Anchorage Visit Round 3: User Testing the Roadmap
The objective of this trip:
- Validate the need for this Roadmap Tool
- Test the second reiteration/coded prototype with job seekers
- Collaborative design of tool with re-entrant job seekers
- Generate quality content development to ensure cultural fit
- Learn how this tool would work with a control group of user types
- Build relationships with new and current stakeholders and determine buy-in of this solution.
- Start to identify potential stakeholders for hand-off and collaboration
What we did:
Partnered with Partners Reentry Center to organize 3 collaborative workshops and user testing sessions with 13 job seekers (2 repeating)
User Interviews
Group User Testing
Naming the App Exercise
Copy Content Exercise
Dot Voting Re-Entry Priority Concerns
Card Sorting IA for Tool
User Testing Chrome Browser tool
User Testing “Anchorage Shortcut”
Organized user testing session with Alaska Literacy Program for job seekers with English barriers (Total 8 Users)
Group User Testing
Image and Word Association exercise
Presented prototype and research findings for Code for Anchorage
Attended Solstice Job Fair organized by Denali Employment Solutions
Met with Founder and Organizer, Mao Tosi for a brief interview of his thoughts on the reentry residents of Mountain View looking for employment
Presented prototype and research findings with Muni Stakeholders
Received feedback from the Muni working on related initiatives to reveal possible positive overlaps
Presented prototype and research findings for Anchorage Land Trust Community
Received feedback on how it can be adapted to MV community
Attended Job X with Case Managers at Dept of Vocational Rehabilitation
Learn about what the state of unemployment looks like
Heard a presentation on the Courts Re-entry Treatment & Employment program
Attended HHANDS Commission meeting with invitation from Partners Re-entry Center Director Cathleen McLaughlin
Learned about new employment initiatives tackling re-entry community and the overlap of this population with addictions and treatment programs.
What we learned:
The guided path to accessing services met a need for reentrants!
The tool would require copy and service redesign for immigrant/English learning job seekers
Motivating language is essential to reentrant job seekers feeling empowered when using the tool; may not be needed for other persona types
We will have to change ‘ready to work’ category to a language that makes it more clear that this is the path to take if user wants to meet minimal requirements for work eligibility
There is a need for more IDs and licenses for different types of work that job seekers don’t realize they need until too late. (Like food handling license, machine operating licenses, etc.)
Dot Voting Exercise asking job seekers what their biggest concern is when submitting a resume for a job opportunity.
Next Steps:
-Finish Development of the product!
- Synthesize User Testing Results and all Exercises conducted with job seekers to determine next steps in product development.
- Create infrastructure of product and complete the user flow for each track
- Determine what are the priority supporting features that should also be incorporated.
- Gather content for each page and research optimal services and routes for persona types.
- Putting together the audio snippets from user testing sessions and group workshops for content development for stakeholders.
