Category: Projects Spring 2017

Analogous Immersion – Colleen Turner

Posted on by Wendy

Approach to Analogous Immersion:

We chose to interview international and transfer students for our analogous interviews. We felt that the feeling of being displaced in a new environment and needing to find appropriate resources was a commonality between the international students and the homeless population we work with

Interviewee: Jorge D.

Age: 20

Year in school: Junior

Country of origin: El Salvador

Date of interview: 3/1/17

Interview type: Phone interview

Themes:

  1. Cultural differences were difficult to adapt to

Jorge had never lived in America prior to attending Notre Dame. He found that aspects of American culture differed from his own, and at times he had trouble understanding and fitting in. For example, in El Salvador, their culture is much more relaxed and slow-paced. However, he found that Americans tend to be more serious, driven, and work-obsessed. Sometimes his employers or fellow students looked down on his jovial attitude in serious moments, but he attributes this a clash in cultural values.

2. Importance of orientation & campus resources in transition to school

Jorge believes that the orientation & campus resources played a critical role in making him feel comfortable and welcome in his new environment. During orientation, faculty and fellow students pointed out helpful resources available for international students. In addition, he was able to build community with his fellow international students during this week of orientation.

 

Memorable Quotes:

“Just transitioning to college is tough, but it’s even harder when you have to learn a whole new culture on top of it all. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it without the other international students who were going through the same things as me.”

“American culture is different. You take things very seriously here. People think that because I am being relaxed and joking, that I don’t care. But it’s not true, that’s just how I am, how my personality is, how my culture is.”

Analogous Immersion Response to Matt’s Post

Posted on by Sarah

(Picture on bottom left)

The analogous immersion exercise was a powerful experience that helped us to see the homelessness problem from the opposite perspective. It is important to note that although solutions that we suggest may be helpful, they may not be feasible from a cost perspective– and the simulation showed us just that. It is incredibly difficult to allocate resources to different programs and shelters that the city may provide. Even if they are all helping in some way or another, it is difficult for the city to fund all initiatives.

Key Takeaways:

  • There are situations that arise out of the city’s control that may force them to allocate resources in one way or another.
  • Moving people to permanent housing is a very difficult process.
  • It is important to see the homelessness issue from both sides of the spectrum (people receiving the money vs. people allocating the money).

 

Card Sort Reflection – Amanda

Posted on by Graciela Hasbun

The results of our card sort were not as surprising since we understand that food and shelter tend to be the most important necessities to the homeless population and to those looking to escape homelessness.

However, something we did not take into account is that most of the individuals who participated in the card sort knew about the resources available to them in South Bend, they just simply did not take advantage of them. We did not ask enough questions as to why resources such as Memorial Hospital and Oak Lawn were not popularly were not typically used even though we concluded that mental illness and substance abuse were two big issues in the homelessness issue in South Bend. Both resources provide services such as counseling for mental health and substance abuse, addiction treatment, and child services. Therefore, it may be important to ask and get more information on why these services are underused. Something we didn’t account for was the possibility that the current homeless population or those in danger of homelessness do not have the proper transportation or simply are not aware of how to get to these programs.

Gallery Day Reflection – Amanda

Posted on by Graciela Hasbun

On gallery day, our team had the opportunity to show Cherri Peate all the research we had conducted over the past month. We showed her the processes we went through in attempting to prevent homelessness in South Bend. Aggregating and analyzing the information from the interviews we conducted, the card sorts, the immersions, and the analogous Homelessness Game we played, we were able to come up with three main factors that contribute to South Bend’s homeless population: mental illness, alcohol and substance abuse, and an inability to cope with ‘normal life’.

In response to our findings, Cherri had some helpful questions and feedback for our team. She pointed out that all of our interviews shared a pattern of middle-aged, white, men. This could have skewed our results and in order to get a more representative idea of the homeless population, it will be necessary to interview people of other demographics including sex, race, and ethnicity in the future.

