How DTPR was Developed
In 2019 it was becoming clear for the reasons outlined in the “Why DTPR” section above, that we needed a new way for us to make the technologies in our environment to be deployed transparently and inclusively with the public in the places they would be interacting with them.
The Co-Design Process
As part of modern design best practice, in order to create a solution that is useful for people, we have to design with the people. As Jacqueline Lu, Patrick Keenan and others who embarked on this journey, they brought together over 100 participants from various cities and a cross-cutting set of experts from design, data privacy and the public realm. Together, these diverse engaged in sketching, debating, and iterating to shape what we now recognize as the Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR) standard.
The first co-design session was held at Sidewalk Labs’ 307 workspace in Toronto, Canada. Several additional co-design sessions took place as part of this process, including one in London, UK, as an integral component of The GovLab's Data Stewards Camp and another at the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Broader participation was actively sought in shaping the development of these prototypes by organising co-design activities at civic tech events such as BetaNYC’s School of Data conference in New York City and facilitating project breakouts at the CivicTech Toronto meetup.
To begin this co-design process, participants were asked to consider their questions and concerns regarding existing technologies:
Many people wanted to know if the technology could see them, while others voiced concerns about the location and duration of data storage. Given the multitude of questions and concerns, responses were organized and prioritised themes to identify prevalent questions. The sessions revealed six consistent themes:
Purpose and Benefit
Identity and Privacy
Accountability and Feedback
Sensor and Technology
Processing
Access and Storage
These thematic categories help distil and communicate key information that addresses the most common inquiries and uncertainties and have formed the backbone of the structure of the taxonomy developed as part of DTPR.
User Testing
Comprehensive user testing sessions were conducted through a collaborative effort with Code for Canada's GRIT (Gathering Residents to Improve Technology) user research and usability testing service that enabled us to connect with diverse and underrepresented communities to test and refine DTPR. These sessions provided a platform for participants to actively engage with the prototypes, offering valuable insights and feedback.
In addition to traditional testing methods, the project ensured ongoing involvement by organising live video share-outs, where participants were invited to join interactive video sessions.
From this research with both experts and with the public a set of principles were developed that underlie the design and implementation of the DTPR standard as well as the design language underlying the DPTR standard in general.
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