Update on project activities:
For the BAC Interview group, interviews have ramped up! We have been interviewing both Bay Area residents in Spanish and both residents and social workers in English. We’ve been compiling and organizing our data, but one thing that has been interesting is that the content creation subgroup is not working on our data in particular. It turns out that the incorporation of feedback into the design of a resource is a much longer process than the quarter allows for. Nonetheless, we will soon begin the process of drawing out the main findings for each interview and theorizing how those findings will translate into content development for unBox. For the BAC content subgroup, we have continued the process of verifying data on where users can access public free food resources. At this time we have been able to verify almost all of the websites we have been assigned, and continue to tweak the methods by which we are inputting data. After our first pass through the database, we have taken time to call some of the locations to clarify information and/or make sure that the information on the website is up to date. The SNAP interview team has reached a point where interviews have become limited due to barriers regarding new interviewees and their personal circumstances. One idea that we have come up with to navigate this issue is allowing for written, asynchronous responses to the compiled interview questions. This could present some new issues as any difficulties on the interviewees end could be difficult to solve without meeting synchronously where we are able to coordinate solutions verbally together. In this way, interviewers and notetakers being readily available through text/email/call could be useful in responding to questions that interviewees may have. What we observed and learned: For the BAC interview group, it became apparent how there is a lack of technical knowledge surrounding the navigation of websites and how this may serve as a barrier for individuals seeking information/resources on the BayAreaCommunity.org website– an important detail that was not necessarily taken into consideration beforehand. As mentioned during one of the interviews, the site seems to be geared primarily towards social workers rather than the clients in need. Make no mistake– social workers are just as effective (if not more effective!) at getting the website into the hands of those who truly need it. We’ve just recently realized that incorporating feedback from both people types could cause the site to be disorganized in that it would be serving people with distinctly different goals and needs. The BAC content subgroup has been continually reminded through our work that this BAC website will prove to be an invaluable resource to many Bay Area residents. As we visit these sites to verify the information in the database, it becomes clear just how difficult it may be for people to find relevant information about the resources in their area. Some of the websites are more tailored to the volunteers who may want to help deliver/serve these meals, but there is less information about how someone can actually visit a location and pick up their free meal. In this case, we must call the location and get the information that would be most helpful to someone using the BAC website. The sheer number of resources available to the public also makes a site like BAC much more pressing, because it can drastically reduce the time and overall energy it takes for someone to find the resources in their area. Critical analysis/Moving forward: For the BAC interview group, we have come to think about the relationship between feedback forms and user testing interviews differently than we had before. Sarah, at least, has come to realize that a well-crafted feedback form can serve the same purpose as a user testing interview but with the added benefits of (1) allowing the user to participate in giving feedback asynchronously and (2) the client can provide better feedback if critiquing a site in the same session that they first encounter it is overwhelming for them. We’d be interested in developing a feedback survey to accomplish these purposes, or at least making key tweaks to the forms unBox currently uses with its resources. In terms of when carrying out interviews, moving forward it is important to establish a more conversational setting rather than continuously asking questions in a successive manner. By doing so, the interview will feel less transactional and allow the interviewee to feel more comfortable and to open up more when answering questions. Additionally, when interviewees provide feedback it is important to ask why to gain more insight and a deeper understanding for their reasonings. Through clarification, we would be able to surface new preferences and barriers that we might not have seen before. Update on project activities:
For the BAC User Testing team, Romuald and Sarah have received responses from some of the community members we reached out to, and now we have eight interested interviewees! This is very good news for our project, but a very large and sudden increase in our workload. We have done some preparation for these interviewees; six of them are Spanish speakers, so two new unBox members with Spanish language fluency have joined our interview team to help us make sure we conduct the more effective and professional interviews that we can. We’ve translated our protocol document and consent form to Spanish and will be scheduling interviews in Weeks 8 and 9 of the quarter. For the BAC Content team, Wesley and Kei have continued to wrangle with unBox’s database in order to validate sites of public free food distribution. We have become familiar with the setup of the database, but it is pretty easy to get bogged down with messy data. As a result, data validation for free food distribution has taken longer than expected. However, we met with our point person, Charlie, to clarify edge cases and minute details about our work. Furthermore, we outlined a plan for the next steps to gather data on other food resources like CalFresh and WIC (both SNAP supplemental programs). The SNAP interview team has completed their second interview after making some adjustments to their preliminary questions on the heels of their first interview. The interview benefited from this adjustment