UX RESEARCH
Goal: Determine how people in Northeast Ohio currently find relevant information and what gaps in those processes could be aided by a dedicated software solution.
BACKGROUND
In Spring of 2023, Dr. Kendra Albright and I conducted 32 interviews with library and information science professionals, community organization representatives, and others to determine a preliminary direction for an information portal designed to connect citizens of Northeast Ohio to relevant local resources and regional knowledge. Twenty-one of the interviews took place as part of an NSF-funded I-Corps training program in February and March of 2023. An additional 11 interviews were completed in April through June of 2023, allowing us to follow up with contacts suggested by previous interview participants and interview participants who we weren’t able to connect with during the I-Corps window.
PROCESS
Thinking through the reasons people in the community might come to the portal, critically to not only find but supply information, is the heart of user experience design and defines the potential product implications up front. Recognizing the foundational role existing social programs play in a community’s economic development, as well as what sorts of potential interactions could be enabled between other individuals in the community, between businesses, schools, and other organizations, is an increasingly exciting prospect. All of our conversations felt like everyone is holding critical pieces to a puzzle, and the portal could serve as not only the picture on the box, but the table we assemble it on.
Tackling these challenges will require new solutions, and would make the portal a valuable resource for the region. The goal is genuine relationship facilitation outside the portal itself; the portal is just a necessary tool.
Action: Created Personas & Design Requirements for a version of the portal that would meet the needs of the user groups the Personas represent.
INSIGHTS
Four major themes emerged from our conversations:
Theme 1: Humans still serve as a critical interface layer for how many people experience the internet.
Theme 2: Collaboration between organizations lets everyone play to their strengths to meet the needs of people in a community, but requires an organization to own the initiative.
Theme 3: Digital Equity initiatives have made some inroads in bridging the gap between low-income individuals and technology access and use, but there is still a significant need for reliable internet and training.
Theme 4: Surfacing relevant resources requires trust in the entity facilitating the knowledge transfer, as well as in the validity of information received.
Design Requirements
Mobile-first UI design
As easy to use on behalf of someone else as it is to use for yourself
Can be used as a “guest” or without extensive user-specific information
Easy process for people to contribute new information or flag information that is outdated or has changed
Allows for citizens and organizations to connect with each other through the platform in some contexts, but also facilitates connections outside the platform
Potential plans for low-data solutions like SMS intake of directory component should be considered
Potential methods for content curation/surfacing of relevant resources just-in-time needs to be considered