AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF GRAPHIC ARTS

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

AIGA serves a professional group of designers in the United States and abroad as well as the general public who may practice, study, and appreciate design.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

AIGA took time last year to listen. As a professional organization, we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to empower our members, to support our small businesses and designers in a year that was full of continual change. We asked what was needed and worked to bring those needs to life, and to share those resources with our broader community. Nearly 600 designers from AIGA’s 75 chapters participated in a four-day virtual conference and heard from experts about nonprofit management. In consultation with our DEI Task Force, AIGA partnered with World Trust Educational Services to advance social justice and racial equity with a customized three-part training series for AIGA’s national staff, national Board of Directors, past and current chapter leaders, and special interest groups.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

With the onset of the pandemic, we decided to take the opportunity to rethink the scope of the research that was planned for 2020 and re-conceptualize what it can be based on the initial findings from the Pulse Check survey that was conducted in early 2020. Thanks to the early outreach and participation by members of the design community, we incorporated new capabilities and methods into our research including focus group sessions with educators, freelance designers, small business owners, students, senior design leaders, design influencers, and hiring managers to better understand the needs and concerns of the larger community. We also reached out to design adjacent industries to talk with community members that have a design connection. In 2021, we launched AIGA Design POV.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection,