Conversation with Cal

Each month we invite you to join us for a roundtable discussion led by one of our team. This month join our Strategic Design Principal as he leads a roundtable on:

Could thinking like a designer change the way we solve problems?

Design and co-design have become increasingly popular in commercial and public sector settings. Health and social programs need solutions co-designed with the people it affects.

But what are we talking about when we talk about design? Is it about the output ie: graphic design, industrial design, or web design? Or is it a specific process? While those things are part of it, it's actually much more. Design is a way of thinking and knowing that is unique from other methods of inquiry. And the exciting part is, anyone can learn it.

→ Register here for this online lunch-time session

Callan Rowe
Strategic Design Principal (Melbourne)

Generations of change

Real change happens slowly. We’re spotlighting what can be achieved over longer horizons, to inspire us to keep trying.

Only 56 years ago, Australians voted YES to change the Constitution so Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would be counted as part of the population. With a 90.77% YES vote, it was one of Australia's most successful national campaigns. It signalled that change was possible.

Yet after a long and fraught campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Australians took to the polling booths last Saturday with an overwhelming majority NO vote. In the lead-up to the 2023 referendum, our news platforms became loud and distracting full of misinformation and false narratives to grab headlines.

As we strive to continue closing the gap, we need truth-telling of Indigenous history. What can we gain as a more just country when we listen intentionally to First Nations people? What better outcomes could we achieve when we stand with Indigenous Australians?

Sam Roche
Principal Researcher (Canberra)

We're hiring.

We're a bunch of researchers, designers and strategists who are passionate about making positive change. Here are the roles we're looking to fill right now.

Business Development Lead

We’re looking for someone to create big opportunities for our small business by identifying new partnership opportunities, leading winning responses, and being an absolute gun at networking.

If you know someone who might be interested, please feel free to share this with your friends and network.

→ Find out more about the role here

Dan Woods 
General Manager, Business Operations (Canberra)

Things I’ve learnt while researching the experiences of grant applicants

Through our work, we are constantly learning and sharing new ideas amongst our team. Here's some things we learnt recently.

1.
By digging deeper into the experience of businesses seeking grants it revealed the complexity of support needed in comparison to consultants who are applying on behalf of businesses.

2.
A greater awareness of the process pain points can be gained when combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Neither approach, if used alone, can achieve the same degree of in-depth understanding.

3.
What sours a person's service experience is the absence of communication even if the outcome was positive. Contacting applicants during the evaluation process significantly improves their experience.

4.
It is crucial to provide people the opportunity to express their thoughts and frustrations in a safe environment, especially if they have had a negative experience. This is where you find the golden feedback to improve for the future.

Peter Collis
Senior Design Researcher (Canberra)

● A POEM FROM OUR TEAM

Sigh. Opening Teams.
For the first time in months, and
Software update needed.

Your monthly haiku dose delivered to you from one of our team members. We write from the heart (and our work desks).

Chris Marmo
CEO and Co-Founder (Melbourne)

● A MOMENT FOR REFLECTION

What could we do to share our individual communication and work preferences with each other?

Reflecting as a team is a big part of our practice. Here's a question from our team to yours for this month.

We are a strategic design consultancy that helps organisations deliver better products, services and policy.

Paper Giant acknowledges the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation, and the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners of the lands on which our offices are located, and the traditional owners of country on which we meet and work throughout Australia. We recognise that sovereignty over the land has never been ceded, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.