Developing activities and communication of an association based dance club through service design

Siiri Lepola Master of Arts Thesis 2020 Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Collaborative and Industrial Design Developing activities and communication of an association based dance club through service design

Siiri Lepola

Master of Arts Thesis 2020

Collaborative and Industrial Design Programme Department of Design Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Supervisor Heidi Paavilainen

Advisor Andrea Botero

Collaborating partner Matit ja Maijat ry Aalto University, P.O. BOX 31000, 00076 AALTO www.aalto.fi

Master of Arts thesis abstract

Author Siiri Lepola Title of thesis Design with Folk - Developing activities and communication of an association based dance club through service design Department Department of Design Degree programme Collaborative and Industrial Design Year 2020 Number of pages 90 Language English

Abstract Civic and association activities have a long history in the Nordic countries. Several association- based clubs create a diverse range of hobbies. However, as the activities are heavily rooted in vol- unteer work, there are both opportunities and challenges when such clubs act as service providers. The background research of the thesis indicated a lack of research on the ability of small voluntary sector organisations to utilise collaborative design methods in the development of their activities.

This thesis strives to understand the topic through a case study from the perspective of service de- sign. The purpose of the study was to find out how service design can promote the development of the activities and communication of an association based club. This thesis focuses on exploring the experiences and future expectations of the members and employees of a Finnish folk dance club Matit ja Maijat. Semi-structured interviews and a co-design workshop methods elaborated the practicalities, structure, communication needs and community spirit of the case club. The col- lected data was analysed in the thesis by affinity diagramming, and the findings compared with the background research.

The results of the thesis indicate that 1) factors that positively influence the community spirit are central in the development of the activities of association based clubs, as community spirit is one of the most important motives for participating in the activities, 2) the desire to provide more pro- fessional services causes growing pains for small association based sports clubs, as the shift to- wards more organised activities can affect the nature of volunteering. The case study shows how such clubs may need help to map and meet the expectations of employees, volunteers, and mem- bers. For this reason, it is necessary to design and develop solutions that support the maintenance of the quality of activities and a positive community spirit in the environment of association based clubs.

The results of the study can be used in voluntary organisational activities and to raise discussion about the importance of communication and transparent information sharing. The thesis con- cludes by assessing the effects and shortcomings of the approach. The integration of service design in association activities should be researched more broadly to understand how much the approach could be utilised in the association context without changing the nature of volunteering, as it is particularly important for the development of more appropriate practices and processes.

Keywords association activities, folk dance, community, service design, co-design, case study

Design with Folk Abstract

Aalto-yliopisto, PL 11000, 00076 AALTO www.aalto.fi

Taiteen maisterin opinnäytteen tiivistelmä

Tekijä Siiri Lepola Työn nimi Design with Folk – Yhdistyspohjaisen tanssiseuran toiminnan ja viestinnän kehittä- minen palvelumuotoilun avulla Laitos Muotoilun laitos Koulutusohjelma Collaborative and Industrial Design Vuosi 2020 Sivumäärä 90 Kieli English

Tiivistelmä Kansalais- ja yhdistymistoiminnalla on pitkä historia Pohjoismaissa. Useat yhdistyspohjaiset seu- rat tekevät harrastusvalikoimasta monipuolisen tarjoamiensa palvelujen avulla. Koska yhdistys- toiminta pohjautuu pitkälti vapaaehtoistyöhön, tällaisten seurojen toimiminen palveluntarjoajina luo sekä mahdollisuuksia että haasteita. Opinnäytetyön taustatutkimus osoitti, että pienten vapaa- ehtoisjärjestöjen kykyä hyödyntää yhteissuunnittelumenetelmiä toiminnan kehityksessä on tutkit- tu vain vähän.

Tämä opinnäytetyö lähestyy aihetta tapaustutkimuksen kautta palvelumuotoilun näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli selvittää kuinka palvelumuotoilu voi edistää yhdistyspohjaisen seuran toiminnan ja viestinnän kehittämistä. Työssä keskityttiin tutkimaan suomalaisen kansantanssiseu- ran Matit ja Maijat ry:n jäsenten ja työntekijöiden kokemuksia sekä tulevaisuuden odotuksia seu- ratoiminnan suhteen. Puolistrukturoituja haastatteluja ja yhteissuunnittelutyöpajaa käytettiin kartoittamaan tapausseuran käytäntöjä, rakennetta, viestintätarpeita sekä yhteisöllisyyttä. Tutki- muksessa kerättyä aineistoa analysoitiin samankaltaisuuskaaviomenetelmällä sekä verraten ha- vaintoja taustatutkimukseen.

Opinnäytetyön tulokset havainnollistavat, että 1) yhteishenkeen positiivisesti vaikuttavat tekijät ovat keskeisiä kehitettäessä yhdistyspohjaisten seurojen toimintaa, sillä yhteisöllisyys on yksi tär- keimmistä motiiveista osallistua toimintaan, ja että 2) halu tarjota ammattimaisempia palveluja voi aiheuttaa kasvukipuja pienille yhdistyspohjaisille seuroille, kun siirtyminen organisoituneem- paan toimintaan voi vaikuttaa vapaaehtoistyön luonteeseen. Tapaustutkimus osoitti kuinka tällai- set seurat saattavat tarvita apua kartoittamaan ja täyttämään työntekijöiden, talkoolaisten ja jä- senten odotuksia. Tästä syystä on tarpeen suunnitella ja kehittää ratkaisuja, jotka tukevat toimin- nan laadun ylläpitoa ja yhteisöllisyyttä yhdistyspohjaisten seurojen ympäristössä.

Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää vapaaehtoisessa järjestötoiminnassa sekä herättämään keskustelua viestinnän ja läpinäkyvän tiedon jakamisen tärkeydestä. Opinnäytetyön lopussa arvi- oidaan lähestymistavan vaikutuksia ja puutteita. Palvelumuotoilun sisällyttämistä yhdistystoimin- taan tulisi tutkia laajemmin, jotta ymmärretään kuinka paljon näkökulmaa voitaisiin kyseisessä kontekstissa hyödyntää, ilman että vapaaehtoistyön luonne muuttuu. Tämä on erityisen tärkeää sopivien käytäntöjen ja prosessien kehittämisen kannalta.

Avainsanat yhdistystoiminta, kansantanssi, yhteisö, palvelumuotoilu, yhteissuunnittelu, tapaus- tutkimus

Design with Folk Tiivistelmä

Abstract 4 Findings and Insights 37 4.1 Working culture – transformation 38 Tiivistelmä 4.1.1 Club as an employer 38 4.1.2 Responsibilities and involvement 42 Terminology 4.1.3 Fluency of activities management 46 4.2 Tradition and its new forms 47 1 Introduction 1 4.3 Communication needs 48 1.1 Service design for association development 2 4.4 Communality 49 1.2 Objectives and research questions 4 4.5 Marketing 51 1.3 Case association Matit ja Maijat 7 4.6 Summary of insights 52 1.4 Problem exploration 8 1.5 Thesis structure 10 5 Design Deliverables 55 5.1 Matit ja Maijat vision 56 2 Background 11 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign 59 2.1 Associations in Finland 12 5.1 Visualising connections 65 2.2 Folk dance in Finland 14 5.2 Recommended tools for activities management 73 2.3 Two main development areas for associations 17 5.3 Evaluation 76 2.3. 1 Roles and motives of volunteers 17 2.3. 2 Communication and information sharing in associations 19 6 Discussion and Conclusions 77 2.4 Service Design and Co-Design 24 6.1 Meeting the research objectives 78 2.4. 1 Service Design 24 6.2 Addressing the research questions 2.4. 2 Co-Design 79 25 6.1 Discussion 83 6.2 Limitations 3 Data and Methods 84 27 6.3 Future development 85 3.1 Design research process 28 6.4 Conclusions 86 3.2 Semi-structured interviews 30 3.3 Co-Design workshop 31 Acknowledgements 87 3.4 Data analysis 35 References 89

Appendices 95

Design with Folk Table of contents Case club Matit ja Maijat, a Finnish folk dance club based in the municipality of Hollola.

Association based club A volunteer based organisation where the club activities are built on the Finnish Association Act and the rules of the association.

Service Design A profession and a design approach which aims to holistically optimise services by taking into account all the factors related to the service process.

Co-Design A creative practice where users of a product/service/system are considered as experts, and they are involved in the design process.

Journey map A visual description of a person’s experience on a specifc timeline. Journey maps are used to illustrate the actions and interactions of a particular main actor in relation to a service/product or system.

Design with Folk Terminology 1.1 Service design for association development

This thesis examines the activities little is known about the capacity of and communication of an these types of volunteer based, small association based dance club by and medium-sized organisations to utilising service design approach. take on co-design activities (Lam et The focus of the research and design al., 2012). This thesis aims to tackle deliverables are in communication, some of the diffculties that the information sharing and community members and employees of the case building. The thesis seeks to club are facing by utilising co-design understand these topics through and involving the club members to a case example Matit ja Maijat, a the design development process. Finnish folk dance club based in the municipality of Hollola. This thesis also has personal objectives. Folk dance has been a The case club of this study had beloved hobby of mine for years. I no previous experience with started the hobby at the age of eight service design. Matit ja Maijat is in Matit ja Maijat, continued for fve an association based hobby club years and then switched to other which means that the activities hobbies. However, some sentiment rely heavily on the workforce of drove me back to the hobby in volunteers. The case club also adulthood. So, I re-joined the club represents a non-proft organisation and now act as one of the dancers where the revenues go directly to in their adult group, participating the maintenance of activities. When in concerts and competitions. As The frst chapter introduces the topic and context of the thesis the goal of the organisation is not an insider, I have the opportunity with personal motives for the study. The introduction is followed fnancial growth, and its volunteers to identify things that work well by the research questions and objectives of the thesis. Finally, the do not get involved in the activities and things that need further fo­r the sake of money, it raises the development. I can use my design collaborating partner and structure of the work are presented in interest to explore the motivations skills and service design know-how this chapter. behind volunteering. This case study to assist the club and its members concentrates on experiences, needs to examine the current practicalities and wishes of the club members and and envision an ideal vision for employees. the dance club. I was inspired to help the club members to organise The topic is a very appealing subject the activities and communication to study as Nordic countries share towards a more functional system. a long history of citizen action and associations. There are over one hundred thousand registered associations just in Finland (‘PRH Number of associations and religious communities’, 2019). However, only

1 2 1.1 Service design for association development

One of my main motivations as a 1.2 Objectives and research questions designer is the possibility to make life easier for people by creating positive change one solution at a time. I believe that through this This thesis examines how service to demonstrate my ability to apply study, I can contribute an improved design can promote the development academic know-how and design way for Matit ja Maijat to maintain of activities and communication skills into practice and to gain a and manage their club activities and of association based hobby clubs. learning experience of a single-lead therefore, free up more time for the The main objective is to examine service design project. This thesis members to do meaningful activities. the practices and processes used in strives to understand the topic a Finnish folk dance club by using through one case study. Matit ja This thesis aims at contributing service design approach as a way Maijat represents the case example to the design feld by exploring to bridge the future expectations of an association based dance club. how service design can be applied with the experiences of members Because the research is conducted in developing activities and and employees of the club. In this through one case study, my aim is to communication of a small, non-proft thesis, I strive to help the ¬case club provide fndings that can be applied organisation through a case example to maintain and develop its activities more broadly in various associations of a folk dance club. through a service design approach and hobby clubs. and collaborative methods. While this thesis links closely The goal is to improve the club with organisation strategy, the activities to meet the needs of its purpose is not to change the core users better while strengthening the activities (dance education), but to community spirit. In order to achieve address some of the existing issues these objectives, I chose to utilise regarding activities management a co-design practice as it provides through service design. The main the means to involve users in the focus of the topic will be in service design process, and hence reinforce design instead of strategic design, the spark of change within the club although there are implications for community. In co-design processes, this as well. designers are often the facilitators of a collaborative development process, but they also contribute to the work with their own input (Mattelmäki & Visser, 2011).

This thesis is practise-driven, and the primary outcome is to develop a couple of feasible design proposals for the collaborating partner club. I chose to do a practise-driven thesis

3 4 1.2 Objectives and research questions

The thesis provides a short Here is a summary of the thesis introduction to folk dance, folk process: dance clubs and to the umbrella organisation (Nuorisoseurat) to Initial review of the literature create a context. However, it will 1. not go into the details of the art of dancing. A stronger emphasis is Problem exploration with placed on investigating associations’ 2. the case club & framing the ways of working; volunteering, task scope of the research management, and the means of communication and information Addressing the topic through sharing in the context. Motivations 3. background research behind volunteering will be examined from the perspective of organising association activities, not as in Qualitative research: behavioural sciences. semi-structured 4. interviews and I chose to use qualitative methods a co-design workshop to deepen my understanding of the topic. To complement the methods, Data analysis and I also introduced quantitative 5. comparison with the statistical information on association background research activities and folk dance in Finland. Figure 1. Mind map of the topic. Development and iterations 6. of design proposals The research was organised to answer the following main research Conclusions and further question: 7. considerations of the topic How can service design promote activities development of an association based dance club?