and we were able to block out a good portion of time for the online user feedback. We are further adjusting our interview for future iterations based on some new content we have received from our team in the form of alternative user guides. We will incorporate user feedback on a condensed pamphlet and an executive summary into the lattermost part of our interview. What we observed and learned: The BAC User Testing team has learned a couple of things: one, that the pace at which we had anticipated receiving interest from interviewees was not one we predicted or planned for accurately. Our timeline of progress will need some serious tweaking; we may have been overly ambitious in the beginning, so it’s beneficial for us to revisit that timeline and revise our expectations! Two, not all of our skills can be utilized in all of the same ways, or on all of the same projects. For example, Romuald will take the lead on our two English interviews as a result of his lack of Spanish skills, and Sarah will merely be a note-taker in the Spanish interviews as a result of her proficient-but-not-fluent skill level. While this feels like a burdensome distribution of workload for the native Spanish-speakers on our team, our unBox partners have encouraged this in an effort to put interviewer comfort and confidence first. We’ve been taught that users will be more open to speak their minds (and we, thus, will receive more authentic feedback on our resource!) if they know the interviewer is a competent and comprehending individual. What started out feeling like a disappointment for the Sustainable Cities team is actually an exercise in community accommodation and respect. In working with the data, the BAC Content team has in a sense gotten a taste of some the issues social workers face as they track down information for their clients. Namely, many sites of free food distribution are constantly changing so it’s hard to stay up to date on the most current information. COVID has further complicated it as many food distribution sites opened up temporarily, but either moved to a new location or shut down. It is valuable insight to have for building BAC, which is mainly aimed at helping social workers. The SNAP interview team found that making small but fundamental adjustments to our interviewing process opened up a lot more time and continuity in the interview. There are still adjustments that should be made with the notetaker in mind. The interview was originally structured under the assumption we would be recording, and modifying the process for note-taking is important to our data collection. We also face a similar challenge as the BAC interview team in terms of a possible native-Spanish speaking interviewee. We are conscious of this issue as creating a larger work load for our unBox team in supporting the influx of BAC interviews, and are actively searching for possible solutions reaching into our own networks for suitable support. Critical Analysis/Moving Forward: Next steps for the BAC User Testing team will involve transcribing and collating findings from our eight interviews. Throughout this process, we hope to rely more on our unBox partners from guidance and recommendations for how these deliverables could be more thorough or helpful. For the most part, our partners are students and volunteers like us, but they have been managing this organization longer and more deftly than we have. For this reason, we hope to ask for and incorporate their feedback on our portions of the project, and to not get carried away when they let us take the lead on certain deliverables. The next steps for the BAC Content team is to wrap up the validation of free food distribution sites. From there, we have outlined a plan to gather data on two resources that are both SNAP programs: CalFresh and WIC. The goal is to provide information on BAC so that people can register with these two resources. In essence, it is like making BAC a one-stop shop for food resources so that it is not only a directory of food distribution sites but encompasses all the ways in which someone could find food. The plan involves identifying the best method for data collection, whether this be web-scraping their sites or manually building a spreadsheet. Once we have done some more research on the two programs, we can proceed to collect data accordingly. Finally, we also look forward to our group members’ interviews and will do our best to sit in on them when possible! The SNAP interview team is excited to incorporate the new documents into their last iteration of interviews. The pamphlet and executive summary are an acknowledgement of the differing needs of the SNAP online user base and we think incorporating these will help us capture more nuanced feedback in terms of what is missing, in excess for our, as well as to provide more full-spectrum online support for SNAP participants. We are also actively searching for new interviewees and hope to find four more participants before completing the interview process. Update on project activities:
To date, our team conducted its first SNAP Online Guide interview and we are in the final stages of securing our second interview. We are hoping, given the decision to utilize a notetaker, to open up the interview process to the broader group and achieve greater scheduling flexibility. The unBox team has also expressed an interest in participating, especially in the early stages of interviewing, in the hopes of course-correcting and adapting the interview process in real time based on preliminary feedback. Leading up to the interview, we received excellent and thorough feedback from unBox regarding the interview protocols and line of questioning. They have been extremely generous with their time and actively involved every step of the way. Last week we discussed and brainstormed through some of the tensions between securing interview data, and retaining its accessibility in order to compile and analyze our findings in a collaborative setting. We have determined to keep our documents in a “Google Drive” so long as they contain no indicators of interviewee identity. In terms of the interview document, the primary tension seems to lie in balancing a series of open-ended, food-security related questions that give context to the SNAP participants accessing the online shopping guide, as well as reserving time to troubleshoot our way through the set-up process and get the primary-target feedback that is for the OPP itself. We are currently considering the pros and cons of demographic questions and brief surveys to assess food security as defined by the USDA. That being said, following up with our unBox community partners after our first interview, we have decided to modify our interview questions slightly to expand the time dedicated to user feedback on the online guides. unBox has developed both an in-depth and flyer-style guide to participating in SNAP benefits through online shopping. It is our hope to expose our interviewee first to the denser guide, and later garner their feedback from the experience by having them also take a look at the flyer. We hope this will prompt the interviewee to highlight what is missing, and what is excessive in terms of guidance in the realm of online grocery shopping and EBT set-up. In other news, the unBox team has provided us with an interview sign-up resource. They will be forwarding this form to their own community partners and our team will continue to reach out based on our own contacts. In terms of BAC content creation, we are continuing to assist with data input and verification in the database for Public Free Food services in the Bay Area. We have also continued to check in with Charlie through Slack and Zoom, and we participated in a meeting where we discussed charting a roadmap for data entry. What we observed and learned: The first SNAP Online Guide interview was conducted Friday Oct. 16th over Zoom. We had one team member note-taking and one team member conversing with the interviewee using the SNAP interview questionnaire. The interviewee was extremely open and forthcoming--so much so that, at times, the interview questions that were meant to prompt, seemed to get in the way of an extant narrative. Circling back to the prescribed questions felt like cutting that narrative short and often, as though it was revealing assumptions of homogeneity built into the framework of questionnaire-based interviews. Secondarily, a good period of time is needed to walk through the online guide itself. We hit a roadblock at “step 1” due to what appears to have been a change in the online landscape of Amazon itself, at least for the interviewee. This, however, was an important insight that will lend itself to an easy opportunity for improved guide accessibility. It is the nature of retail websites to change, and the guide itself should account for and be able to adapt to this. Ultimately, the hour was up before we were able to set our interviewee up with their online EBT purchasing account and we ultimately extended the time in order to execute the set-up. As we verify data for the BAC database, we have continued to see the significant value bayareacommunity.org has for its residents. Since there has not been a centralized and comprehensive space containing all of the public free food services in the Bay Area, it can make information about these resources more difficult to locate. When this data is consolidated into a single database, we think it will allow for more accessible information for people in need. Critical analysis/Moving forward: The interview elicited a nuance that went unseen during the development process. The opening segment felt like a survey, the intermediate introduced more of a personal narrative-based structure, and a third process involved specific technical feedback. Each of these moved at a different pace and it was difficult, being in the interview, to step outside and analyze whether or not the process registered as a cohesive experience. When time ran out it felt extractive to stop the interview short of the point of completing what had felt like a soft guarantee to the interviewee. That is, setting up their online EBT payment method through the website. When we reached and passed the hour mark, and had not yet set up the interviewee’s EBT card, we asked the interviewee if they would like to continue and set up the EBT. The interviewee expressed a strong interest in continuing. We were ultimately able to set up the card, but would like to acknowledge the dual possibilities that the interviewee may have wanted to stay on the call to get their EBT set up, but also that they might have felt pressure to generate a “successful” experience for our team. Moving forward in the interview process it seems best to plan for this eventuality. For our next interview, we are prioritizing maintaining the hour time limit with potential follow up in case the interviewee expresses an interest in setting up the online EBT if we are not able to do so during the allotted time. Speaking with our community partners, Charlie and Isabel, we determined that the easiest way to move toward this goal is to allow more time allotted for user testing for the SNAP Online Guide by condensing preliminary questions, and taking out the unguided shopping portion in order to allow for more direct use of the SNAP Online Guide itself. Update on project activities:
In continuation, our group has been divided into three sub-groups which are working on four distinct projects. For the BayAreaCommunity.org (BAC) User Testing Project, Romuald and Sarah have accomplished their goals for Week 4 – preparing documents and interview protocols – and are ready to begin the interview process. While they’ve reached out to various personal contacts asking for interested participants, few people have followed through on their requests. Our partners at unBox recently offered to help us make connections with their own community organizations; we will take them up on that support. For the sub-group focused on user testing for SNAP Online Guides, Alex, Marilyn, and Mariah have also formulated an interview consent form alongside a set of interview protocols. In terms of interviewees, the group already has a few participants that are interested. In regard to the sub-group focused on content creation, Kei and Wesley have begun making efforts in updating resources for public free food distribution, domestic violence, and other abuses on the BayAreaCommunity.org website. This includes gaining familiarity with unBox’s data infrastructure and verifying sites of food distribution so that their data is up to date. Finally, our work focusing on content creation for the