Concept 02: User Research for Social Impact

// Individual-focused questions (avoid these):
const IndividualQuestions = [
  "Why don't you plan meals better?",
  "What stops you from buying healthier food?", 
  "How can we help you make better food choices?"
];

// Systems-focused questions (ask these instead):
const SystemsQuestions = [
  "What barriers exist in your neighborhood for food access?",
  "How do current food assistance programs work or not work?",
  "What food traditions and knowledge exist in your community?",
  "Where does the community already gather around food?",
  "What would need to change systemically for everyone to have food security?"
];

const FoodJusticeFramework = {
  historicalContext: {
    redlining: 'How historical housing discrimination created food deserts',
    landownership: 'Loss of Black and Indigenous agricultural land',
    culturalErasure: 'Suppression of traditional food practices',
    economicExploitation: 'How food systems extract wealth from communities'
  },
  
  currentSystems: {
    foodAparthied: 'Geographic disparities in food access',
    wageTheft: 'Low wages in food and service industries',
    healthDisparities: 'Unequal health outcomes and food-related disease',
    environmentalRacism: 'Disproportionate environmental health impacts'
  },
  
  communityAssets: {
    traditionalKnowledge: 'Cultural food practices and wisdom',
    informalNetworks: 'Existing food sharing and mutual aid',
    organizing: 'Community advocacy and organizing efforts',
    entrepreneurship: 'Community-owned food businesses and cooperatives'
  }
};

const AssetMappingProcess = {
  preparation: {
    partnerWithCommunityOrg: 'Work through trusted community organizations',
    trainCommunityResearchers: 'Train community members as co-researchers',
    compensatePeople: 'Pay community members for their expertise and time'
  },
  
  assetCategories: {
    individuals: {
      skills: 'Cooking, gardening, organizing, childcare',
      knowledge: 'Cultural food practices, local history, resource navigation',
      networks: 'Family connections, social relationships, community ties'
    },
    
    associations: {
      formal: 'Churches, community centers, schools, nonprofits',
      informal: 'Neighborhood groups, sports teams, cultural clubs',
      economic: 'Local businesses, cooperatives, informal economy'
    },
    
    institutions: {
      public: 'Libraries, parks, health centers, schools',
      private: 'Hospitals, businesses, financial institutions',
      nonprofit: 'Community organizations, advocacy groups'
    },
    
    physical: {
      land: 'Vacant lots, parks, community gardens',
      buildings: 'Community spaces, kitchens, storage',
      infrastructure: 'Transportation, utilities, technology access'
    }
  }
};

const PowerMappingExercise = {
  stakeholderIdentification: {
    highPowerHighInterest: 'City officials, grocery store chains, major employers',
    highPowerLowInterest: 'State legislators, federal agencies, large corporations',
    lowPowerHighInterest: 'Community members, local organizations, small businesses',
    lowPowerLowInterest: 'General public, uninvolved institutions'
  },
  
  relationshipMapping: {
    allies: 'Who is already working on food justice?',
    opponents: 'Who benefits from current inequitable food systems?',
    neutrals: 'Who could be moved to support food justice?',
    targets: 'Who has power to make needed changes?'
  },
  
  strategicQuestions: [
    'Where are the leverage points for change?',
    'Who are the trusted messengers in the community?',
    'What coalitions exist or could be built?',
    'How can technology support existing organizing efforts?'
  ]
};

const StoryBasedMethods = {
  lifeHistoryInterviews: {
    approach: 'Ask people to share their full story with food access',
    duration: '90+ minutes for deep, unstructured conversation',
    setting: 'Community spaces where people feel comfortable',
    compensation: '$50-100 for sharing expertise and time'
  },
  
  photoVoice: {
    process: 'Community members document their food environment',
    questions: [
      'What does food security look like in your neighborhood?',
      'Where are the barriers to food access?',
      'What are the community assets around food?',
      'What would food justice look like here?'
    ]
  },
  
  communityMapping: {
    process: 'Collective creation of neighborhood food resource maps',
    includes: 'Formal and informal food sources, barriers, opportunities',
    outcomes: 'Community-owned analysis of food landscape'
  }
};

