire Mission (AFM), a nonprofit supporting firefighters in developing African communities. Our goal was to aid in developing engaging communication materials and strategies that strengthen their recruitment efforts.
Collaborators: Ben Cullens, Luke Rammel, and Lily Watson.





Immerse

We began by immersing ourselves in AFM to build a primary research/interview guide with the questions brought up during our secondary research.

Primary Research

We had the opportunity to interview AFM leadership and firefighters involved with AFM to gain valuable insight on how AFM supports firefighters through community connection and engagement.

Reframe

Creating "How Might We" statements to narrow down our idea as specifically as we can to focus on a feasible problem space before ideation begins.


Concept Development
Final Concept

"Hotline" is a pen pal system built into AFM's registration site, pairing AFM volunteers with local firefighters to share stories and build connections before the mission begins, fostering understanding, readiness, and trust.















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