Bridge Adult is a case study on a non-profit for adults with with intellectual disabilities.
Located in Amherst town of Nova Scotia province in Canada, Bridge Adult Service Center provides programs services and opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities to allow them to reach their full potential as members of our community.
Objective
Understand, analyze and communicate the service using service design methodologies. Here, from the perspective of nine different components of Business Model Canvas.
The challenge
The only source of information for research on Bridge Adult was a couple year old article. Bridge Adult does not have a comprehensive website. So main challenge of this case study was finding updated information about the organization. That also included understanding how this fifty two year old non-profit organization was doing financially.
Another unconventional aspect of this organization was organizational structure. The adults with intellectual disabilities, also called Clients, are the stakeholders with most unique position in this organization. They are customer to this organization and also a service provider to other customers of the organization.
Social Business Model Canvas by Tandemic was used in this project. Due to unconventional nature of this business, there were limitations to widely used Business Model Canvas. Social Business Model Canvas, which is proven good tool for non-profit organizations, allowed us to clearly study the value proposition for beneficiaries and customers and also measure the social impact. Beneficiaries here are the Clients.
Elke Den Ouden's Value Framework Model from "Advanced Design Methods for social Innovation" was used to assess the value that was shared on four levels, namely Society, Ecosystem, Organization and User. The four perspectives used in the value framework model were economy, psychology, sociology and ecology.
While doing the above value framework analysis, we could see that there is an opportunity for creating value for user through psychological perspective and also an opportunity for co-creating value between user and society in sociological perspective.
Service Encounter Map was used to take a closer look at interactions happening between Clients and Bridge Adult. When it came to programs and employments offered by Bridge Adult, Client had multiple options. Hence Service Encounter Map was modified to accomodate this.
While analysing before, during and after phases of Service Encounter Map, we learned that there is an opportunity to provide solutions for after phase. Bridge Adult could continuously monitor if Clients have reached their full potential or not after they leave.
Jakob Schneider's "This is Service Design Thinking" was used to make a Blueprint for Bridge Adult Services. Blueprint allowed us to not only analyse the processes that are in the front end but also the processes happening at the back end. Client actions along the service delivery and corresponding staff action, categorized based on pre, during and after phases similar to Service Encounter Map, has been identified in below Blueprint.
From Blueprint, we came to notice that there is around two and half years of waiting for Clients to get admitted in Bridge Adult. This might be adding to another frustration of already waiting three years to turn 21 after their graduation from High School. This was an opportunity for us to explore solutions which would address the waiting part.
An iteration of Service Package/ Augmented Service Offering Map to analyse service offerings by Bridge Adult was done. Service Package shows core service of Bridge Adult. Enabling services are essential services based on core service and enhancing services differentiate Bridge Adult from their competitors.
Augmented Service Offering shows Accessibilities to Bridge Adult servie offerings for Clients, Participation of the Client for different offerings by Bridge Adult and Interactions happeing during the service.
The Solution
Some of the solutions proposed, based on above analysis, are as follows.
The Snoezelen Room
It is a type of multisensory experience for Clients. Client can seek out relaxation in Snoezelen Room. The Interactions happening in Snoezelen Room between staff and employees would strengthen the relationships between them. Snoezelen Room would offer many accessible and stimulating opportunities for the employees and Clients.
The Host Home program
Adults with intellectual disabilities can live with their host home providers. This will help develop a meaningful relationship between Clients and the community. There would be a comprehensive matchmaking between Mentors and the individual Clients they serve.
More details about the project can be found in the process book below