Shared Household Accountability Systems
2014-2016. Community member experience / Needs identification / Prototyping / Organizational Systems
Context: The house I lived in was a cooperative: 20 of us shared a household and the responsibilities for managing and growing as a residential community. There were many required house commitments: cooking, chores, committees, project oversight, workdays, even visioning sessions. With so many commitments and irregular tracking or accountability on them, some housemates felt that they were always behind, and some speculated that others weren't pulling their weight. There were unhappy surprises like dirty bathrooms or an empty table on expected dinner nights. In general, people did not feel supported in their house participation, whether they were on top of commitments or not—there wasn't enough time in large group meetings to affirm and support everyone.
What I did:
Facilitated sessions to gather feelings about each commitment, its level and type of accountability, and the idea of accountability around commitments overall, followed by more sessions to iterate on the expected commitments;
Created a tracking document where each housemate could update and completion of their commitments;
Proposed and designed small groups of housemates called Pit Crews that could check in one-on-one with each other or as a group, offer validation for house membership, and help struggling housemates stay accountable to the collective;
Designed, prototyped, and built an interactive, magnetic calendar for cook/clean sign-ups that balanced clarity and accountability with celebration of housemates and their contributions;
Designed, prototyped, and built an interactive, magnetic chore board allowing for self-monitored accountability, a judgment-neutral venue for feedback, and more flexibility in accounting for different ways of contributing to the house that might not be otherwise recognized.
Impact:
All practices were adopted and iterated.
The installed cook/clean sign-up calendar. Housemates’ portraits were featured in the magnetic photo frames during their birthday months.
The chore board.