Service Design for "Digital Girls Peru"
Client
Laboratory of Government and Digital Transformation & Inter-American Development Bank
Industry
Public Sector / Education / Digital Inclusion
Year
2024-2025
Role
Service Design Consultant
Context
Digital Girls Peru was created to reduce the gender gap in STEM by providing digital skills training to girls aged 8-14. After four successful editions reaching more than 7,000 participants nationwide, the program sought to expand its impact toward girls living in vulnerable conditions, including poverty and social exclusion. The challenge was to design a service model capable of increasing access and participation while accounting for the realities of underserved communities.
Objective
Understand barriers affecting participation and access. Adapt the program to the realities of vulnerable communities. Design a scalable and culturally relevant service model. Increase engagement among girls, families, schools, and local stakeholders.
My Contribution
Analyzed qualitative research findings. Identified and synthesized key insights. Defined and documented design principles. Developed stakeholder maps, personas, journeys, service blueprints, and user flows. Designed and facilitated persona-development and ideation workshops. Prioritized concepts based on research and design principles. Developed a communication framework to support stakeholder engagement.
Process
Analysis of interviews conducted with students, parents, and educators. Insight generation and synthesis. Definition of human-centered design principles. Stakeholder mapping. Persona development. Workshop facilitation. Ideation and prioritization sessions. User journey and service blueprint development. Communication framework creation.
Key Insights
Significant technological limitations existed in target schools. Gender stereotypes influenced participation and expectations. Teachers and parents played a critical role in enabling engagement. Female role models increased motivation and aspiration. Technology was perceived as valuable only when connected to practical benefits. Some initial concepts assumed access to resources that were unavailable in the target context.
Outcomes
Design principles approved by government stakeholders. Development of a complete service design framework. Creation of implementation and engagement tools. Findings informed the design of a pilot program later implemented in selected schools. Human-centered evidence helped reshape initial assumptions about feasibility and accessibility.
Key Learnings
Inclusive innovation requires understanding contextual constraints before designing solutions. Participation depends on the broader support ecosystem, not only on end users. Service design can reveal implementation barriers that traditional planning overlooks. Research is most valuable when it influences decisions and design choices.
Strategic Approach
I joined the project after the research phase to analyze findings from interviews with students, parents, and educators across multiple regions. Using a human-centered design approach, I synthesized insights, defined design principles, and translated research into actionable service concepts. Through stakeholder mapping, persona development, workshops, user journeys, service blueprints, and communication planning, the project aligned government institutions, educators, and community actors around a shared vision for implementation.
Strategy
The service model was designed around three pillars: digital skills development, empowerment, and community involvement. Rather than assuming access to technology, the design prioritized solutions that could adapt to local realities and available resources. Research insights were translated into design principles that guided concept evaluation and decision-making throughout the project. The resulting service model focused not only on participants, but also on the ecosystem surrounding them, including families, teachers, institutions, and local stakeholders whose support was essential for long-term participation and impact.