Additionally, she asked us what we thought homelessness was and what we are really trying to prevent in South Bend. The problem may not just stop at providing housing for the homeless. Something we are trying to solve is people re-entering homelessness or preventing them from becoming homeless in the first place, so we must come up with a solution that is longterm. Simply providing housing would, by definition reduce homelessness, but it may not stop people from continuing the same bad habits they were doing before they had a home. Therefore, it is necessary to address the major issues amongst the homeless population to keep them off the streets in the long run.

Workarounds

Posted on by Tyler

The first workaround is a cooler that is being used as a tv stand.  The second one is a projector stand.  There was a certain spot that the projector was supposed to go, but the design of the projector stand was a straight bar.  The spot that the projector needed to go did not align with any of the studs in the wall so there was a board that tied into the studs which allowed the projector to be placed in the right spot.  The last one is a blanket over a window.  The blinds were not dark enough, so in order to block out more light, a thicker blanket was nailed over the window.

Gallery Day Overview

Posted on by Cheong In

It was a pleasure to meet Principal Eid and Ms. Willis at the gallery day in Stayer Center. I felt that we had a very genuine discussion about the scenario we face at Clay High, and while I expected there to be a lot of overlap of what they already know and what we found in our research, I was glad to see that we were able to identify new factors and trends that may help us address Clay High’s issues. I felt that the journey map was the most valuable part of our day, explaining and pointing out the shortcomings at each moment of the school decision process.

Here were the main takeaways:

  • There is a clear obstacle created by the school district government when it uses marketing and brochures to boost Adams High’s appearance and bring down the other three high schools in the area. The school has a lot going against them, but we do think there are ways to circumvent those efforts and contribute to the word of mouth and relationships that helps Clay High get the enrollment.
  • We are dealing with two targets: students and parents. Each have their individual needs and goals, so the solution to increase enrollment at Clay will be a multifaceted one. The immersions and ethnographies certainly helped, but we may want to see a few more subsets of students and parents to really get a good sense of the whole population.
  • There are very addressable issues with the school’s image. For Clay High to be an art magnet, it should embrace their students’ art throughout the halls, give it color, and enliven the environment. As seen with the immersion, Clay feels repressive, strict, and uninspiring in certain parts of the campus, especially with its patrol and security protocol. Improving those parts may help it make a more inviting place for prospective students.
  • As for gaps, I do think that we haven’t really addressed the socioeconomic element of this issue as much. One thing we found and began to consider through our expert interview was that where people attend high school and why they do are drastically different for people with different financial or racial identities. Lower class families are less likely to look at what we assumed to be the primary source for information and will simply rely on word of mouth or just proximity and safety. So while improving the marketing materials may be important, it may be more worthwhile to design a program that revolves around improving how families of Clay students communicate with prospective families. This leads to another discussion – what type of students are we really looking for? Do we simply want to increase enrollment? Or do we want to target a certain socioeconomic class? I do think that while our interviews have provided us with perspective from the extreme ends of the parents, we should pay more attention to the lower income family and minority families more, since it would be more representative of the surrounding South Bend community.

Workarounds

Posted on by Steffen

The first workaround is an extension cord sitting on top of a table. This table is used as a place where people can place food that is intended to be shared with the whole office. At times a crockpot or coffee maker is on this table so the extension cord was put on top of the table so that the short cords of a crockpot or coffee maker could easily be plugged in.

The second workaround is ziplock bags being used as a way to store small papers. Larger folders would not be ideal to store small sheets of paper in so the ziplock bags provide a much better way to store the papers.

The final workaround is books being used to support the middle of a couch. The couch sinks badly in the middle so it needed some extra support so that it would still be usable. These books are strong enough that they can support the couch and make the middle of the couch the right height to be used.

Ethnography Summary

Posted on by Sarah

1. Expert Interview (Mr. T)

Date: 03/02/2017

Type: Expert Interview

Location: BGCA Gym

Team Participants: Sarah, Jake, Jordan

User Characteristics:

  • Approximately 27 years old
  • African American
  • Used to be a volunteer, now the athletic director
  • Been involved in BGCA in some way for 10 years
  • Has ideas for more variety in payment plans
  • Puts emphasis on importance of members having a ride home
  • Look for what the kids want and create a place that has all those things

Memorable Quotes:

  • “We need to offer more open gym time for older kids because some don’t think they can come after they’re done with their sports at their high schools”
  • “We could get kids interested with just one flyer that says we have Wifi, a gym to play basketball and an XBOX”
  • “A lot of these kids would come more often if they could pay per visit instead of the $50 all at once and risk not getting their money’s worth.”

Top 3 Learnings:

  • T sees a lot of untapped potential in terms of teen members for the club.
  • There are many teens that love to just come into the gym and shoot around/play pick up games.
  • There is focus on getting the kids to the club, but there is also a big need to get the kids home at night.

Key Insights:

  • There are passionate employees and volunteers throughout BGCA
  • Employees/staff have the best insight for areas to improve.

 2. User Interview #1 (Patrick Christie—Extreme #1)

Date: 03/03/2017

Type: User Interview, Extreme #1

Location: via phone call

Team Participants: Sarah

User Characteristics:

  • 16 years old
  • White
  • Sophomore in HS
  • Attends private, all boys high school
  • Plays baseball and hockey for his high school
  • Unaware of many details about BGCA
  • Does not know anyone who attends the club

Memorable Quotes:

  • “I really don’t know much about the Boys and Girls Club except for what I’ve seen on commercials”
  • “Is there even a Boys and Girls Club close to us that people could go to?”

Top 3 Learnings:

  • BGCA does a good job of using famous alums in commercials
  • Ignorance among upper class areas of the country as to where the closest BGCA site would even be
  • Perception that only lower class people attend the club

Key Insights:

  • Maybe more other teens would get involved despite economic status
  • If it is a fun place that a group of friends would meet frequently, it can appeal to a large group

3. User Interview #2 (Camisa—Extreme #2)

Date: 03/02/2017

Type: User Interview, Extreme #2

Location: BGCA Lounge

Team Participants: Sarah, Jake, Jordan

User Characteristics:

  • 16 years old
  • African American
  • Junior at Adams High School
  • Has been going to the club since early childhood
  • Mom works at the club
  • Has liked moving up through the club from member to part time volunteer now
  • Loves being a role model for younger members
  • Enjoys closeness among members
  • Thinks if more people had a way of getting there, they would go

Memorable Quotes:

  • “It honestly becomes like a big family here. You end up growing up with a lot of the other members”
  • “I just try to help out as much as possible with all the different members, especially the little kids”

Top 3 Learnings:

  • A lot of times members are involved with their entire families
  • Think that a bus would really help the teen group because there is only the option of a van that can fit 8 people, but more would most likely be interested
  • Overall desire for consistency among both members and volunteers

Key Insights:

  • Many teenagers are able to stay home alone and therefore aren’t looking for somewhere to go/something to do after school
  • Teen nights are a big success at the club and having them more frequently could help teen turnout at other times too
  • There is a desire for more up to date technology and also info sessions on computers and coding

 4. User Interview #3 (Ciarra—Extreme #2)

Date: 03/02/2017

Type: User Interview, Extreme #2

Location: BGCA Lounge

Team Participants: Sarah, Jake, Jordan

User Characteristics:

  • 16 years old
  • African American
  • Junior at Adams High School (takes the van to the club after school)
  • Aunt works at the club…that is how she got involved
  • None of her school friends go to the club with her
  • Wants teens to know they would like coming to the club because they would meet new people, make new friends and help the community
  • Thinks having college aged tutors would be beneficial for teens

Memorable Quotes:

  • “The quality and consistency of the tutors for the teen group could be better. Like if Notre Dame students came more that would help.”
  • “People at my school that I am friends with usually just go straight home after school and don’t want to come here and be with people they don’t know.”