const EthicalFramework = {
  informedConsent: {
    plainLanguage: 'Explain research in accessible, non-academic language',
    ongoingConsent: 'Check consent throughout research process',
    rightToWithdraw: 'People can stop participation at any time',
    benefitSharing: 'How will research benefit the community?'
  },
  
  dataSovereignty: {
    ownershipClarity: 'Community owns their stories and data',
    useRestrictions: 'Data cannot be used in ways that harm community',
    accessRights: 'Community has access to all findings',
    controlMechanisms: 'Community can request data deletion or changes'
  },
  
  representationEthics: {
    voiceAmplification: 'Center community voices, not researcher interpretation',
    contextPreservation: 'Maintain full context of stories shared',
    stereotypePrevention: 'Actively counter deficit-based narratives',
    dignityMaintenance: 'Ensure all representation maintains participant dignity'
  }
};

const ReciprocityPrinciples = {
  immediateValue: {
    skillBuilding: 'Teach research skills to community members',
    networkBuilding: 'Connect people with similar interests and needs',
    resourceSharing: 'Share information about resources and opportunities',
    platformProviding: 'Create spaces for community voice and advocacy'
  },
  
  ongoingPartnership: {
    capacityBuilding: 'Build community research and advocacy capacity',
    toolSharing: 'Provide communities with research tools and templates',
    continuedSupport: 'Maintain relationships beyond initial research phase',
    creditSharing: 'Community members are credited as co-researchers'
  }
};

const FoodJourneyMapping = {
  individual: 'How does one person navigate food access over a week?',
  household: 'How does a family coordinate food acquisition and preparation?',
  community: 'How does food flow through neighborhood networks?',
  seasonal: 'How do food access patterns change throughout the year?',
  
  touchpoints: [
    'Food planning and decision-making',
    'Resource identification (where to go)',
    'Transportation and logistics',
    'Shopping/acquisition experience', 
    'Food preparation and sharing',
    'Waste management and recovery'
  ],
  
  barrierIdentification: [
    'Physical barriers (distance, transportation)',
    'Economic barriers (cost, payment methods)',
    'Social barriers (stigma, language, discrimination)',
    'Cultural barriers (food preferences, preparation methods)',
    'Temporal barriers (hours, scheduling conflicts)',
    'Information barriers (knowledge of resources)'
  ]
};

const DignityPreservingInterviews = {
  languageChoices: {
    avoid: ['poor', 'needy', 'disadvantaged', 'underserved'],
    use: ['community members', 'neighbors', 'residents', 'people experiencing food insecurity']
  },
  
  questionFraming: {
    strengthBased: 'What are you already doing that works well?',
    assetFocused: 'What knowledge do you have that others could benefit from?',
    systemsFocused: 'What would need to change in policies or systems?',
    solutionOriented: 'What would ideal food access look like in your community?'
  },
  
  settingChoices: {
    communityControlled: 'Community centers, libraries, people\'s homes',
    culturallyRelevant: 'Spaces that feel comfortable and familiar',
    accessibilityEnsured: 'Accessible by public transit, wheelchair accessible',
    childFriendly: 'Spaces where people can bring children if needed'
  }
};

const CommunityAnalysisProcess = {
  collectiveReview: {
    process: 'Community members review all findings together',
    questions: [
      'What surprises you in these findings?',
      'What confirms what you already knew?',
      'What are the most important insights?',
      'How should this information be used?'
    ]
  },
  
  priorityIdentification: {
    urgentNeeds: 'What needs immediate attention?',
    systemicChanges: 'What bigger changes are needed?',
    communityCapacity: 'What can the community do itself?',
    outsideSupport: 'What requires external support or policy changes?'
  },
  
  actionPlanning: {
    shortTerm: 'What can be done in the next 3 months?',
    mediumTerm: 'What requires 6-12 months of work?',
    longTerm: 'What are the 2-3 year goals?',
    appRole: 'How can technology support these goals?'
  }
};

const ResearchForOrganizing = {
  findings: 'Research demonstrates need for policy changes',
  process: 'Research builds relationships and community capacity',
  platform: 'Research creates space for community voice',
  evidence: 'Research provides data for advocacy campaigns',
  
  presentations: {
    communityFirst: 'Community presents their own findings',
    policyMakers: 'Use research for policy advocacy',
    funders: 'Demonstrate community needs and assets',
    allies: 'Build support among potential partners'
  }
};