Racism Untaught is a research study that examines racialized designed artefacts, systems, and experiences using design research. This works is focused on cultivating learning environments for people both in industry and in academia to further explore issues of race and racism, from the obvious to the invisible. It provides the reasoning of why a it is necessary to create a framework for identifying, contextualizing, and re-imagining forms of racialized design. It is imperative design educators and organizations possess the tools necessary to foster conversations and learning environments with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and equity.

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Operation Compass is an ongoing ethnographic research study, and this paper is focused on phase two: integrating a social impact framework into the foundation of Operation Compass to develop design interventions for the complex social justice issue of human trafficking. In order to develop the parameters of a foundational framework, we need to (1) develop an understanding of the ethos of the existing social system among the service providers in the fight against human trafficking, (2) define key factors from existing frameworks that could potentially apply to Operation Compass, and (3) define necessary collaborations of formal and informal partners. Established organizations have provided a structure to the nature of wicked problems related to human trafficking, thus providing a space for Operation Compass to develop an understanding of the ethos of entities involved in the fight against human trafficking. The partnerships we have, both formal and informal, have been an integral aspect of our work and have afforded us the opportunity to expand upon the limitations of the first phase. This understanding has benefited our collaborations and partners and will be implemented into the foundational framework of Operation Compass. The ability to convey to social service agencies the value of design interventions has been a social impact process—not only because of the topic of focus but also, more importantly, due to the nature of our collaborations and partnerships.

The ethnographic research study titled Operation Compass is focused on the development of design-led interventions to combat human trafficking. Phase one was focused on the following question: how could a modified form of technology enable truck drivers to report suspected instances of human trafficking at a higher rate? The collection of primary research was guided by grounded theory with the goal of developing a theory from social patterns to explain why truck drivers were not reporting suspected cases of human trafficking. The study identified three key factors: their fear of safety, the necessity for timely delivery of cargo, and the lack of understanding on how to identify human trafficking. Since these had previously stopped truck drivers from reporting suspected cases of human trafficking, our design goal was to create a reporting process that mitigated these concerns to the point that they could be overcome. That is, reporting had to be anonymous, convenient, safe, integrated into the technology truck drivers prefer to use, easy to use, and based on the ability to recognize human trafficking. The first five could be addressed with the Operation Compass smartphone mobile application; the last required an education campaign.