SNAP Online Guides is to be determined by the user testing interviews, which should happen shortly. These will advance quickly as each interview can provide insight into how to more carefully conduct the next. What we observed and learned: For the BAC User Testing and SNAP Online Guide projects, the sub-groups have been surprised to see just how many moving parts there are in preparation for interviews, and how each of these moving parts affects one another. For example, there has been a collective agreement to not record our interviews in order to increase user comfort, but this requires a second interviewer to be present as a notetaker. We believe this is the right choice– these resources are for the interviewee, after all, and we want to create the most comfortable environment for users to give us bold and honest feedback – but we must also keep in mind our own limitations as a student-and-volunteer run organization. This challenge we face – the lack of accessible information and resources – is in stark contrast to the advantages we had perceived we’d have as an organization of driven, skilled, young people. This will be an important piece to navigate moving forward. On the content creation side, we have realized how difficult it is to track down information on food distribution. Sites will often have outdated schedules or no longer serve food, which makes for a logistical nightmare for social workers who need to provide this information. A resource like BAC can help alleviate this problem and it has been incredible to see an organization of volunteers collaborate. Critical analysis/Moving forward: Moving forward, the user testing sub-groups will dedicate its energy to conducting interviews and relaying findings to the content creation team. Throughout this process, we will be vigilant in tweaking interview questions and protocol so they are more clear and comfortable for the user. It may be a good idea for one of the two interviewers present in each session to take note of nonverbal cues from the interviewee (such as shifting in seat, looking around the room, hesitating, etc.) which might indicate that parts of the interview are stressful and should be introduced/executed more gently. This will be a good use of the second teammate that we will have present in each interview, and is a silver lining to not recording our sessions. It is important that both interviewers create a welcoming environment that is conducive for both parties and allows the interviewee to be open about their struggles and/or frustrations. It is also important for both interviewers to be considerate of interviewees and their given situation and to be accommodating for them in an appropriate manner. Update on Project Activities:
To preface, the team project comprises two central initiatives that support the overall objective of facilitating the provision of accessible information in regard to communal food resources. As a starting point, group members have self-assigned themselves under specified roles that have been outlined by the project partner (see chart below). All four of the assigned roles were a reflection of the varied interests and skill sets within the team, and of unBox’s major entry-level projects. The foundation of the work will be centered around (1) collecting user feedback alongside users’ personal experiences in order to (2) improve information mediums and access to resources. Collection of user feedback includes creating consent documents, research protocols and interview questions, conducting interviews, and collating data on user testing for both social workers and SNAP participants. Improvement of information mediums entails data entry and adjustments to the SNAP Online User guide and BayAreaCommunity.org website. What We Observed and Learned: It is evident that there is a gap in knowledge among disadvantaged households burdened with inconsistent access to reliable food sources – which is largely attributed to the lack of dependable resources. As a collective whole, we observed that through the provision of well-grounded information, organizations such as unBox can bridge this gap in knowledge and mitigate the barriers between low-income households and accessible food sources by reinforcing media that connects them to proficient resources nearby. There are many factors that may impede families from utilizing the food resources in their area. It is critical that as a group, the process of obtaining information for food access resources is simplified in a way that is accommodating for the primary beneficiaries of these programs, including both social workers and participants. One of the ways in which the group can provide effective streams of information is by gaining an understanding of the experiences of underprivileged families by active listening and placing ourselves within their perspective – a premise that has been established to be productive for planning actionable steps. By asking informative questions, we can analyze the needs of communities, enabling the group to serve in an efficient and agreeable manner. Critical Analysis/Moving Forward The next steps for our group centers largely around fieldwork in user testing and content creation. As mentioned before, there are two initiatives: improving access to SNAP through an online guide and refining unBox’s BayAreaCommunity.org website. A set of interviews will be conducted in the next two weeks based on the users for each initiative, namely, SNAP participants and social workers, respectively. To prepare, we will produce a consent document, research protocol and list of interview questions. Once the interview data is collected, we can shift our focus to collaborating with unBox and community members in order to improve access to their resources. Half of our project team members will largely focus on conducting these interviews for user testing while the other half of our team will focus on content creation. Fieldwork for content creation varies based on the initiative. For BayAreaCommunity.org, data entry and validation is one key component in addition to making some resources on the website more accessible to social workers. For the SNAP online guide, fieldwork involves brainstorming new ideas to present the resources to users and ensuring its ease of use. |
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