Top 3 Learnings:

  • There are a lot teens that actually enjoy their daily trips to the club
  • Thinks that the tutor program could be used attract more people. Also introducing coding classes/clinics more consistently would keep people interested.
  • The club bridges age gaps, and provides areas of common ground among the entire teen group.

Key Insights:

  • Since her friends at school are not the same as her friends at the club, she offers perspective of different types of students in the area
  • Really impacts the members when volunteers only come once. They realize they have good intentions, but doesn’t seem that they care too much when they don’t come back at all.

 5. Immersion (at BGCA)

Date: 03/02/2017

Event: Watching the boys play basketball on the bleachers with a group of teenage girl members and then playing some pick up soccer for two of them

Event Description: Casual conversation among the five of us with topics ranging from Prom to future life plans

Key Takeaways:

One of the main things I took away from this was how much more comfortable these girls were talking to me once we were in an environment that was natural and it didn’t feel like I was interviewing them. For example, Ciarra was one of the two girls we did a formal sit down interview with, and during that she was extremely quiet and shy, but once we got to the gym, she began to talk to me about where she wanted to go to college and asked advice on whether to go to Prom or not. I also found it surprising how close these girls were, despite the variety in their ages. They ranged from 12 to 17 and even though there was that gap, they all found common ground. It was nice to talk about their families and what they thought about BGCA, but it was especially good because they didn’t feel like I was forcing any information out of them, instead they volunteered the information. I got the impression that many of them had confusing, and sometimes stressful family situations, and that BGCA was a great outlet for them for 3 hours after school everyday.

6. Analogous Immersion (at King Center)

For my analogous immersion I looked to the Martin Luther King Jr. center that is also located in South Bend. It is a similar set up to BGCA, but obviously is not as major of a non-profit. I had the chance to visit the King Center with the basketball team for a clinic they did as a whole team. I realized that this was a different day for the people that attend the center than typical days because there was a big group of people visiting. However, as a manager I worked with some of the staff there to get everything ready and that’s when I got some good insight. Overall, I got the feeling that it was a more relaxed environment than BGCA. There was less structure, which I view as both a good thing and a potentially problematic thing. There was also a wider variety in age, as well as more even number of each age group. The one big thing that King Center offers that BGCA doesn’t is later hours. I think, especially after our interview with Mr. T, that the extended hours at night would be a major benefit for BGCA’s teen program. It would be interesting to find out more about the King Center’s volunteer program and see how that is compared to BGCA. I think moving forward it would be helpful for our team to take a day or two at the King Center to find out more about it and consequently using its tactics for the betterment of BGCA.

3 Workarounds

Posted on by Daniel

 

The first picture is a sticky note attached to the water dispenser on the refrigerator. The buttons are confusing, so we had to add a sticky to explain how to get water and ice from the machine.

The second picture is a dog gate meant to be used to block them from going room-to-room, but instead of using it for that, we put it so that the dogs couldn’t go down the stairs into the basement.

Finally, we again used sticky notes to remind people the water the plant occasionally. As you can see by its withering state, it was not very effective. There is definitely room for innovation here with finding ways to automate the watering process, perhaps through a small irrigation system.

Ethnography Feedback

Posted on by Wendy

I enjoyed reading your summaries Sam!  An insight that stood out to me from your first two summaries were that teens found the Boys and Girls Club provided the opportunity to connect with friends they might not otherwise see.  It sounds as though perhaps the teens went to different schools?  I wonder how often that happens with the ability to choose schools in South Bend.  That could another opportunity for encouraging attendance.

For your Gallery Day summary you jumped right to solutions.  Follow the process.  Once we complete our Guiding Principles, we will be able to verify that we have user data backing up the what the problem is defined as.  Let’s confirm this before working on the solution to what we propose the problem to be.