Case Study

Designing A Digital Platform That Captures the Wisdom of Humanity

StoryCorps is an American non-profit organization whose mission is to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs. When StoryCorps’ founder won the 2015 TED Prize, the organization selected our team to design a digital platform that makes the StoryCorps interview experience accessible to everyone

‍

The Challenge

After winning the prize, StoryCorps was expected to launch a beta version only ten weeks later for the website and application at the annual TED Conference—one of the biggest international stages, in front of an even larger online audience. To cope with the time pressures, our team proposed a design process that allowed continual testing and real-time iterations concurrent with platform engineering, application development and digital prototyping.

‍

The Approach

By using human-centered design  techniques, the team was able to focus, manage risk and make decisions quickly to meet the aggressive time frame. The approach also placed the end-users at the center of the design process and by gathering insights and aligning with the many stakeholders tied to the project, the team was able to elicit ideas from a plethora of influencers, while not deviating from the purpose to design a technology platform that would preserve a personal experience without being obtrusive. Based on an Agile way of working, the design team began prototyping application functionality while the engineering team built the infrastructure to ensure the chosen technology would support the requirements of the user. The approach helped to identify failure points early in the design process and allowed for multiple iterations to gather insight, test and refine in real-time. As a consequence, the beta version of the StoryCorps app launched in front of an international audience at the annual TED Conference. And viewers were immediately able to download it on the App Store and Google Play.

‍

The Impact

  1. To date, StoryCorps has recorded more than 60,000 interviews among more than 100,000 participants in all 50 states
  2. The application has 1.4k reviews at a rating of 4.7 out of 5

‍

Looking Into the Future

The application now guides users through the interview experience from start to finish with easy-to-use tools to help them prepare for interview questions, record high-quality conversations on mobile devices, and upload the audio to the Library of Congress and the new StoryCorps Archive platform.

‍


More to Explore

Teaming Up For Disaster Mitigation

Everybody is feeling the impact of climate change on the environment – for instance, in the form of dramatic natural disasters in areas that were previously rarely affected. As such, a catastrophic natural disaster in the heart of a Europe has severe consequences, including loss of lives and livelihood. BCG and BCG Platinion were immediately on hand to enhance resilience in a European region hit by the worst catastrophe in its recent history. The team worked with passion and deliberation to develop a sustainable and resilient concept to better deal with similar situations in the future.

Read more
Teaming Up For Disaster Mitigation

The Core & Beyond - A Tailor-Made Transformation

Replacing or keeping the legacy Core Banking System (CBS) is one of the most fundamental decisions for a financial institution to make. This strategic bet should be carefully evaluated, with three key aspects in mind: a clear view on the entire IT platform (wider than legacy CBS and its constraints), a strategic vision set within a specific time horizon, and the return on investment. For organizations with a burning platform, CBS replacement may be a necessity, but in many cases the real investment potential is located elsewhere – in areas such as data platforms, integration layers, portals, or process engines. This alternative approach leads to numerous non-trivial questions: Where does the value come from? Is legacy the real issue? Which areas to reinforce and in which order?

Read more
The Core & Beyond - A Tailor-Made Transformation

Setting up a Secure and Resilient IT Infrastructure in the Cloud

Everybody who considered Europe’s energy infrastructure as safe against attacks got an eye-opener when the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline erupted on the Baltic seabed: It clearly is not as safe as previously thought. With the winter looming ahead, energy service providers have to assure the security and resilience of critical infrastructure. This is not only limited to physical buildings, but must also focus on IT, especially in the light of a rising number of cyberattacks. Especially for older IT infrastructure that is difficult to modernize, migration to the cloud has proven to be a solution, severely improving security and resilience, not only in the long-term, but also in the short-term.

Read more
Setting up a Secure and Resilient IT Infrastructure in the Cloud