Case studies : Designing Out Crime

Home Office: Hot Product Theft and Young People

How can design help combat the problem of hot product theft amongst young people

When the Home Office and Design Council needed to tackle the issue of large numbers of young people having hot products stolen they came to live|work’s team of insights specialists who used their experience of co-design and ethnographic investigation to understand how design can help prevent these crimes.

Safety vs. vulnerability

Young people carry on average £184 worth of hot products. These mobile phone, mp3 players, and hand held games consoles are a big part of their lives. Through engaging with victims and perpetrators of these crimes, live|work found that though mobile phones make young people feel safer when out and about, carrying and using these products in public also makes them vulnerable to street crime and bullying.

Talking to experts and victims

Live|work interviewed a range of experts from crime prevention officers, criminologists, teachers, youth workers and young offenders to gain in-depth and candid views of the issues. These interviews formed the basis of a survey with a thousand 11 to 16 year olds. We also ran a pair of co-design workshops with 16 and 17 year olds. Through sketching and sharing ideas the victims of these crimes were given a chance to tell their stories and come up with product, service and policy solutions to the problem.

Inspiring design and government policy

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, launched our experts workshop at the Design Council where attendees included experts from the world of policing, criminology, design, industry and education. Using our materials from the insights phase, the live|work team worked with the experts group to map the issues and sketch over 100 new ideas. These proposals will go on to be addressed by designers, manufacturers, service providers and the government.

Live|work’s inclusive process has helped the Home Office and Design Council to inspire the design of new products, services and policies with crime prevention at their core.

January – May 2008

Contact: Rory Hamilton on 020 7377 9620

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