Following our brief group meeting on both (12/03/2026) & (13/03/2026) Our came together to discuss the strongest and most effective direction we should go in for our next stage in this semesters project.
There were a various number of different ideas with quite a lot of tension between some members, especially on day 1 (the 12th), due to the upcoming pitch the next week. One of the biggest ideas which was suggested was the ‘Temporary address system”.
To explain this idea, an offender whilst still in custody will be automatically registered as part of a temp address system or to be more specific, a correspondence address. The offender will also be able to select which area their address could be, as well as signing with a local agency incase they want their address to be there.
Following their release from custody, the offender will then be able to head to any locally volunteered organisation, such as a GP, Pharmacy, local Shop, Agency, etc. The will then register with that area, be provided with a key, key code, or bar code, depending on the provider. This will then allow them to have an apartment style letter box locker that will then be used as not just a letter box, but their correspondence address.
Providing a released offender this type of service, can be extremely beneficial, in terms of eliminating many of todays hindrances with prison leavers. This correspondence address, will not just allow the user to receive letters & mail, but also use the address to register with a local GP, Pharmacy, Housing agency, and even set up a bank account to access their benefits.
This Idea will heavily benefit any released offenders that may not have any friends or family members to set up a temp address, be able to aquire a spot within a hostel for an address, or job centre.
When this idea was thrown out there, myself and the leader, Olivia were pretty much board with it and didn’t mind the direction it was going in. Despite this half the team weren’t entirely sure how this could operate successfully in a real situation.
This would bring the idea to then be shelved until further attempts. Bringing us into day 2 (the 13th). Myself, and Olivia were beginning to stress out on our next plan of action, as we didn’t want to set up anyone within the team. However, we were luckily able to grab an opinion from one of our lecturers who pointed out which ideas would work best, therefore bringing us back to the temporary address.
Most of the team members weren’t present during this discussion, but we were running out of time. Myself and Olivia, discussed our options again and opted to go with the temporary address as our solid, go-to service design idea. Talking through all the benefits, problems, situations, environments, organisations, users, etc.
We were dreading this as again, we didn’t want to upset the team. However, we were able to then discuss our choice, explain our reasoning and eventually got the rest of the team on board, as they were understanding of our situation.
Following our teams agreements, the next phase of this project, was to prepare for next weeks pitch. This was going to be important, as mentors will be present, and each one will determine the success of a groups service design choice.
I opted to speak and pitch the idea, as I thought it would make more sense considering I was the one who suggested it, as well as knowing more about it than anyone in the group. Aside from this, we then had to build up our content, by dividing and conquering, such as: