We recently welcomed Loan Nguyen to the PHL Service Design Studio team for eight months through an Operations Transformation Fund grant. She’s a Lead Design Research Fellow who’ll be working with the Office of Innovation and Technology’s (OIT) Digital Forms Practice to improve residents’ experiences with digital forms. Specifically, Loan will lead community-centered research that will help OIT write, design, and build forms that are more accessible.
We asked Loan a few questions, so you could get to know her better. Please have a read.
Tell us your story.
I’m a traveler and nomad at heart. My family fled Vietnam on a boat when I was an infant, eventually resettling in Camden, New Jersey. I grew up learning to navigate dual identities, histories, and language communities. I would often be a cultural bridge for my parents and relatives who spent most of their lives in Vietnam. All these shifting contexts have made me curious about being in new places and connecting to people with new perspectives from all over the world.
What values underpin your work and why?
Curiosity: Staying curious closes the door to judgment and assumptions and leaves the door open to what’s possible.
Mutual understanding: It’s essential to build relationships. Without them, it would be impossible to build toward a collective vision — together.
Play: Play reminds me to bring lightness, find joy, and be present in whatever I’m doing. For example, small games or interactions take me out of my “thinking hat” and into another universe.
Why are you interested in contributing to the Digital Forms project at the City of Philadelphia?
I’m interested in contributing to this project because I’ve seen first-hand how systems have not been designed for people, like my parents, who represent older adults, non-English speakers, and come from a low-resource environment. I want to better understand other residents’ experiences and help inform creative solutions that can make peoples’ lives better.
What’s your favorite thing to do in your downtime and why?
I love to experiment and cook vegan food because it’s fun to reimagine dishes I loved eating as a child. And while I’ve taken a break from the practice, one of my favorite things to do is be in community with friends, playing Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts. It’s an interaction of spontaneous kicks, tricks, and dance. It’s a game that’s not about domination or winning. Instead, it’s a game where players have ‘conversations’ through call and response movements and music.