The main research question is followed by a couple of secondary research questions to support the design deliverables:

• How the roles and division of responsibilities infuence the club’s community spirit and efectiveness? • What factors are essential to fuent communication and information sharing in an association based club?

The research questions above defne the scope of the design research and are examined through the data gathered from semi-structured interviews and a co-design workshop with the collaborating partner club Matit ja Maijat. The research questions and fndings are addressed at the end of the thesis. 5 6 1.3 Case association Matit ja Maijat 1.4 Problem exploration

Matit ja Maijat was initially founded is an example of team effort and Kick-of meeting with The fve participants included a in 1977 under Hollola’s Youth volunteer work. Whenever there is Matit ja Maijat Board founding member of the club, Association. Back then, it was purely a concert to be coordinated, the professional dancer and experienced a children’s group with dancers club comes together. Dancers from At the beginning of this thesis, volunteer workers with skills on from 2- to 6-years-old. Over the different groups help the Board with I organised a kick-off meeting funding management, preparation of years naturally, the dancers grew. different tasks like arranging the with the Matit ja Maijat Board in concert venues, secretary tasks, to Some quitted, and new ones started. venue or bringing pastries for the mid-December 2019 with a semi- name a few. However the dance club as we half time cafeteria. structured plan. The purpose of this know today, was established in 75-minute meeting was to gain an Based on the kick-off meeting, 1995 (S. Korja-Paloniemi, personal The club provides activities through understanding of the current state many club members have communication, Jan 23, 2020). The two semesters: spring and autumn. of the dance club and explore the experienced frustration over desire to advance in the folk dance The exercise rates vary depending on various opportunities, challenges, the continuous issues with feld was strong, and the club had the group. Matit ja Maijat has many assumptions and concerns communication, responsibilities, become ambitious. Hollola’s Youth passionate dancers participating in regarding this research. It was also management and planning of the Association no longer adequately the activities either on a weekly or an opportunity for me to introduce activities. Communication has supported these objectives and Matit monthly basis. Many groups exercise the topic and myself to the Board. been problematic both internally ja Maijat resigned from it. The club weekly, and some groups more between club members as well as founded its own Youth Association frequently. Some more experienced The focus of this meeting was to externally for marketing purposes. club in 1995. New children’s dance groups have monthly intensive capture a broad overview. The goal Responsibilities and the different groups were started in the autumn weekend training. was to be concrete from the start of roles are unclear to many. 1998 and later the club activities the project. During the meeting, the were expanded from children groups A Board consisting of seven Board flled in four different maps The Board agreed that there is a to also young and adult groups. volunteer members manages that I had prepared beforehand to lack of orientation for tasks and the club activities. The Board is encourage discussion and ideation a common problem affecting Nowadays, Matit ja Maijat provides responsible for managing the budget (Appendix A). I used slightly modifed everything is time management. folk dance education for all and association requirements of the versions of empathy maps. The ages and people with different club. On top of this, the club acts as subjects of these maps were: 1) profciency levels. In 2020, the club an employer for dance teachers, who Board of the club, 2) communication, has approximately 60 to 70 active are leading the different groups. In 3) concerts and 4) website. These members and even more dancers. other words; the dance teachers are subjects were selected based on People participating in individual paid labour and the Board of the club my background knowledge and dance classes like FolkJam® are consist of volunteer workers. observations on the activities of not members of the club. Taking Matit ja Maijat. dance classes does not require membership. Five out of seven Board members were able to participate in the kick- The club also organises concerts off meeting. The fve participants annually, participates to festivals and represented a broad selection of the different groups may also perform Matit ja Maijat Board with various on various occasions. Every concert roles, expertise and responsibilities.

7 8 1.5 Thesis structure

The thesis is structured into six The fourth chapter presents the chapters. The introduction chapter fndings of the research analysis and provides a description of the introduces design insights, which are topic, scope of the research, the based on the fndings. These design research questions and objectives insights formed the basis of the of the study. The chapter presents design deliverables. the context of the thesis with an introduction to the collaborating club The ffth chapter presents the results and initial problem exploration. of the case study in the form of design deliverables. The chapter The second chapter focuses on unfolds how the design proposals framing the research by introducing evolved from the initial ideas to relevant topics and terms for the feasible design concepts. reader. It sheds light on the history of associations and folk dance, the Finally, the last chapter presents how roles and motives of volunteers, the research objectives were met, communication and information answers to the research questions, sharing in associations and further considerations, limits of the examines an exemplary volunteer study and concludes the thesis with work case study. The chapter also a summary of the research and provides an introduction to two personal reflection. design approaches used in the thesis: co-design and service design. Figure 2. Analysing the kick-off meeting maps. The methods used in design research are presented in the third chapter. The chapter begins by going Based on the initial mapping (Figure 2), it became clear that the topics that through the design process. The caused the most debate and development desires were communication and process is followed by presenting Board activities related to issues on volunteer’s management. These themes the research methods used to collect provided me with possible entries for design intervention and formed the data. These methods were semi- starting point for this thesis. structured interviews and co-design workshop. Lastly, the data analysis Matit ja Maijat is a valuable collaborating partner to examine since it is an techniques are introduced with example of the numerous sports organisations and hobby clubs functioning images of the process. with volunteer work and association basis in Finland. These sports clubs rarely have grand fnancial resources for organising and developing their activities. However, they provide valuable ways for social interaction and meaningful ways to maintain and develop physical health and skills. Many of these clubs are running by the force of volunteer work and fund-raising.

9 10 2.1 Associations in Finland

According to Rosengren et al. many of the associations in the (2008), an association is a group register are still active (Borg, 2006). of people who share a desire to do However, a large number still something together and work for a suggest that there is a keen interest mutual cause. An association is not in this kind of collective work. a company and therefore, does not act like one. The activities implement Finland’s fondness for associations the ideology of the association, and volunteer based club activities is and the volunteer work is done for shared by other Nordic countries as the common good in mind, not well. On average, every Finnish and increasing fnancial proft. Danish belongs to three associations or societies (Booth, 2014; Rosengren Finland has a long and robust history et al., 2008). According to Borg of citizen action starting in the late (2006), particularly in the Nordic 17th century. Even today, the over context, the role of associations can 200-year-old tradition of organising be perceived as the foundation and continues to appeal and engage basis of democratic civic skills and people to take part in associations, citizen action. Only a very few Nordic organisations and social movements political fgures have accomplished (Lyhyt oppimäärä kansalais- ja their positions without participating järjestötoiminnan historiaa– in association work frst. Democracy Kansalaisyhteiskunta.f, 2007). is a highly appreciated value and This chapter presents the framework for the study by providing strongly present within association background information on the topic. The chapter begins by Based on the Finnish Patent and work, especially when considering exploring the status and history of associations in Finland, Registration Offce, there are over the different roles of the members 106,300 registered associations and the characteristics of decision- followed by a brief history of Finnish folk dance and an in Finland (PRH Number of making (Rosengren et al., 2008). introduction to the various actors in the feld. The chapter associations and religious also examines two development areas for associations. Good communities, 2019). However, the Based on Helander (2006), Finnish practices of a volunteer based organisation are described association register is not entirely associations can vary substantially through one case study. Lastly, current knowledge on the reliable nor up to date. Borg states from one another. They operate on strengths and weaknesses of applying service design and (2006) in a publication of the different felds, sizes and skill levels. co-design in the light of the topic and given context are Ministry of Justice Finland that In reality, most of them are small and discussed. During the background research, the term used to statistical research on associations local associations. Associations are in Finland is relatively young and signifcant at enabling their members describe a third sector organisation varied. In this thesis, has a rather weak foundation. to build network and connections. I mainly use the term Association Based Club. Once an association is established, Therefore, association work holds a it is not easily removed from the contribution to the overall integrity registry after ceasing its operations. and community spirit of society Therefore, it is hard to defne how (Borg, 2006).

11 12 2.1 Associations in Finland

Accordingly, being an active member of an association can offer unexpected 2.2 Folk dance in Finland future prospects for oneself.

Association activities are guided by the rules of the association and the Finnish Associations Act. The rules of an association must include the name, Folk dance has fascinating and supported by the fact that most of municipality of residence as well as its purpose and forms of activity ambiguous origins. According to the folk dance names have a foreign (PRH Rules, 2019). According to Rosengren et al. (2008), the Association Act Heinämäki et al. (2001), it is known origin (Hoppu, 2016; Niemeläinen, ensures the democratic rights of the members by defning general frames for that the dance form has strong 1983; Rausmaa & Rausmaa, 1977). association activities. It does not however dictate what the association should relations to a specifc era, nationality Here is how Hoppu summarized folk do. Associations have the right to defne their own rules and internal activities and localism. However, most of the dance history for YLE News: as long as the activities are not against the law or good manners. (Rosengren national characteristics in the Finnish et al., 2008). folk dance already faded together “There is as much with the romantic nationalism in The more members there are, the more resources and power the association original Finnish folk the early 1900s and yet folk dance has (Rosengren et al., 2008). Resources in the case of an association do dance as there is any is even today perceived as highly not merely mean the fnancial security gained from several memberships. It other Finnish national dance form. Despite the can also be referred to describe the available time, skills, physical strength, culture, that is, almost national perspective, folk dance has expertise of members, level of commitment and willingness to work together. nothing.” continuously absorbed inspiration and references from various Unfortunately, one common characteristic to many Finnish associations is – Dance researcher Dr. Petri Hoppu, directions or phenomena, which amateurism, which is restricting especially the services provided by local YLE News / 7 Dec 2016. makes it surprisingly adaptable. associations. Less than a ffth of the associations in Finland have hired (Heinämäki et al., 2001). professional labour (Helander, 2001). Typically in associations, there is an Nowadays, the feld of folk dance alarming need for Board training and management expertise. is more diverse than ever before, According to Rausmaa and Likely, for this reason, there are many support channels available for and the term folk dance embodies Rausmaa (1977), two characteristics associations. Here are a couple of examples: even more nuances. According of all folklore are constant variation to Heinämäki et al. (2001), many and strict rules to style. Due to a lack • Finnish Patent and Registration Ofce – Provides information about the organisations notice the merger with of written tradition, variations were rules and requirements of an association and on how to establish and different forms of contemporary inevitable since one person shared register one (PRH - Finnish Patent and Registration Offce, n.d.) social dance in the folk dance feld. the information to another. Based on With it, the artistic spectrum has • Kansalaisfoorumi – A nationwide liberal adult education institution that a dance researcher Dr Petri Hoppu, expanded, and folk dance education offers support and training to organisational actors all over Finland. Finnish folk dances are not actually has become more professional Member organisations include e.g. the Youth Associations Finnish at all. Different dances (Heinämäki et al., 2001). (Keitä olemme, n.d.) have spread across countries, from one culture to another while • Kumppanuusverkosto.f – A local (Päijät-Häme) collaboration forum, This thesis concentrates on each community has modifed and observing folk dance as a hobby promoting well-being of the residents of the area and offering free guides merged those dances to be ftted on and task templates for associations (Etusivu | Päijät-Hämeen sotu ry, n.d.) from the professional and voluntary their perspective of a suitable style perspective of the sport. Heinämäki (Hoppu, 2016; Rausmaa & Rausmaa, et al. (2001) state that one typical 1977). This argument is already feature of folk dance activities is a high level of commitment to different organisations and associations.

13 14 2.2 Folk dance in Finland 2.2 Folk dance in Finland

Here are listed the largest organisations practising folk dance activities in Based on the information provided Finland: by these different organisations, the number of folk dance hobbyists in • Suomen Nuorisoseurojen Liitto Finland is approximately 25,000 (Youth Association Union, NS-organisation) (see Figure 3). However, the statistics • Suomalaisen Kansantanssin Ystävät are not entirely reliable since (Friends of the Finnish folk dance, SKY) this data is from 2001, there are differences between the calculation • Kansantanssinuorten Liitto accuracy, and there is a signifcant (Folk Dance Youth Union, KTNL) number of folk dance groups • Finlands Svenska Folkdansring functioning outside organisations. (Finland’s Swedish Folk Dance Ring, FSF) All in all, it is yet relevant to provide context about the popularity of the • Karjalainen Nuorisoliitto sport for the thesis. (Karelian Youth Union, KN) One of the major operators in • Setlementtinuorten Liitto the folk dance feld is the Finnish (Youth Settlement Union, SETNL) Youth Association Union (Finnish: • Diferent Finnish pension organisations: Eläkeläiset ry, Eläkkeensaajien Nuorisoseurat). The Youth Keskusliitto, Eläkeliitto ry Associations began to practise folk dance education in the 1890s, and the popularity of the dance form grew (Niemeläinen, 1983).

According to the Finnish Youth Association website, they are the most extensive actor in cultural youth work offering hobbies for all ages in several felds. Fostering the Finnish culture is an essential part of the Youth Association’s ideology (Historia | Nuorisoseurat, n.d.). Even now, a majority of Finnish folk dance clubs are operating under the local Youth Associations. Approximately 700 local association clubs are operating all across the country (The Finnish Youth Association, n.d.). Same applies for the collaborating partner of this thesis. Matit ja Maijat founded its own local Youth Association club in 1995. Figure 3. Members of different Finnish folk dance organisations, based on Heinämäki et al., (2001), Kansantanssi Suomessa – selvitys (p.7).

15 16 2.3 Two main development areas for associations

2.3 Two main development areas for associations

These two focus areas were selected based on the initial problem exploration. The motives and expertise of of a community are passed from Because communication and the Board activities regarding volunteer’s hobbyists and members of folk one person to another in the form management formed the starting point for the research, I chose to explore dance clubs may vary drastically. of success stories, failures, and these themes in more detail. Different motivations in this context highlights (Hautamäki et al., 2005). are, for example, social aspects like; 2.3.1 Roles and motives of belonging and working together and A study on millennials conducted volunteers the determination in competing and by Voida et al. (2015), indicated performing groups. Although some that a volunteer’s previous Volunteering is one of the core of losing the characteristics of research on work motivation may experiences, knowledge and social characteristics of association work. the activity if it is approached too also apply to volunteers, there is one bonds influence on the structure Volunteering is an activity, where professionally. Hence volunteering is considerable difference between a of volunteer work. Usually, people one chooses to give their time freely also vulnerable and receptive to the regular employee and a volunteer tend to help on subjects that they to beneft others, group or cause elements of the professional work – money. Volunteers do not get are good at, or they have experience (Wilson, 2000). In order to become (Marjovuo, 2014). paid for their efforts, which is one with, and that people often help a volunteer, one must frst know of the reasons why it is interesting others differently based on how about the volunteering opportunities to explore what encourages people well they know someone (Voida, and have the curiosity to participate Varying motives to participate in such activities. Yao, & Korn, 2015). In the case of (Rosengren et al., 2008). According There are different reasons for Rosengren et al. (2008) expressed Matit ja Maijat, this information can to Geiser et al. (2014), there has been participating in association work. that for many, volunteering itself can be applied by making better use of a prominent interest in identifying Others may get inspired by the be rewarding and an essential part members’ existing skills and know- the motives that trigger people to factors that beneft themselves of life that brings joy. Therefore, the how. In other words, by assigning a become volunteers, and multiple and others by the factors that let required commitment, effort and specifc responsibility to the person models are used to conceptualise them help others (Kuokkanen et al., time spent is not an issue for the who is most familiar with the task them (Geiser et al., 2014). Due to the 2007). Widjaja (2010) compared the volunteers (Rosengren et al., 2008). and its requirements. However, limitations and scope of the thesis, motivation factors of volunteers. Her this observation does not take into this is merely noted. The motivations results were based on numerous Association activities in itself, create account the overall balance of tasks of volunteering are addressed from studies, and although some studies excellent possibilities to develop within the association which brings the perspective of association based showed divergent views, a general collaborative skills; however, even us to the next topic. hobby clubs. trend was noticeable. According to better results can be achieved if this trend motivation for volunteering teamwork and the collaboration are The world of volunteering often is often based on values, consciously selected development Assigned roles welcomes the knowledge and understanding and enhancement targets (Kuokkanen et al., 2007). According to Kuokkanen et al. (2007), practises from the professional (Widjaja, 2010). Associations could Enjoyable teamwork and community the most productive associations world. However, according to beneft from this information by are encouraging factors for are the ones where the people who Marjovuo (2014), involving business emphasising these factors when participating in the activities. make the activities happen are also and public sector practices into seeking new members. According Because the systems used to included in deciding how matters volunteer work is partially risky to Kuokkanen et al. (2007), people organise the activities usually have get done. Unfortunately, many because of the unique nature of want to be involved in association a direct impact to the community associations share the problem volunteering. There is a danger activities that are productive and spirit as the rules and interpretations of not having that type of working socially rewarding.

17 18 2.3 Two main development areas for associations 2.3 Two main development areas for associations

culture which would allow the 2.3.2 Communication and Neglecting communication can decisions made. Both are equally members to truly participate to the information sharing in have signifcant consequences. important aspects of association planning and decision-making of the associations If organisations’ activities seem communication. However, the association activities (Kuokkanen confusing, it can withdraw potential division between internal and et al., 2007; Rosengren et al., 2008). “No matter what kind partners, supporters or employees external communication is not Instead, association duties typically of project – agriculture, (Juholin, 2009). A proactive always black and white. Sometimes, tend to accumulate to the members infrastructure, water, association distributes information for example, the partners and of the Board, and within the Board, governance, health – it actively to its members and potential workers have a very similar they usually pile up on the shoulders is always valuable, and stakeholders about the activities and position to the actual members of of only a few people (Rosengren et often essential, to what is coming (Rosengren et al., the organisation (Juholin, 2009). al., 2008). Therefore, it is advisable 2008). establish dialog among to pay close attention to the division In an association environment, relevant stakeholders. of tasks, roles and responsibility Given the nature of associations one noteworthy aspect of internal Dialog is the necessary areas to develop methods that and their volunteer based teamwork, communication is information ingredient in building allow genuine participation for other it was appropriate to examine sharing (Kuokkanen et al., members as well. trust, sharing the role of communication in this 2007; Rosengren et al., 2008). knowledge and ensuring context, especially when the role of Communication is closely related The division of tasks and mutual understanding.” communications seems to be on the to organisational learning since it responsibility areas should be seen rise. According to Sitra’s publication can support information sharing as yet another way to motivate (Mefalopulos, 2008, p.8). on Megatrends 2020, networking, and increasing knowledge among people to join since it holds the interaction and communication skills members as people learn from each potential to encourage members In line with Mefalopulos’ statement, all together will play a more critical other (Juholin, 2009). One way to to commit to the activities and see communication and information role in the future (Dufva, 2020). support information sharing is the the impact of their own work input sharing are signifcant components Furthermore, communication and careful documentation of association (Rosengren et al., 2008). From this in association work. Associations information sharing are becoming activities and tasks. perspective, associations can also often have multiple stakeholders increasingly more essential elements play a central role in the creation of to communicate with, such as of an organisation’s strategy, citizens’ identities (Borg, 2006). clients, partners, volunteers and describing where the organisation is local municipal actors, and the going and why (Repo, 2020). In conclusion, a successful same applies to the collaborating association is 1) effcient and club Matit ja Maijat. According to According to Rosengren et al. (2008), productive when the tasks are Juholin (2009), a prerequisite of an associations can raise awareness equally distributed, and the skills organisation is that the community of their activities and purpose of its members have been taken can meet the expectations of its through external communication, into account 2) satisfying the social relevant stakeholders. This means which means information cohesion needs of its members by that the community must be able sharing to the public. External pleasant teamwork and providing to make its mission, objectives and communication enables ways to opportunities to make a difference. results known to the key partners. gain more members, support and These aspects enable community Hence, communication is a crucial visibility. Internal communication, building. part of association activities. on the other hand, effects within the association, in the forms of activities management, information sharing between members, and how are

19 20 2.3 Two main development areas for associations

In recent years, social media and Case example: Jukola – orienteering relay smart devices have changed social interaction drastically (Dufva, 2020). Nowadays, it is quite common that the other party of service experience To help me to think and to picture a well-functioning volunteer based is represented by a particular organisation, I chose to examine an example inspirational case Jukola. platform such as a website, Jukola is the name for the 7-leg men’s orienteering relay (Finnish: Jukolan application or a newsletter (Mäkinen, viesti) and the 4-leg women’s relay (Finnish: Venlojen viesti). It is one of the 2018). The communication media largest orienteering relays in the world, attracting over 15,000 participants and the chosen channels can each year. The frst Jukola relay was organised in 1949, and it has since affect profoundly on the results of been organised annually in different locations around Finland (Tietoja reaching the volunteers, promoting tapahtumasta | Jukolan viesti—Jukola relay—Jukola kavlen, n.d.). volunteering opportunities and aiding non-proft organisations to Jukola is famous for the high quality of the event and competition arrange meetings or events (Voida, arrangements. It is a massive sports event organised basically through Yao, & Korn, 2015). Therefore, it volunteer work. The Jukola organisation usually employs only 1 to 3 persons is recommended for associations for a fxed-term contract, but during the two days of the Jukola, over 1,500 to take the time to draw up a volunteers are the workforce organising the event. The event has a long Communication Plan (Sandberg, history of collaboration and information sharing between the successive 2020). organising teams. Every year the location venue changes. The organisers are chosen 3 to 5 years in advance. It is considered as an honour for the According to Sandberg (2020), the organising orienteering club and the surrounding town or city to become purpose of a Communication Plan selected as Jukola organiser. is to clarify the communication goals and to map out what should Jukola is an excellent example of successful volunteer work, and it has been be done, when, to whom and under review on several studies and theses. This already expresses the high which channels to use. It is also level of interest to the coordination of the event. Many studies of Jukola benefcial to dedicate responsible focus on environmental effects, construction of the site, required systems persons for communication tasks. and information technology for the competition (e.g. Järvinen, 2018; The quality and effectiveness of Korhonen, 2019; Sivula, 2018). For this thesis, it is a great case to examine communication are often more in the light of communication, community spirit, information sharing and important to observe than quantity service design. (Sandberg, 2020). In the context of this thesis, communication is highly Each year after the Jukola event, the organising team arranges a seminar cross-sectional. It is an essential with the next organiser. Furthermore, the organising team always conducts a part of both association work and fnal report to be shared to the public and handed out for the next organiser. service design approach. The thesis The report clarifes that the high level of skills needed for organising the emphasises communication by event can be achieved only by experience. In order to gain this experience, it bridging the different focus areas is crucial to draw up a training plan. The fnal report of Lahti-Hollola Jukola together with the fndings from user 2018 reveals that Jukola relay is starting to reach its limit by carrying out research. such a massive event on mere volunteer work. Therefore, it is signifcant to develop organisation and divide tasks into more manageable entities.

21 22 Case example: Jukola – orienteering relay

2.4 Service Design and Co-Design for associations

The report describes different tasks, committees, requirements and schedule of organising the Jukola event. Here are a couple of conclusions from the good practises of Jukola: 2.4.1 Service Design

1. A well-functioning volunteer based organisation must be fexible The topic of this thesis is approached from Service Design perspective. Of and constantly strive to improve its operations. the many defnitions of service design, this thesis takes after on the following 2. It is highly important to assign deputies to various main tasks. crowdsourced defnition for the term: 3. Even if the task of a volunteer itself is simple, it is good to go through it carefully to avoid unnecessary anxiety of the volunteer. “Service design helps organizations see their services from a For this purpose, the competition committee prepared a separate customer perspective. It is an approach to designing services handbook for the volunteers. that balances the needs of the customer with the needs of the business, aiming to create seamless and quality service (Lahti-Hollola Jukolan loppuraportti-2018.pdf, n.d.) experiences. Service design is rooted in design thinking, and brings a creative, human-centered process to service In the context of this thesis the main takeaways from examining Jukola improvement and designing new services. Through events are volunteer organisation’s desire to continuous development, collaborative methods that engage both customers and service thorough information and knowledge sharing in the form of documentation delivery teams, service design helps organizations gain true, for future organisers, orientation for volunteer tasks and anticipating end-to-end understanding of their services, enabling holistic situations by appointing deputies for critical roles. These are also the and meaningful improvements.” reasons why the event has reached its own term “Jukola Class” to describe a brilliantly organised event (Hämäläinen, 2019; Saarimäki, 2015). (Miller, 2015.)

Service Design takes into consideration the various stakeholders and people connected with the service. In the context of the thesis, this means 1) The service providers – in this thesis represented by Matit ja Maijat Board and employees, 2) The service users – represented here by dancers, parents and audience and lastly, 3) The people who are affected by the service – represented by collaborating partners like for example the municipality of Hollola.

Iterations and quick experiments are common characteristics of Service Design. Possible solutions can be prototyped and tested out quickly (Stickdorn et al., 2018). Especially in the context of voluntary organisation, it is critical to try out the ideas before implementations due to the limited fnancial resources (Bailey & Warwick, 2013). For this reason, service design is also an appealing approach to incorporate for non-proft, and association work and the subject has aroused interest.

In 2018, Milla Mäkinen authored a guidebook on how to integrate service design and design thinking for non-governmental organisations and Figure 4. The atmosphere before Jukola relay start at Kangasala, 15 June 2019 associations. The guide provides an introduction to design thinking and (photo: Kimmo Hirvonen). service design tools in the form of a workbook, where the reader can fll in the details of their organisation. 23 24 2.4 Service Design and Co-Design for associations

According to Killeen (2014), the The shift from user-centred design interest towards potentials and towards co-design affects the roles benefts of incorporating service of the different stakeholders within design in non-proft and association the design process (Sanders & activities is increasing since many Stappers, 2008). According to Bailey third sector organisations are facing & Warwick (2013), the importance changes in a more competitive of engaging users to the service funding environment and struggles development process is an admitted to fnd strategic vision (Killeen, 2014). need in voluntary and public sector organisations. However, the practice often lacks proper implementation (Bailey & Warwick, 2013). 2.4.1 Co-Design According to Lam et al. (2012), Because many of the Board there is only a limited number of members have years of experience in studies done on the capabilities of managing the club activities, and the small and medium-sized voluntary dancers have frst-hand knowledge sector organisations to incorporate from the “client” perspective, it was a co-design approach in their important to utilise their expertise in development of activities. One this development project. explanation for this phenomenon is that the capabilities of design The role of design is everchanging. and its true potential are still The term Co-design refers to a somewhat unknown among non- variety of design approaches that designers. Often the term ‘design’ construct on collective creativity can be misunderstood as merely a shared by designers and people, styling activity failing to understand, who are not familiar or educated in for example, the possibilities of design (Sanders & Stappers, 2008; the design approach in helping Lam, Dearden, William-Powlett, & organisations to comprehend their Brodie, 2012). Traditionally designers customers’ needs and experiences have been utilising user studies to (Bailey & Warwick, 2013). execute their vision and solution, but nowadays design is being placed even more collaborative ground. In collaborative design, users are considered as design partners, often as experts in their work and everyday practise (Botero & Hyysalo, 2013).

25 26 3.1 Design research process

The design research process started service design research (Stickdorn with problem exploration and a kick- et al., 2018). The frst interviews off meeting with the Board of Matit were conducted while still being ja Maijat followed by background immersed with the literature review research and initial literature review. and defning the research questions. Since associations and volunteering The goal was to keep up an agile play such a unique role in Finland, and iterative process throughout it was essential to make use of the research and design, as the best the existing knowledge. Therefore, design processes adapt accordingly one case study was selected and to the challenge at hand (Stickdorn explored from the perspective of et al., 2018). an inspirational case example of a volunteer based organisation. However, common to many design projects is the balancing between The literature review provided a divergent and convergent thinking more holistic view on the topic and and doing. This balancing is often assisted in fnding out the right presented through a design process lenses through which to examine the model called the Double Diamond. activities of the collaborating dance The Double Diamond model was club. created based on a study of creative design teams and was implemented The chosen research methods for by the British Design Council To frstly gain a proper understanding of the club members and gathering data were qualitative, (Figure 5). their experiences, and secondly to examine the work culture and and user-centred as common to services provided by a folk dance club, I found it necessary to engage all stakeholders in the process. Therefore, to make the case study, two qualitative methods were used to collect the data:

1. Semi-structured interviews for folk dance teachers 2. Co-design workshop with the collaborating dance club Matit ja Maijat

The collected data was grouped and analysed by using diferent mapping techniques. The analysis phase and defning the insights had a signifcant impact on the design proposals, since the selected insights helped to frame the issues, and formed the basis and direction for the design. Figure 5. The Double Diamond model based on Design Council (2007).

27 28 3.1 Design research process

The design process of this thesis The literature review was fnalised 3.2 Semi-structured interviews had a similar structure to the Double during the analysis phase when a Diamond model. The project began need to search for more information by frst identifying possible points for on a particular subject surfaced. design intervention and then limiting The process of creating the design Interviews were conducted with folk Most of the interviews took place on the problems to the most relevant deliverables was iterative. Therefore, dance teachers. The purpose was January 11, 2020, at the Folklandia themes with the help of the Board. the project evaluation was also to collect a broader understanding cruise, an annual event built around The selected themes were explored implemented in pieces. After I began of the folk dance feld in Finland and folk dance and folk music. The cruise together with the study participants visualising the ideas, I shared them to get a sense of the community was aptly selected location for the to ideate potential design outcomes, via email with the Board of the spirit. Dance teachers were selected interviews since the majority of the and fnally, the ideas were narrowed club. The Board members gave me for this purpose since most of them staff working in the folk dance feld down on a few feasible design feedback during the process and I are working for multiple dance was gathered in the same place at solutions. made modifcations accordingly. clubs in different cities and had the same time. The last interview plenty of frst-hand experience and took place in Hollola on January 18, The methods for data collecting expertise on Finnish folk dance. The 2020. All of the interviews lasted were semi-structured interviews dance teachers also provided the around 30 minutes. and a co-design workshop with perspective of paid employees within members of the collaborating club. a dance club. The interviews began with exploring These two methods are presented the background and schedules of the in the following chapters. The use The format of these interviews dance teachers. Then the scope of of these two methods resulted in a was semi-structured, providing a the questions was broadened to get large amount of qualitative data that possibility for extended answers, familiar with the number of groups/ was later grouped and analysed. while still being limited by the scope courses the teachers were leading The analysis and data grouping and structure (Muratovski, 2016). and whether the teachers also phase was a signifcant part of the This qualitative method was chosen acted as professional dancers. Then design process. During this phase, because it offers more freedom for the attention of the interview was a comprehensive understanding answers and allows the interviewer shifted to focus on the employee of the topic was built. The many to simultaneously observe the perspective. connections between different interviewee’s reactions, tone of voice subjects, user experiences and and the overall atmosphere. The The aim was to fnd out whether literature, started to unravel. As interviews were conducted face- the teachers have noticed some familiar to service design research, to-face in Finnish. A voice recorder common traits or challenges among data visualisation was used to make was used with permission from the the employers (= dance clubs) they sense of the information during participants for documentation. have worked with. The goal was to the analysis phase (Segelström & understand better what motivates Holmlid, 2009). In total, four interviews were the teachers in their work, what transcribed and later analysed. The factors influenced their choice of interviews were structured in four employer, and how the employers focus areas to be discussed: 1) could improve their employee Personal background, 2) Employee experience. This discussion perspective, 3) Communality and 4) appeared to be the most fruitful Additional thoughts. focus area of the interviews.

29 30 3.2 Semi-structured interviews / 3.3 Co-Design Workshop

After describing the employee The workshop was structured in perspectives, the interviewees were two parts. During the frst part, all of asked about the communality, how the participants were collaborating it is perceived, and if they had some in two mixed groups. For the improvement suggestions. Lastly, second part of the workshop, the the interview ended with a more participants were asked to form informal discussion on thoughts new groups based on their role, about the status of folk dance in which meant that the dancers Finland and some of the noticeable worked as one group, and the other trends in the feld. group consisted of Board members, parents and dance teachers.

The objectives for the workshop 3.3 Co-Design workshop were to go through the current club practices, clarify the desired outcomes for this project, to fnd out dreams and future expectations The co-design workshop was of club members and fnally, for organised based on background me, to absorb as much information research and dance teachers’ as possible. In order to achieve interviews. The date was agreed these objectives within the limited already during the frst meeting with period of time, the workshop and its the Board. Before the event, the assignments were carefully planned club members received a reminder out and scheduled. in the form of an offcial workshop invitation. The invitation presented a The workshop focused on examining short introduction to the topic of this the experiences of members’, current thesis and purpose for organising practises of the club and envisioning the workshop. the future together. Participants were asked to cooperate in order The two-hour-long co-design to solve some of the raised issues. workshop was held in Hollola The workshop started by introducing on February 7, 2020. I facilitated myself and the topic of this research the workshop with the help of to the participants. one assistant. The participants represented members of the club The introduction was followed comprehensively by including by some general instructions dancers of different ages, Board for participation and dividing members, dancers’ parents participants into two groups: The and dance teachers. The total frst group had 9 participants and number of participants was 19. the second 10 participants. The For documentation of tasks and importance of creating mixed groups results, participants were asked for with different roles was highlighted. permission to take photos.

31 Figure 6. Poster exercise from the co-design workshop. 32 3.3 Co-Design Workshop

Present and future – poster exercise The frst group assignment was a had yet again the possibility to make poster exercise completed in two use of the provided materials on parts: Matit ja Maijat – Now and tables. After the exercise, both Future Matit ja Maijat – Future. Two vision posters were attached on the wall canvases were printed on A2-sized and the groups shortly presented sheets and they formed the basis their vision to others. for the posters. The canvases were structured to help to keep in mind Communication mapping the different topics related to club After the participants were divided activities (Figure 6). into groups based on their role, the Board of the club had twenty The participants were frst asked minutes to map out all the different to discuss and work together to stakeholders that Matit ja Maijat come up with an image on the interacts with. The Board was asked current situation and practises of to write one stakeholder per one the club by making insights and A5-card and to answer a couple of using the provided materials on questions regarding that partner. tables. These materials included After the initial mapping, the Board sticky notes, markers, inspiration was asked to select fve most pictures, emotion cards and notes important partners and to examine from the initial map exercise at the those in more detail. Previously kick-off meeting. The importance prepared questions were given to of providing visual material in assist these group discussions. the form of pictures was kept in Figure 7. Photo collage from the co-design workshop. mind, because the age range of An ideal dancer’s journey map the participants was not known Simultaneously when the Board in advance. This way, I was able was mapping out the partners, the to ensure that as many people as dancers were working as one unit The dancers began the journey map by building a timeline of actions, then possible were able to participate. and building an ideal customer focusing on the different touchpoints and continued moving on to feelings, After the exercise, both posters were journey map from a dancer’s thoughts, questions and opportunities. The dancers had a very energetic attached on the wall and the groups perspective. In order to prepare attitude and practical take on the assignment. The dancers spent in total of shortly presented their Now poster to the dancers for the ideal customer 35 minutes on the customer journey assignment. others. journey map assignment, I asked them to frst quickly draft down their Final discussion The second part of the poster own journey and experience of how The workshop concluded with a fnal discussion where the dancers exercise was to repeat the same they got involved with the dance presented their dancer’s journey assignment and the results to the rest of assignment with a different mindset. club. Previously prepared questions the participants while the Board presented their communication and partner The participants were asked to focus were handed out to assist on the mapping to others. The workshop was concluded in a positive atmosphere on envisioning the future of Matit assignment. by sharing feedback. ja Maijat. The task was to discuss and create together an ideal image of the club future. The participants

33 34 3.4 Data analysis

After transcribing the interviews, Finally, the notes were separated the collected data was analysed based on the moment in time, together with the data from the whether the fndings were describing co-design workshop assignments. the current state and existing To ensure the anonymity of the problems, or the future hopes and interviewees, they were referred to expectations. These three rounds as ‘dance teacher 1., dance teacher of clustering eventually led to fve 2. et cetera’. As typical for qualitative focus areas that were used to create research, a wide range of data from design deliverables. multiple sources were examined from different angles (Muratovski, The fve focus areas were named as: 2016). 1) Working culture – transformation, 2) Tradition and its new forms, 3) Affnity diagramming was used as Communication, 4) Communality one of the selected data analysing and 5) Marketing. These focus technique as it is an appropriate areas were used in creating design technique for making sense of insights. Figure 8. Analysing the club’s communication. Figure 9. Vision mapping. a large amount of qualitative data (Lucero, 2015). The affnity The purpose of creating design diagramming began by collecting insights was to capture the essence Figure 10. Image from the frst round of data clustering. Figure 11. Second round of clustering and analysing the data. all the fascinating and relevant of these focus areas into a form topics from the interview records that allowed to work with them and writing each topic on a separate further. The fndings and created sticky note. The same was then design insights were used in building repeated with the results from co- the future vision of Matit ja Maijat design workshop assignments. Once (Figure 5). After the analysis of the all of the fascinating pieces of data research fndings and the creation were collected on sticky notes, the of design insights, the fndings were notes were attached to a wall and compared with the future posters clustered based on the data. created during the workshop. Through this comparison, I wanted Data clustering began with looking to keep in mind the perspective of for similarities and differences the participants regarding the vision. between fndings and grouping them This comparison made identifying based on similar topic areas. Next, the recurring themes easier and the clustering continued by arranging allowed me to build a vision for Matit the fndings of a specifc topic area ja Maijat. The following section based on positive, neutral or negative addresses the fndings and insights experiences and thoughts. of the thesis in more detail.

35 36 4.1 Working culture – transformation

4.1.1 Club as an employer

Insight: Working culture – transformation afects the lives of volunteers and 1. employees and can create a confict of interests.

Based on the interviews, the cultural change in the feld of folk dance appears to be one of the prominent challenges affecting the employee experience of dance teachers as well as the work nature of volunteers. This cultural change refers to associations that have usually been supporting hobbies, but are now needed to provide services. Because folk dance is so rooted in voluntary work, the shift towards a more organised, professional dance education is causing growing pains for the association based clubs. Moreover, the problems seem to intensify when the organising club is small since more responsibilities are divided among fewer people, and one person usually has to take care of multiple tasks. This fnding is also in line with the observations from the literature review.

“If I have been hired as a dance teacher, my job is to teach dance. My job is not to do other association activities without salary. This is often forgotten. My job does This chapter presents the fndings and insights that emerged not obligate me to go on any trip or an event for free. For from the case study of Matit ja Maijat. The fndings and insights some reason, folk dance clubs operating under the in this section are introduced cluster by cluster, going through the umbrella organisation often assume that I will diferent focus areas of this thesis. The extracts in this section are automatically come somewhere and pay my own travel paraphrased from Finnish to English in order to preserve the tone costs.” of the interviewees and workshop participants. These fndings and insights were used to defne the scope and direction of design – Dance teacher 3 deliverables. According to the dance teachers’ responds, a common challenge for many folk dance clubs is that they do not know how to act as a proper employer. The division of tasks and responsibilities can be challenging to organise with both hired and volunteer help. Nevertheless, it is not due to a lack of desire to do the right thing. Volunteer workers want to do things right and show a great example, but it needs to be noticed that the club activities for them happen outside of work, during their leisure time. Consequently, there is only a limited amount of time and effort available for managing the activities. The volunteers’ activities management diffculties directly resonate with dance teachers’ employee experience. 37 38 4.1 Working culture– transformation 4.1 Working culture– transformation

One relevant notion regarding the Here are a couple of examples of Insight: working culture transformation is to how the challenge was phrased: Clear, pre-agreed rules and mutual trust between hired and bear in mind the risk of incorporating 2. voluntary help are the keys to pleasing work. too much service design in this sort “Acting as an employer of environment due to the nature may not be understood of volunteer work. Service design by the club. In a way, I One example of developing an association based dance club’s work culture is benefcial and can be applied understand this. is to demonstrate through transparency and open discussion that the role of up to a certain point, but there is a Who would like to act the employer is taken seriously. If an association has hired help, they must risk of running into other problems as an employer in their be able to provide all the required duties of a responsible employer without if everything is being addressed spare time, but then any obscurity. Both the Board members and the dance teachers agreed that as a service. This dance club is again, that is an especially employment contracts need more attention in the future. Increasing based on voluntary work; it is not a obligation if ofcial transparency could improve the atmosphere and trust between employee professional dance school, which employment has been and employer. The job descriptions should be clear, and the included tasks in essence means that they both made.” must be agreed upon before signing the contract to avoid conflicts regarding offer the same services but in very responsibility areas. different means, and it must be kept – Dance teacher 1 in mind. According to the interviewees, the expected tasks of a dance teacher can “I think that it is also vary between different dance clubs, which is why the importance of salary Many of the interviewees admitted wrong for the dance negotiations was emphasised several times during the interviews. that they have had to educate the club that somebody’s employer on its duties, usually even “The most common and irritating challenge is salary continuously, partly because the hobby needs to be the employer. But I feel that negotiations. In the sense of what are the tasks that are Board and people can change. For really included in the job and how things should be that reason, there is a need to design we are now in this transition, where me handled properly so that you don’t have to start asking for solutions that support associations your obligated bonuses afterwards (e.g. Sunday bonus).” with such characteristics. Despite and some other crazy people are actually this, the dance teachers also feel – Dance teacher 1 compassion towards the volunteer trying to make a living with this job. So, workers in the situation. “Even after the employer has learned its duties, it must be changing this culture kept an eye on that those are followed through. I cannot where clubs are automatically trust that everything is okay.” accustomed to having things done for free and – Dance teacher 3 the spirit that ‘this is just a hobby’ — it takes One improvement suggestion for the employment contract came from the time.” workshop participants. The idea was to create an employment contract template for the dance club. In practice, the Board of the club would take the – Dance teacher 4 time to focus on the employment contract and frame the job description well in advance before the next salary negotiations. A contract template is a clear example of the artefacts that support communication and creation of new services in a volunteer based activity since it increases transparency and can clarify the balance between what is paid work and what is voluntary.

39 40 4.1 Working culture– transformation 4.1 Working culture– transformation

Insight: 4.1.2 Responsibilities and involvement The fuency of club practicalities can have a major impact on dance 3. teachers’ choice of an employer. Insight:

It is relevant to ensure that the club’s practical matters run smoothly as it 5. The distribution of the workload should be more equal. has a signifcant impact on the dance teacher’s choice of an employer. The workshop participants confrmed that it is essential for the club members to hold on to their dear dance teachers. Once a good dance teacher has been The workshop participants all also be temporal variations, for found, the club needs to pay attention to the employee satisfaction of the agreed that the workload is often example, a dancer also becomes teacher. The dancers want to have committed, long-term dance teachers. unequal and that too many tasks are a member of the Board and after According to the dance teachers’ interviews, other noteworthy factors accumulated for only a few members a few years, resigns and becomes affecting the choice of an employer were working with people, appropriate to take care of. Furthermore, the hobbyist, which makes it challenging salary, location, and being able to design one’s schedule palette. Employee abilities and skills of volunteers to provide universal guidelines of commitment requires a suitable environment for open discussion. should be taken into account better responsibilities. when assigning duties, to make the activities as enjoyable and “When there are motivating as possible. volunteers taking care of things in a non- Insight: “I spend too much time proft spirit as well as sitting in front of a hired employees within the Ensuring quality requires continuous development and commitment. 4. computer and managing same club, there the club activities.” are difculties in taking responsibility and Since the services offered by the club consist of several individual tasks – Board member, workshop dividing the tasks. For performed by different people, it is essential to ensure that people are participant me, as an employee, my committed to working towards common goals in order to develop the club responsibilities are very activities effectively. Each member should have the opportunity to make an “When things are done clear, but the situation can impact and to be heard by providing feedback and improvement suggestions. together, nobody needs be very diferent in case of Here is one dance teacher’s thought about commitment: to become tired due to a hobbyist or a volunteer.” club activities.” “In my opinion, the club needs to realise that if the club – Dance teacher 2 wants to be a good employer, it will probably gain a lot more – Dancer, workshop for itself. Because then it would probably be easier to keep a participant One matter is clear; the dance certain employee rather than having to constantly look for a teacher is not a volunteer. Thus, new one, and then they could trust that when they fulfl their In order to avoid the club tasks if the contract of employment duties well within the club, they will most likely fnd people piling up on the shoulders of only does not contain other tasks than willing to continue the work and replace the workers.” a few individuals, it is necessary to dance education, the teacher is share the workload and divide the not obligated to take care of any – Dance teacher 1 responsibilities more equally. There additional interests of the club. are three different roles in Matit ja Hence increasing the involvement The dancers also agreed that commitment to the activities and to one’s dance Maijat: 1) Employees, 2) Volunteers of existing members is critical. group is essential. Only then, the action turns into goal-oriented. The dancers and 3) Hobbyists. However, one There is a strong need to improve also emphasised that club development requires every members’ support and individual can represent one or engagement with members of the that other’s efforts are appreciated. even all of the roles. There can case club.

41 42 4.1 Working culture– transformation 4.1 Working culture– transformation

Insight: Documentation and orientation In order to ensure effectiveness to tasks and equal division of work, every 6. Existing members and dance groups need to get more involved. Documentation is an essential signifcant role should have a part of an association based club. responsible person and a deputy in case the responsible person is Customers are a valuable information source on how Matit ja Maijat could It is essential for both the Board sometimes unable to take care of improve their activities. The club should utilise the knowledge and experiences of the club and its members. their tasks. Doing so could also of dancers and members in developing their services. Many of the dancers Documentation is a tool to monitor reduce the pressure of a volunteer have been members of the club for years and may have useful ideas from a and learn what has been done and lower the bar to take a particular customer’s perspective on how to develop the services. Here is one example previously, and it can help to plan the duty and become a responsible that came up during the workshop: future or show others how to handle matters later. Description of the person. “For a potential hobbyist, it is important to see the price of the activities is usually a required part Documenting and providing season in advance and what it contains.” in most of the grant applications. Often, this sort of documentation is information about these tasks and implemented on the club Board. responsibilities is a way to share – Dancer, workshop participant information for the club members It emerged that the different roles and show what the club does. Currently, the season prices are not visible for the public, and the members of volunteers are often unclear, Accordingly, the members could receive the bills by email. The importance of increasing transparency is yet and the existing number of these is see and determine if a particular again emphasised. In this case, from the hobbyist’s perspective. inadequate compared to the needs task seems interesting to them. of the club. There are no assigned Providing clear information about According to the interviews, a majority of the dance teachers were leading fve responsible persons for specifc the responsibility areas is also an to ffteen groups or courses at the same time and also acted as professional signifcant roles, let alone the essential part of orientation for dancers. For this reason, the dance teacher’s available time for handling each majority of the roles had no assigned new members when a previous groups’ issues is minimal. For this reason, it could be benefcial to assign deputies. The case club also did responsible person resigns from more responsibilities to the dancers themselves to deal with their group not provide information about the their duties, and the tasks are related issues, if the age and skills of the dancers allow it. different roles within the club Board, granted for a new person. In the for example, who is the responsible case of association based clubs, The workshop participants presented one suggestion on how to involve person of a particular topic and continuous learning is inevitable dancers more to the organising side of club activities. According to their what are his/her tasks. It turned in order to maintain the quality of suggestion, certain dance groups could be responsible for organising out that even if some members of the activities even if the volunteers certain events each year. Meaning that the dancers of a particular dance the club knew the practicalities of change. According to the workshop group and their parents would be responsible for a specifc event so that the a specifc situation, the information participants, orientation to the tasks responsibility of organising an event would shift from one group to another, was not necessarily shared with could improve the overall community event after an event. This circulation could also help to solve the issue of other members, allowing the same spirit within the club by reducing experiencing supporting tasks as monotonous. Here is a common experience challenges to be repeated. In order unnecessary uncertainty regarding from a dancer’s parent about monotonous tasks: to ease the workload of existing task management. If the duties are defned clearly the chances to get “Baking – that is how I see the club activities. I am always volunteers, it might be useful to create new responsibility areas such matters resolved sooner is higher, baking before concerts, and I am always asked to bake.” as a person in charge of human and therefore it can also save time. resources (HR), for example. – Dancer’s parent, workshop participant A few workshop participants had felt that they had provided help in a particular task, but had done it wrong

43 44 4.1 Working culture– transformation 4.1 Working culture– transformation

or the feedback was not encouraging and that this has led them to not easily 4.1.3 Fluency of activities management dare to offer their help in club activities. Providing clear frames for the roles and orientation to tasks is essential in attracting members to take upon more Insight: responsibility. 8. Scheduling needs to be one of the top priorities of the Board. Insight:

7. Orientation to tasks must be included in the activities. Based on the data gathered from co-design workshop and interviews, it became clear that some of the ideas and suggestions were reasonably simple, concrete solutions and some of them were more profound changes regarding Proper documentation of club activities also includes taking videos the working culture of a folk dance club. This section focuses on some of the and pictures during events, archiving the marketing materials such as individual issues related to activities management. advertisements and written introductions about the dance club or descriptions of a specifc dance piece. Often these materials can be modifed and reused The more activities management was being discussed during the workshop, later. This type of documentation tasks is suitable for sharing with other club the more often these phrases were repeated “information must come members as well, not just members of the Board. in time” and “these matters must be agreed in advance”. The dancers emphasised the importance of receiving information in advance and the To better understand the primary roles of the case association (employee, majority of the dance teachers considered the ability to design one’s schedule volunteer, hobbyist), a visualised chart where the roles are presented side by palette as an essential factor regarding their employer. For these reasons, side could provide more clarifcation for the members and the employees successful schedule management is necessary for the club. The workshop (Figure 12). assignments revealed that the club Board should be more proactive on this matter and anticipate the future. It should be noted that a Since Matit ja Maijat has many annual events, one suggestion from the visualised chart where each role participants was to incorporate the year clock tool for the club to assist is categorised as stereotypes the Board on planning and implementation of tasks. A year clock tool is cannot present the most in- a scheduling template that can be incorporated into associations. It also depth understanding of the presents one of the most obvious design implementations of this thesis: persons behind the roles recommendations for existing organisation templates that can be applied to since it excludes personality association activities and provide information as a meta-text to educate and differences. However, in the explain the use of these templates. The majority of members agreed that the case of Matit ja Maijat, it can be club calendar should be ready in advance before the training season begins used to point out the complexity and upcoming events should be visible to everyone. This kind of information of the division of responsibilities should be easily found from the dance club’s website. Any changes to the in an association based dance schedules should be announced promptly and made available to each club and to help gain a more member. comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Figure 12. A sketch of the role division chart.

45 46 4.1 Working culture– transformation / 4.2 Tradition and its new forms

The responsibility to announce the changes must be a two-way path. 4.3 Communication needs Teachers are responsible for keeping the Board up to date one way or another, and the Board of the club is responsible for keeping its teachers up to date. Depending on the size of the club, teachers sometimes communicate directly with Board members or with the person in charge of the club’s Insight: communications. The case association does not have a person in charge of communications at the moment. The need for this role was discussed at the Communication should be planned and organised to avoid workshop and may well be created in the near future. 10. misunderstandings.

One of the topics that caused discussion during the workshop was increasing The previous sections have already After the initial analysis of the digital tools in managing practical matters of the club. An example of this is discussed communication relating communication mapping and the course enrolment. Instead of going through papers, it was hoped that the to announcements, describing the dancer’s journey exercises, it became registration would be done electronically and saved directly in digital format. roles and duties within the club and clear that mapping out the different Simple solution idea would be, for example, including the course enrolment to documentation of activities. This actions and communication needs the club website. section focuses on the fndings was a much-needed action that I related to 1) Visualisation of the wanted to visualise and include for dancer’s ideal customer journey, and the design deliverables. The dancers 2) The partners with whom the case provided an insightful hobbyist’s club interacts with. perspective to the club activities.

4.2 Tradition and its new forms The purpose of the communication The key takeaways from both of mapping exercise was to gain an these exercises were frst that understanding of how often the case communication should be planned club interacts with whom and what and implemented in an organised Tradition is a signifcant part of a folk dance club. However, the majority of are the different communication way in order to avoid rush and the workshop participants perceived that the best part about Matit ja Maijat is needs. Based on the results of this misunderstandings. Secondly, the that the club is not stuck with the traditional dance style. For many dancers, exercise, the core contacts of Matit chosen communication platforms the club needed to provide folk dance where the tradition meets modernity, ja Maijat are dancers, parents, the must be effective in reaching and they get to explore new forms of traditional dance. One way of exploring municipality of Hollola and dance out to the partners. Thirdly, these new forms is to add multidisciplinary collaboration (e.g. live music = teachers. The club interacts with assigning a person in charge of collaboration with a band, circus = collaboration with another sports group). these partners the most, usually the club’s communication with Multidisciplinary collaboration, in general, was being emphasised when weekly or several times in a month. a specifc partner can help in envisioning the future of the club. The second layer is formed by the implementation of a planned Kansalaisfoorumi, Etelä-Häme communication. This way, the overall Insight: Youth Association, Päijät-Hämeen responsibility of communication can Tanssialan Tuki ry and Hollola Youth be shared among several members. Tradition should not be forgotten, but there is no need to be stuck Association. The club interacts with Ideally, one would always fnd 9. with it – it can live. these partners usually monthly or someone who is up to date with the more if needed. The city of Lahti latest interaction with a particular For many dancers being able to take part in creating something new that forms the fnal layer. The club partner. The thesis tells more evokes emotion and wonder, is a signifcant motivation for participation. interacts with the city of Lahti yearly. about communication in the design A diverse repertoire is also a way to ensure that the club’s concerts offer deliverables chapter. something for everyone in the audience. This fnding is a matter to be held on to in the future as well.

47 48 4.4 Communality

4.4 Communality

Insight: person straight away. It often takes a while before the feedback is being heard by the person taking care of that task. Even though the community and the Dance activities are human-centred – together we learn 11. and make things happen. people are the key motivation for most, it seems that there is a need to invest in building and maintaining communality. Open discussion and feedback requires a supportive atmosphere. Only in a safe and accepting environment, One frequent motivation for everyone who participated in this research seems one dares to speak directly. to be the human-centred aspect of dancing and association work; being able to work and dance together. Majority of the participants and the interviewees “Openness always causes conficts, but the more open we described the folk dance community positively. It was characterised as warm, are and the more settled conficts we have, the more compassionate, helpful and loving. However, during the dance teachers’ connected the community will be. Almost like a good interviews, it was pointed out that there are some noticeable cliques with relationship, it requires a little arguing. In a safe environment, differing opinions regarding which direction folk dance should be taken and you dare to show it all.” developed. Furthermore, the folk dance feld is often marketed as a very open and accepting, but this might not always be the case. For example, there are – Dance teacher 2 three folk dance clubs in the same region where Matit ja Maijat operates, but barely any collaboration between the clubs.

During the workshop, the idea arose that it would be good to join forces Insight: sometimes with the neighbouring clubs, for example, by organising joint concerts and thus promoting the overall visibility of folk dance throughout 13. Motivation is contagious. the region. Increasing collaboration, in general, seemed to be a prominent wish for the future among the participants. The dancers felt that even within their club, there was too little collaboration between the different groups. By It was interesting to fnd out from the interviews and workshop results, how increasing collaboration, the dancers would get to know each other better, and motivation seems to be contagious. The dance teachers explained that when the community spirit could be enhanced. the dance group and its dancers are motivated, it also motivates the teacher. Simultaneously motivation can spread between the dancers like a group spirit pushing towards the same goal. Some mutual motivation factors for dancing Insight: among the dancers and the teachers were creativity, working with physical health and the fulflling culture surrounding the sport. 12. Everyone is responsible for the community spirit. The motivation factors can vary depending on the person. Some of the dance No one can be held responsible for the atmosphere, but everyone’s behaviour teachers were especially motivated by fguring out the different ways on has an impact on it. Everyone can lift the community spirit through their how to encourage people to dance more and what is the factor that triggers actions by appreciating others. A good community spirit is necessary, dancers to participate. Is it the opportunity to take part in conducting an particularly in the case of volunteer based activities since it is mostly taking artistic performance or perhaps being able to practise a particular skill? place during leisure time, and people do not get paid for it. Or just the pure joy of exercising?

The members of the club have had frustrating experiences before when offering their help, but receiving either negative or indifferent feedback. According to the participants, the feedback also rarely reaches the right

49 50 4.5 Marketing 4.6 Summary of insights

Insight: To summarise this chapter, here are the presented insights gathered together:

14. The club and its services need to be visible and easy to fnd. 1. Working culture – transformation afects the lives of volunteers and employees and can create a confict of A common wish among the workshop participants and the folk dance interests. teachers was to increase the number of hobbyists and young enthusiasts. People cannot participate in any activities unless they know about it. 2. Clear, pre-agreed rules and mutual trust between hired and Therefore, the club and its services need to be visible and easy to fnd online. voluntary help are the keys to pleasing work. Marketing has a signifcant role in raising the awareness of activities to potential hobbyist and providing information about concerts for the audience. 3. The fuency of club practicalities can have a major impact on dance teachers’ choice of an employer. All of the club members were dissatisfed with the existing website. The webpages are old-fashioned and hard to use and therefore, not up to 4. Quality requires continuous development and commitment. date, which was especially problematic. There is plenty of enthusiasm for 5. The distribution of the workload should be more equal. maintaining the pages, but the current system does not allow it. Because the site has been created so long ago, there was a need to start the process from 6. Existing members and dance groups need to get more a little further and frst, create a vision for the club to help to form the desired involved. messages and image the club wants to convey. 7. Orientation to tasks must be included in the activities.

Insight: 8. Scheduling needs to be one of the top priorities of the Board.

There is a need to specify what kind of image the club wants 9. Tradition should not be forgotten, but there is no need to be 15. to convey. stuck with it – it can live. 10. Communication should be planned and organised to avoid According to a website benchmarking (see Appendix D) and club members’ misunderstandings. comments, it appears that Matit ja Maijat is not alone in the slow realisation of internet marketing opportunities. Several other folk dance clubs seem to 11. Dance activities are human-centred – together we learn and have a similar situation with outdated websites. For this reason, there is much make things happen. potential to stand out positively from other folk dance clubs. 12. Everyone is responsible for the community spirit. 13. Motivation is contagious. 14. The club and its services need to be visible and easy to fnd. 15. There is a need to specify what kind of image the club wants to convey.

51 52 4.6 Summary of insights

The research fndings produced in However, for the creation of the club total of 15 design insights. It was vision, it was essential to take into delightful to notice that also, the account all of the fndings of this workshop participants got inspired study because the vision of a folk by the fndings they conducted. dance club is influenced by many Here are two quotes from the fnal factors not just the aspects of this discussion of the workshop after thesis. results were presented: Selected fve “I think many of these key guiding insights wishes and ideas are 1. Existing members and dance quite feasible and realistic. groups need to get more in- – We just need to grasp volved. on them and commit to 2. Scheduling needs to be one of making changes.” the top priorities of the Board. 3. Communication should be – Dancer, workshop planned and organised to avoid participant misunderstandings. 4. The club and its services need to “There’s a need to make be visible and easy to fnd. these changes in small steps in a planned 5. There is a need to specify what kind of image the club wants to manner. Let’s make sure convey. that the changes remain; this way, we move towards the goal little by little. It is important to realise that we are in this together, and no one does this alone.”

– Dance teacher, workshop participant

Due to the limitations of a single thesis, I decided to focus on fve insights on which the design deliverables are based upon. These fve insights were selected as they emphasised the topic of the thesis in terms of communication and information sharing.

53 54 5.1 Matit ja Maijat vision

As the club’s goals and objectives club practicalities and community had not been updated since its spirit have a direct impact on the establishment, it was an opportune experiences of its members and moment to clarify the goals for the employees. As some parts of present. As Mäkinen stated in the the vision already exist today, I guidebook for non-governmental believe the vision is feasible to be organisations (2018), it is benefcial implemented over the next fve years. for the association to defne how the However, a new vision will be of no association differs from others and use unless it is reinforced within the concisely summarise the offerings club through a commitment to the for its volunteers, members, common goals. This requires getting supporters, users, target groups everyone on Board to understand and other actors associated with its that the club is undergoing a activities. This action is often called transformation and that the vision a value proposition (Mäkinen, 2018). demands successful teamwork and the input of all members. I chose to start the design production phase with the Vision The vision is based on four work to ensure that all of the core values that surfaced from produced design deliverables align the research analysis of the with the created vision. I began the thesis. These are trust, equality, process by familiarizing myself with commitment and quality. To address This chapter presents the design outcomes of the thesis. The the association rules of the case trust, the club needs to pay attention design deliveries include: club (Appendix F). As the rules were to transparency throughout the applicable even today, I saw no need activities and fulfl its duties as a to modify them. The vision presented responsible employer. Equality in 1. Solutions to better understand the club activities: Such as a (Figure 13), is a ftting addition to the the club means that everyone is vision poster for the case club formed from the fndings of rules increasing determination of welcome to the activities; everyone the workshop and the interviews, and a set of visualisations the activities. The vision poster is a deserves fair treatment and about the structure and the varying connections of the club positive outlook that combines the appreciation for their efforts. There members and relevant stakeholders. diverse fndings of the work, shifting is a need to be more mindful of their focus into the form of long-term thanking others, who might be doing 2. Practical solution examples to improve activities goals. “invisible” work for the club. management: Such as enhancing communication and In order to gain new members The club should pay attention to transparent information sharing trough redesigned and to grow as an association engagement with its members website and by providing recommendations for activities based club, the club has to be when organising activities by taking management tools. simultaneously effective in their into account the abilities and skills activities management and engaging of its members. Commitment is a with their members, since the fundamental value for any long-term

55 56 5.1 Matit ja Maijat vision 5.1 Matit ja Maijat vision

action. In the case club, to make Matit ja Maijat is a folk dance the vision come true, the members and the employees need to share club, where the attitude towards mutual goals and commit to making dancing is open-minded and them happen. To ensure quality and to take the club forward, the club experimental. must be prepared for continuous development and learning by being actively responsive to hobbyists and employees’ input. Values TRUST • Transparency throughout the activities We ofer tradition with • Be a responsible employer a fresh twist. EQUALITY Mission • Diversity and inclusion • Fair treatment Matit ja Maijat ry strives to maintain • Right to participate and influence and develop the Finnish dance tradition at your own skill level through participatory and inspirational dance services, entertaining COMMITMENT performances, successful teamwork • Sharing a mutual desire to succeed and individual development while • Demonstrating a caring attitude enhancing community. QUALITY • Continuous development and learning Vision 2025 • Self-challenging We provide engaging and joyful local folk dancing opportunities with a good Strategic targets community spirit. We aim to bridge tradition and modernity through dance • Loyal hobbyists by creating diverse choreographies • Great place to work and increasing multidisciplinary • Multidisciplinary collaboration collaboration. We believe that when • Raising the awareness of folk dance things are done together – we can succeed, and this is what we invest in. We want to raise the awareness of folk dance and welcome hobbyists of all ages to join our growing club. Figure 13. The club vision presented as a poster.

57 58 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign

5.2 Enhancing information sharing through information architecture of the site. The page order and structure were website redesign carefully planned with the help of the Board (Figure 16). Our goal was to create a simple site structure and a clear navigation to help users to fnd As covered earlier in the fndings knowledge of these has also been relevant information. The designed section, it was clear that the case applied to some extent to the work. top-level menu includes six topics: club needed to pay more attention The following examples present Matit ja Maijat ry, Groups, Prices, to information sharing so that its how individual issues were resolved Calendar, Enrolment and Contact. services become more visible and through a website redesign. Many of the topics on the top- easier to fnd. The importance of level menu did not exist previously updating the website could not be The most urgent improvements (e.g. Groups, Calendar, Prices and overlooked, and it was a much- regarding the website were to make Enrolment). In order to implement requested action from behalf of the it easier to maintain and to create a the fndings of the research and club. Since a common wish among website that is also mobile friendly. increase the transparency of the the participants of this research was The previous HTML website had activities, it was necessary to add to increase the number of hobbyists, very limited modifcation options and more information and content the website holds also another was generally hard to use (Figure available to the public. purpose other than information 14). Only a couple of club members sharing, that is raising the awareness had access and knowledge to of local folk dance opportunities. update the content. To simplify the site management, the Board of the The redesigned website is a clear club selected to use the free version design implementation example, of an open-source web content where I have transformed the management software WordPress knowledge and understanding accordingly to my recommendations. gained from this research into The new club website is built concrete, visual form. The purpose entirely on WordPress and the site of the website redesign is to ease management does not require Figure 14. Previous HTML homepage. the life of volunteers and club coding skills from users. Multiple members by increasing transparency users can be added to the system and information sharing through a and given different editing rights for website, and to help to convey the them. Hence, the system allows the desired messages to the public. maintenance of the website to be The focus of the website update shared among several people (Figure is frst and foremost to fulfl and 15). communicate the different needs Figure 16. The second version of my proposal for of the club members by solving the At the beginning of the website the information architecture of the club website functionalities of the site regarding redesign, the Board agreed that it and the structure of the homepage. the fndings of the research. Hence was best to start the project from the focus of this web design is scratch and not to use the previous Figure 15. Proposal for the new not on User Experience (UX) or website as any reference. I started WordPress homepage. Interaction Design (IxD), although my the web design by fguring out the

59 60 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign

Menu Top-level navigation Even though I had no limitations regarding the visuals of the website, Hero section branding was not a priority at this Background image, name of the club, point. Naturally, there is a certain slogan: MATIT JA MAIJAT level of visual design required when “Folk dance from Hollola – Tradition building a feasible website. However, with a fresh twist”, and a button to my web design concentrated on read more about the activities meeting the functionalities and communication needs in the context of this thesis. Fonts and colours can be changed later, and re-branding is one example of how the project Introduction could be continued later. Presenting the activities with a couple of images Homepage The homepage is usually the frst page that a website visitor sees, which is why in the case of Matit ja Maijat, it should provide a clear introduction to the club and its News activities and convey the desired Coming events, dates and the groups image of the club (Figure 17). I used that the event concerns the created club vision as a guideline for the homepage design, in the sense of what should be included (e.g. slogans and values), as well as the requests of the club members regarding the functionalities Weekly calendar of the season (e.g. coming events should be clearly Practise schedule of the groups visible). The homepage was reviewed a couple of times by the Board of the club when building the website, and some minor changes were made.

Values What is important for the club in its activities

Crosslinking Social media

Figure 17. Proposal for the homepage.

61 62 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign 5.2 Enhancing information sharing through website redesign

Presenting the groups Increasing transparency Previously the dance groups were The fndings regarding transparency only visible on the website in the and information sharing were taken content of the week calendar. I into account by offering more believe that individual dance group content and information through the pages can bring desired depth to the club website. New content included a website and potentially increase the calendar of upcoming events (Figure interest towards the hobby through 19), a price table of participation transparent communication by fees (Figure 21), information about providing images and information the Board of the club (Figure 20), about the group, the practice teachers and the groups. It is also schedule and the current repertoire essential to present the partners (Figure 18). of the club; whose support enables the club activities. These partners The group pages can also be used are presented in Matit ja Maijat to share information indented webpage. specifcally to a certain group, and they can be used to encourage new hobbyists to join in the activities with a direct link or help marketing and visibility of the different groups Figure 19. The calendar page. by offering a link to performance inquiries. Figure 20. The Board of the club.

The Board of the club suggested that the primary responsibility of creating and updating the content to the group pages belongs to the group itself as long as the age and skills of the group’s dancers allow it.

Figure 18. Proposal for the group page of Harha. Figure 21. The price table.

63 64 5.3 Visualising connections

Division of roles To summarise the primary roles of duties. However, a well-functioning the case club as planned, I created a Board requires that the dancers chart where the roles are presented and the employees take care of side by side (Figure 22). Naturally, their responsibilities as well. This each role has more depth in real life is how they are all connected. The than presented in the chart. Equally, club Board should distribute the depending on the person, one can tasks related to the club activities have varying opinions regarding more evenly among volunteers and responsibilities, expectations and hobbyists so that the association motivations. The purpose of the work does not accumulate as large chart is to provide an overview of the burdens on others. Consequently, club actors and to shed light on the the teachers’ right to concentrate on complexity of the division of work in their own work duties is also taken the case association based club. into account.

The case club does not have a clear- The role map also shows that cut role division; it is more layered despite the differing responsibilities and complex. This role map was and expectations, motivations conducted to present the different seem to be mutual among all roles. needs and point of views of the Everyone seems to appreciate the members and employees of Matit ja warm club spirit and want to feel Maijat. My suggestion is to use this that their work is valued. If Matit chart frstly, to clarify the structure ja Maijat wants to stand out as a of the case club for its members and contemporary folk dance club, then secondly, to educate new members there is a need to focus on the small and workers of the working everyday practises and details that environment. make the members and employees feel happy and appreciated. By The arrows are used to indicate the enhancing these details, the club can blurred lines between the roles; black develop its activities and function arrows describe the connections of better. the club personas and red arrows highlight the connections of specifc issues between the roles.

The role map presents that employees and dancers expect that the Board is responsible for the club and that the club will fulfl its Figure 22. Matit ja Maijat role chart.

65 66 5.3 Visualising connections

Communication chart This visualisation (Figure 23) is based on the communication mapping exercise that the Board of the club performed during the workshop. Firstly, the chart presents the most common partners that the club interacts with. These partners are categorised into three layers based on the interaction frequency. The categories are core contacts, close contacts and supporting contacts. Secondly, the chart summarises the most common needs for communication with a specifc partner and presents how communication is implemented. Finally, the chart shows some of the positive and negative communication experiences through the pros and cons and presents opportunities for improvement.

The chart shows that communication seems to be already quite fluent with close and supporting contacts, but with the core contacts with whom the club interacts with the most, the communication needs more attention. Many of the improvement suggestions presented in the chart include assigning a responsible person for communication with a specifc partner. The communication experiences with the core contacts have a common theme regarding time and scheduling. For some of the core contacts, the information comes too late, or the information shared seems hasty, and with others, the information flows slowly, and the responses take time.

Figure 23. The communication chart.

67 68 Figure 24. The journey map of a hobbyist.

Hobbyist’s journey map This map (Figure 17) is based on The core activity in this hobbyist’s Moreover, the possible feelings and the ideal dancers’ journey map journey map is dance practises, thoughts of a potential hobbyist are that the dancers created during and the journey is created from the presented through the journey with the workshop. I wanted to include perspective of a new hobbyist. The icons divided into positive, neutral a journey map to the design different stages in the timeline of and negative emotions, along with deliverables as based on Stickdorn this journey are divided based on brief notes. et al. (2018), it can help to form a actions that happen before, during common understanding between and after dance practises. Then The ideas and suggestions created various stakeholders on how the these actions are further elaborated during the workshop are fnally activities should work. by presenting the different presented in the opportunities communication platforms and section of the journey. interaction implementations.

69 70 5.3 Visualising connections

According to the journey map, the According to the map, experiences actions that happen before the during the dance practices activities (dance practises) can are strongly influenced by the affect signifcantly whether the atmosphere of the group if the hobbyist joins to the activities or other dancers are welcoming not. Therefore, it can be especially and supportive towards the new benefcial for the club to invest in the hobbyist or not. On the last stage of frst stage by making sure that: the journey, after the activities, it is essential for engagement that the 1. The club activities are hobbyists can become a part of the easy to fnd. This could community and have the possibility be implemented through to influence the club activities. website, social media, search engine optimisation (SEO) and local marketing (e.g. advertisements, bulletin boards).

2. The necessary information, such as schedules, prices and location, are visible to the public.

3. Joining is easy, the enrolment process is clear, and the club atmosphere is welcoming and encouraging.

This map has been useful in the creation of the design deliverables of the project. However, I see the map’s potential for further use as well.

As the club wanted to increase the number of hobbyists, my suggestion is to print this map and attach it to the wall of the boardroom; this way the perspective of a new hobbyist will not be forgotten when managing the club activities.

71 72 5.4 Recommended tools for activities management

5.4 Recommended tools for activities management

Time management In order to make sure the Board is Another tool to help to schedule and aware of the coming events and share information is to use a shared be able to share information for its digital calendar, where one could fll members on time, scheduling tools in the necessary details of events; are a much-needed addition to the such as the name of the event, date, club management. The workshop time, duration and location. For this participants proposed to include project, I utilised Google calendar. the year-clock tool to the Board The Google calendar can be linked activities. A year-clock provides to the club’s website, and this way, an overview of the year’s activities the members of the club can be and thus eases the planning and informed well in advance about the management of activities (see coming events since the information Figures 25 and 26). As there are is visible to all. many simple and free, year-clock templates readily available online, I see no need to design such templates separately. Hence my suggestion for the club is to choose one template and fll in the content accordingly. Figure 26. Example of an empty year clock that is ready to be flled in.

Figure 27. Google calendar editing view. Figure 28. Linked Google calendar on the club website. Figure 25. Year-clock example from Aalto University management.

73 74 5.4 Recommended tools for activities management 5.4 Recommended tools for activities management / 5.5 Evaluation

Easier class enrolment I also wanted to pay more attention In order to improve the user to contact us – page, since it is one experience of the hobbyist and the of the most necessary pages for workload of volunteers, I decided transparent information sharing to change the course enrolment (Figure 30). I noticed that previously process from paper to digital. With the club shared the practice the reform, joining the club activities locations only on the week calendars will happen on the club’s website and that the previous website did not via an online form and the personal provide any system to give feedback. details can be saved directly digitally. I added the location information The digital enrolment process to the page and emphasised the reduces the stress on volunteers interaction between the club and regarding the retention of paperwork the public by creating another online and personal information. The online form to contact us – page. I believe registration form was created based that it is sometimes easier to contact on the previous paper forms with a hobby club via online form rather the help of the Board of the club (see than sending a personal email, Figure 29). especially if one is not familiar with the activities before.

Continuous development and learning To increase transparency, information sharing and orientation to tasks, I chose to create an individual page for the Board of the club. The Board page is indented to Figure 30. Contact us – page. introduce the Board members with their roles and descriptions of their main responsibilities to the public (Figure 20). This decision has led Board members to consider their Figure 29. Registration online form. own areas of responsibility since 5.5 Evaluation the members prepared their own introductions.

Hopefully, it has also brought some The website project evaluation was implemented in pieces. The club Board clarifcation on the division of tasks. I gave me feedback throughout the web design process and I modifed my highly recommend the club to make proposals according to the comments. The feedback was very encouraging a similar role presentation for other and positive. Majority of the iterations considered details regarding content volunteer tasks as well, to make (e.g. the content of the online forms and how to emphasise coming events). the tasks known and visible to all members. I presented the fnal website structure remotely to the Board of the club on 19 April 2020, after which the content creation began.

75 76 6.1 Meeting the research objectives

In this thesis, I have investigated and information sharing in the the practises and processes of context. I aimed to develop a couple an association based dance club of feasible design proposals for the through a case example of a small, collaborating partner club. The aim local, Finnish folk dance club Matit ja was achieved through my design Maijat. The investigation elaborated deliveries which included: the activities management and communication needs of the case 1. Solutions to better club. The main objective of the understand the club thesis was to promote the activities activities; such as a vision and community spirit of the club to poster for the case club and better meet the users’ needs and a set of visualisations about expectations through service design. the structure and connections In order to achieve these objectives, of the club members and two qualitative design research methods were used: a co-design relevant stakeholders. workshop with the members of the case club and semi-structured 2. Practical solution examples interviews with folk dance teachers. to improve activities These methods resulted in a management; such as large amount of qualitative data. enhancing communication Different data analysis and mapping and information sharing Based on the background research and the conducted case techniques were used to make sense through the updated website study, this chapter addresses the research questions of the thesis. of the versatile data. The project proposal and providing The questions are followed by a personal refection to the project, scope was to examine the current recommendations for state of the club to understand the presents limitations and reliability of the study and discusses activities management tools. structure of such volunteer based potential areas for further development. Finally, the thesis is communities and to clarify the concluded with a summary of the project. expectations for the future.

The data analysis phase was a signifcant part of the process, as it resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the case club. The fndings of the research formed the basis for the conducted design insights and later to my design proposals since this is a practise- driven thesis. The focus of my design proposals was on communication

77 78 6.2 Addressing the research questions

6.2 Addressing the research questions The second supportive research question was: • What factors are essential to fuent communication and information sharing in an association based club?

The topic of the thesis has been explored through three research questions. Successful maintenance of association based club activities requires both I begin answering the questions in reverse order, building frst the base for fluent internal and external communication. For communication to be fluent, the main research question with the answers from my secondary research it must be implemented in an organised manner to avoid hasty messages and questions. misunderstandings. Above all, it requires schedule management and a clear division of tasks. According to the case study, appointing a responsible person The frst supportive research question was: and a deputy to take care of the communication with a specifc partner can be benefcial to the club. As ideally, one would always fnd someone who is up • How the roles and division of responsibilities infuence to date on the latest interaction with a particular partner. The conducted case the club’s community spirit and efectiveness? study identifed ways to improve both internal and external communication and information sharing by increasing transparency, providing members with One of the characteristics of association activities is to divide responsibilities more information about club activities, and ensuring that information is visible into different roles, at least considering the members of the Board (Kuokkanen and easy to fnd. The requirements for fluent communication are divided et al., 2007; Rosengren et al., 2008). The purpose of dividing responsibilities below to internal and external communication. is to help the association based club to appoint suitable persons to perform particular tasks and thus clarify the management of the duties. Since Internal communication and information sharing association work consists mainly of volunteer work, the duties should be In the case of association based clubs, continuous learning is inevitable in enjoyable and not feel burdensome; this requires taking into account the skills order to maintain the quality of the activities when the volunteers change. and wishes of the volunteers when allocating tasks. Documentation of association activities is a convenient way to share information and an integral part of the orientation of new members to the However, my study showed that sometimes an association based club does activities. Hence, documentation is an essential part of the activities of an not have a clear-cut division of responsibilities. Sometimes the roles are more association based club. It is necessary for both the Board of the club and to layered and complex. Despite this complexity, mapping the different tasks is its members, as it is a way to monitor activities, learn from the past, help to necessary to ensure an equal division of work in the club. Because an equal plan the future and to instruct others how matters should be done. Smooth division of work reduces friction between club members, ensuring that too association activities require responsiveness, consideration for others and an much work will not accumulate on some volunteers. Thus, the division of open discussion environment. According to Juholin (2009), a fluent internal responsibilities has a positive effect on the community spirit of the club, and communication means that everyone has a responsibility to bring their own the members of the club can trust that matters get done on time. Shared fndings and experiences to the attention of the community. Hence, both and pre-agreed responsibilities help to maintain and manage club activities members and the club are committed to reporting changes as they occur. because the members know who is responsible for what. According to the results of the case study, providing clear role and task descriptions can also External communication and information sharing improve the overall community spirit by reducing unnecessary stress due to Based on the case study, designating a specifc person to be responsible for uncertainty. If the responsibilities are clearly defned, the chances of resolving communication with a particular partner can help implement the planned matters more quickly are higher. Therefore, it can free up more time for the communication of an association based club. In addition to this, the chosen club members to do other meaningful things. This notion was addressed communication platforms must be effective in reaching out to the partners in the design deliverables through a set of visualisations (e.g. role map, of the club in order to ensure appropriate responsiveness. It is important communication chart) as well as by presenting board members and their roles to note that the same platforms may not be ftting for every partner, which openly on the club›s website. is why it is also convenient if the partners are assigned their own person in charge of communication. One essential part of external communication of an association based club is to raise the awareness of its activities. Marketing has a signifcant role in encouraging potential members to join and providing information about the club to the public. Therefore, the information must be 79 easy to fnd and up to date. 80 6.2 Addressing the research questions 6.2 Addressing the research questions

Finally, the main research question was: How can service design promote activities development of an association based dance club? Through this case study, I aimed to illustrate how service design can be Second, a warm community spirit is usually the primary motivation for people utilised in the activities development of an association based dance club. The to participate in association based club activities. The participants of the study background research pointed out that the obstacles regarding the services seemed to share mutual aspirations regarding belonging and appreciation provided by local associations are often due to amateurism and organisational of their efforts. Therefore, factors that positively affect the community spirit challenges, as assistance is often needed in managing operations (Helander, are central to the development of the activities of association based clubs. 2001). Hence through my secondary research questions, I focused on By providing a vision for the club activities, emphasising values and the enhancing the practical matters of the case club by providing some importance of fluent communication and an equal division of work, I hope to concrete documentation and scheduling templates, clarity to the division improve the community spirit of the case club. of responsibilities with a set of visualisations and increasing transparent information sharing through a website redesign. Through these design Thus, according to the conducted case study, activities of an association deliverables, I hope to support the amateur organisers to better meet the based club can be taken forward through service design by leveraging the needs of association’s members and employees. knowledge of club members and employees, involving them more in decision- making, focusing on open information sharing, and investing in a positive Service design is an appealing approach to incorporate in association atmosphere. environment, as it can help organisations to understand their activities from the user’s perspective and enable meaningful improvements through collaborative methods (Miller, 2015). Service design also provides an opportunity to point out different connections between future expectations and past experiences (Mager, 2009), which was an integral aspect of the conducted case study. Both service design tools and co-design methods were used to map out the practicalities, experiences, wishes and thoughts of the members of the case club. By utilising the service design methods, I was able to involve club members in the design process as well as to identify specifc themes regarding various development opportunities that might otherwise have been left unidentifed.

Based on the background research, associations have access to several online guides and support channels (e.g. Kansalaisfoorumi and Kumppanuusverkosto). However, these services may not be properly utilised by small-sized associations. My case study showed that frst, even if some club members knew the practicalities of a specifc situation, the information may not be documented or shared with other members.

81 82 6.3 Discussion 6.4 Limitations

At the beginning of this process, the their minds openly. The collaborative This study has limitations. In terms research as the facilitator of this scope of the research was unclear. I way of working received praise from of qualitative research, it is worth case study can be a challenge in knew that the case club was willing the workshop participants. noting that even if the participants academic work, as I am not entirely to collaborate and that I wanted to of this study found common ground objective. As recognised in this improve the activities somehow. I am glad of this learning process on many of the issues, experiences study, there are also limitations After the frst kick-off meeting, the where I was able to familiarise are subjective and bound to each regarding service design in a project began to shape. My studies myself with the exciting topic of individual’s context. Therefore, the volunteer based organisation. If the have taught me to trust my abilities association work and to apply my same problems can cause a very activities are all treated as services to execute a design process and to knowledge and skills to turn the different reaction in others and from a professional point of view, believe that regardless of an unclear qualitative research fndings into a prioritising the club tasks can be the organisation may lose its core starting point, a design process cohesive end result in the form of diffcult. The number of interviews characteristics. holds the opportunity to reshape the design proposals. was scarce. A higher number of problem and inspire innovation. interviewees would have been This project taught me that benefcial, even though recurring The topic of this thesis has been facilitating a workshop all by myself themes were noticeable with this personally motivating to me as for nearly twenty people is laborious. smaller sample as well. a designer and a hobbyist of the In terms of collecting data, I was case club. I acknowledge that the only facilitator, which meant The workshop participants were my involvement with the club that I had to bounce back and forth all members of Matit ja Maijat activities could be a limitation between the groups throughout the which creates a bias point of view for the study. However, I believe workshop. The qualitative data could to the activities. In the sense that that being a member of the club have been collected more thoroughly everything that the participants have also had a positive impact on the if I had had more help. I am also experienced has not been enough process as it provided me with frst- glad that despite the Force majeure severe problems that would have hand knowledge about the club situation in Spring 2020 (COVID-19), caused them to quit the hobby. responsibilities and experiences. I was able to fnish this project on However, the problems raised in this I was a known member of many time. study may have been the reasons for to the workshop participants, and ex-members to leave. As discussed there was no timidity of meeting The background research of earlier, in terms of collecting a new workshop facilitator. Hence this study demonstrated that data, I was the only facilitator of I was able to observe the overall fundamentally Folk has blurred the workshop, and therefore my atmosphere and notice some origins, hence Folk is a mixture of attention was limited. The qualitative reactions that I would not have things. The same theme interestingly data could have been collected more recognised if the persons were new seems to apply also for association thoroughly if I had had more help. to me. work. I also acknowledge that my Based on the feedback I received, involvement with both the club the participants seemed to be happy activities as a hobbyist and the with the workshop and able to speak

83 84 6.5 Future development 6.6 Conclusions

club, e.g. logo, fonts, and colours. the prominent challenges affecting I recognise several opportunities This thesis was done in collaboration both the employee experience of for further research and with Matit ja Maijat, an association the dance teachers as well as the development. Firstly, the limitations based folk dance club from Hollola. nature of the work of volunteers. of incorporating service design The club is a non-proft organisation, The shift towards a more organised, in volunteer based organisations where the revenues go directly to professional dance education is would be an interesting topic for the maintenance of the activities. causing growing pains for small further research. Secondly, the According to Lam et al. (2012), association based clubs. research could be further pursued relatively little is known about the by defning the prevalence of capabilities of small voluntary sector Based on a case study, such folk complex roles and the division organisations to incorporate a co- dance clubs need help in meeting of responsibilities on a broader design approach in the development the needs of their employees, scale in associations. Thirdly, the of their activities. Hence the thesis volunteers and members, which interviews with folk dance teachers contributes to design research. is why Service Design provides revealed that even though this thesis especially favourable perspective focused on developing the activities The case organisation, as well as the on the topic. According to the case of one folk dance club, it seems folk dance industry, is heavily rooted study, association based clubs, that there is a need for developing in volunteer work. As the association where members of the organisation the activities also in the higher based folk dance clubs are can change, there is a need to design level of the umbrella organisation nowadays aiming to provide more and develop solutions that support (Finnish: Nuorisoseurat), in order professional dance education, a need maintaining the quality of activities to promote the working culture – for a working culture transformation and community building in changing transformation at the club level. has emerged. This cultural conditions. transformation appears to be one of This thesis outlines a vision for the case club Matit ja Maijat. A vision is useless unless the club members commit to the goals. The next steps would be to plan the milestones for implementing the vision and reinforce change internally through fluent communication. From a marketing point of view, one of the project’s further development opportunities is branding. The website project could be continued by clarifying the visual image of the

85 86 This thesis was done in collaboration with a folk dance club Matit ja Maijat ry. I am grateful to everyone who participated in this process and enabled me to fnish the project on schedule: The members of the club, participants of the workshop and the dance teachers who agreed to be interviewed during Folklandia 2020 cruise.

From Aalto University, I want to thank my advisor Andrea Botero and my supervisor Heidi Paavilainen for their feedback and guidance during the process. And fnally, thanks to my friends and family for their support. I want to acknowledge especially the peer support of my fellow designers: Annukka Svanda, Helmi Liikanen, Jinny Kim, Maija Mäenpää, Otto Rummukainen, Saga Santala and Tilda Jyräsalo.

87 88 References

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The Finnish Youth Association. (n.d.). Nuorisoseurat. Retrieved January 29, 1. Mind map of the topic. 2020, from https://nuorisoseurat.f/join-us/ 2. Analysing the kick-off meeting maps. 3. Members of different Finnish folk dance organisations, Kansantanssi Tietoja tapahtumasta | Jukolan viesti—Jukola relay—Jukola kavlen. Suomessa – selvitys (Heinämäki et al., 2001, pp.7) (n.d.). Retrieved January 08, 2020, from https://www.jukola.com/tietoja- 4. Hirvonen, K. (2019). The atmosphere before Jukola relay start tapahtumasta/ at Kangasala, 15 June 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2020 with permission, from https://jukola.smugmug.com/keyword/kimmo%20 Voida, A., Yao, Z., & Korn, M. (2015). (Infra)structures of Volunteering. hirvonen;vbo/i-BsWwrDR/A Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported 5. The Double Diamond model based on Design Council (2007). Cooperative Work & Social Computing - CSCW ’15 (pp. 1704–1716). 6. Poster exercise from the co-design workshop. doi:https://doi.org/10.1145/2675133.2675153 7. Photo collage from the co-design workshop. 8. Analysing the club’s communication. Widjaja, E. (2010). Motivation Behind Volunteerism [CMC Senior 9. Vision mapping.. Theses, Claremont McKenna College] (pp.15–30). Retrieved March 10. Image from the frst round of data clustering. 17, 2020, from https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent. 11. Second round of clustering and analysing the data. cgi?article=1015&context=cmc_theses 12. A sketch of the role division chart. 13. The club vision presented as a poster. Wilson, J. (2000). Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology, 26(1), (pp. 215– 14. Previous HTML homepage. 240). doi:https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.215 15. Proposal for the new WordPress homepage. 16. The second version of my proposal for the information architecture of the club website and the structure of the homepage. 17. Proposal for the homepage. 18. Proposal for the group page of Harha. 19. The calendar page. 20. The Board of the club. 21. The price table. 22. Matit ja Maijat role chart. 23. The communication chart. 24. The journey map of a hobbyist. 25. Year-clock example from Aalto University management. Aalto- yliopiston johtamisen vuosikello. Retrieved 8 April 2020, from https://www.aalto.f/f/yliopiston-johtaminen-ja-paatoksenteko/ yliopiston-johtamisen-vuosikello 26. Example of an empty year clock that is ready to be flled in. 27. Google calendar editing view. 28. Linked Google calendar on the club website. 29. Registration online form. 30. Contact us – page.

93 Appendices

Appendices

Appendix A. Kick-off meeting map templates 1/2. Appendix A. Kick-off meeting map templates 2/2.

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Appendix B. Interview questions for folk dance teachers. Appendix C. Co-Design workshop invitation.

Appendix D. Folk dance website benchmarking list.

Aitomäen Nuorisoseura ry - https://www.aitomaenns.net Helsingin pitäjän tanhuujat ja spelarit ry - http://spelarit.f Hollolan Nuorisoseura - https://www.hollolannuorisoseura.f Hyvinkään Kansantanssijat ry - https://hyvinkaankansantanssijat.f/cms/ Hämeenlinnan kansantanssijat - http://www.hmlkansantanssi.f ISOn Tanhuujat - https://www.isontanhuujat.com Kaustisen Nuorisoseura - https://www.kase.f/~kns/ Kotkan Kansantanssijat - http://www.kotkankansantanssijat.f Lahden Tanhuujat - https://www.tanhuujat.net Nuorisoseura Karjalan Nuoret - https://www.karjalannuoret.f Nuorisoseura Motora - http://motora.f Nuorisoseura Nuori Iisalmi - https://www.nuori-iisalmi.f Nuorisoseura Vilikas ry - https://vilikas.com Oulunsuun Nuorisoseura - http://www.oulunsuunnuorisoseura.f Pääkaupungin Karjalaiset Nuoret - https://pknry.wordpress.com Siepakat ry - https://www.siepakat.net Turun Kansantanssin Ystävät ry - http://www.rytky.f

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Appendix E. Workshop program and assignments 1/4. Appendix E. Workshop program and assignments 2/4.

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Appendix E. Workshop program and assignments 3/4. Appendix E. Workshop program and assignments 4/4.

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Appendix F. Rules of Matit ja Maijat 1/3. Appendix F. Rules of Matit ja Maijat 2/3.

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Appendix F. Rules of Matit ja Maijat 3/3.

Appendix G. Matit ja Maijat Now posters.

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Appendix H. Matit ja Maijat Future posters.

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Appendix I. Hobbyist journey.

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