User:Yvonne Anderson/sandbox/MOMO: apps that give young people a say in their lives

MOMO: apps that give young people a say in their lives
MOMO is a set of apps and digital services that are designed to help children and young people have their voices heard so they can participate in decisions made about their lives. MOMO is the preferred name for the apps and digital services provided by Mind Of My Own Ltd, a private company registered in the UK on 26 October 2015, with the company number 09842033. While in many respects a software company, the core rationale for MOMO is is the commitment of its founders and directors to the participation of children and young people.

Importance of participation
The starting point for UK children's and young people's participation in decisions about their own lives was the British government's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_rights ). Article 12 of UNCRC emphasises the rights of children to express their views and to have their views taken into account in any matter affecting them.

Active participation has an international context and is seen as one of the main aims of governments on an almost global level (OECD (2005). Evaluating public participation in policy making. France: OECD Publications). The need to strengthen ‘the citizen relationship’ requires that people’s rights are protected within organisational operations and objectives.

Participation can be considered a sound investment in contributing to:


 * The core elements of good governance
 * Improved quality of life, including health outcomes across the lifespan
 * Facilitating choice and decision making
 * Potential for economic prosperity. (Hurd, A. J. (2011). Children and young people’s participation. PhD thesis. University of Birmingham).

Research into the effects of young people's participation has shown positive results:


 * Improving quality and effectiveness and improving service uptake and engagement, clinical knowledge and decision making (Day, C. (2008). Children’s and young people’s involvement and participation in mental health care. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 13 (1), 2-8)
 * Shaping interventions and provision (Day, C; Carey, M., and Surgenor, T. (2006). Children’s key concerns: Piloting a qualitative approach to understanding their experience of mental health care. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 11, 139-155).
 * More responsive, reflective services based on young people’s own concerns and priorities(Beresford, B. (1997). Personal accounts: Involving Disabled children in research. London: The Stationery Office).

Historically, however, public institutions have been viewed as rarely creating opportunities for people's active and meaningful involvement.

Young people's participation in decisions about them
Children Act, Ofsted - requirements for yp participation

Children, young people and their parents/carers are and should be enabled to be:


 * Experts in their own lives
 * Skilful communicators of change needed and creative approaches
 * Active participants and partners
 * Meaning makers, decision makers, researchers and explorers
 * The key to helping us see differently

(Moss, P (2011). Foreword. In A. Clark, ed. Transforming children’s spaces. Children’s and adults’ participation in designing learning environments. London: Routledge; Todd, L (2012). Critical dialogues, critical methodology: bridging the research gap to young people’s participation in evaluating children’s services. Children’s Geographies. 10 (2), 187-200)

MOMO's role in young people's participation
MOMO apps are designed for children and young people who use health, education and social care services to support their lives. The availability of the apps on any electronic device or platform means young people choose when, where and how to record their views and wishes, which they send to the worker of their choice to be actioned.

Believing that children and young people are agents of their own lives allows adults to see them as critical thinkers too, enabling partnership working. (Grossman, V (2005). An investigation into the roles children have in an educational psychology practice. MSc In Educational Psychology Dissertation. Newcastle University).

MOMO's approach to partnership is in co-designing and co-producing between adults and children, specialists and non-specialists. This is enshrined in the organisation's design principles.

MOMO design principles
1. Start with user needs

Nothing should be designed or built unless it is answering a known user need.

2. Work to a roadmap

The priorities for design have to align with the organisation's vision and business plan

3. Co-design and co-produce

The users of a product or service should be actively involved in its design and implementation.

4. Work in an Agile environment

Design and development should be able to adapt to changing needs and be responsive to user testing and imput.

5. Iterate, then iterate again....

The best way to build good services is to start small and iterate constantly. Iteration reduces risk, making big failures unlikely and turning small failures into positive learning.

6. Design with evidence

Evidence of user need and user behaviours should guide decision making, not pet theories, hunches, or subjective views.

7. Design for utility and delightfulness

A product or service should primarily provide utility - that is do what the user needs it to do. Additionally, it should strive to provide an enjoyable experience.

8. Include everyone

Accessible design is good design. Everything we build should be as inclusive, usable and readable as possible.

9. Protect and safeguard

Privacy by design is essential to protect the identities of users and their sensitive data.

10. Be open

The wider and more diverse the community engaged with a service, the stronger and better that service will become.

Why design matters
Speaking up for what you believe in, want or need is not easy, particularly if you are a child or young person in an adult world; even more so if your life experiences have created disadvantage or exclusion. The design of MOMO is critical in ensuring it can continue to fulfil its mission of extending to all young people using services the ability to be heard and to have their wishes acted upon.