cfa-sandiego-blog

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

Understanding our users

Our process begins by ensuring our work aligns with the needs of real users. In user research, we design activities to discover details about the intake process or case manager follow up that might not be immediately obvious. Our latest design exercise focused on understanding approaches case managers take to tailor services for each job seeker on their journey.

Designing our experiment 

We took our list of job seeker pain points and made a set of six cards, which capture the barriers most commonly identified. These cards were shared with case managers and we asked them to sort the cards from the person they think is the most difficult to service to the easiest. Case managers talked us through their thought process and the steps they would take as they sorted each card.

What we discovered

The process was fascinating. We learned that there is an enormous network of services that case managers can refer re-entry job seekers to for additional help. They are turned out to be easier to help than we initially suspected, due to this resource network. We also observed how case managers maintain individual lists of services for client referrals. One case manager personally checks out every service herself before referring clients to ensure the quality of the program. We already knew that case managers go above and beyond to help their clients, but this level of effort was truly remarkable.

We also conducted a prioritization analysis of the card sort data to determine any trends among case managers in their card order, based on the average position of each card. The following chart shows the placement frequency of each card.

The research shows that job seekers with limited experience or education were deemed amongst the easiest. They may be because these barriers can be reversed with time. The hardest job seekers to help were those with barriers that were more stubborn, such as depression, ageism, and family responsibilities. We will use this information along with our growing body of research to determine which prototypes we build.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“I was prequalified to buy a home the same day that I was terminated from my last job. My life changed that day.”

Job seeker commenting on how things can change so quickly.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“Don’t tell people you have a PhD.  Being unemployed is the most shameful thing in the world.”

Job Seeker on her struggle to find employment.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

Show and tell: early prototype

Throughout our research, we had a central question behind our conversations with job seekers and case managers in San Diego: "What are your pain points?" For many people, this was the first time they had been asked this question or felt that they could openly talk about their frustrations, their communities, and their day-to-day work. Understanding these pain points is central to our ability to identify barriers and hypothesize technological solutions.

We heard a recurring theme of paperwork and data entry. Job seekers and career center staff both had to fill out forms for many steps of the intake process, both for triaging a job seeker's needs and for fulfilling government reporting requirements.

Understanding intake

We first decided to focus on the intake process. We see this as four steps:

Fill out an application form

Register for CalJobs

Get materials and documents reviewed by job center staff

Receive membership card

When asking staff members about the intake process, we learned about the methodology, but not much about potential alternatives we could create. We had to first show staff members that we had the ability to iterate on this process, especially as technologists.

The prototype

Initially, we presented staff members with a prototype. It filled out the application form with basic user data. However, it actually had a more important purpose - to show people that we had the ability to simplify the process with technology. It wasn't useful as a product, but it helped us get great feedback on our ideas and opened people's eyes to potential areas we could iterate. We spoke to one staff member who said the application form wasn't really used and was, in fact, redundant. This was news to us, so we decided to test this theory.

Our first step is creating our own job center application so that we can understand the information that applicants know how to provide and find useful. We made a web application that first sets expectations, provides a friendly application form, and prints out all of the preparation materials applicants need to bring to career center staff. Here's what it looks like.

Title page

Application form

CalJobs

Final page

Ta-da! A filled out application form.

Feedback

Our next step will be to modify the form based on the feedback we receive. Ideally, we'll add questions that are helpful to case managers and remove those that cause user confusion and little value for case managers. Of course, we'll get user feedback every step of the way!

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“My friend told me that her career agent sends her 20 jobs a week, sometimes more. I want jobs sent to me too, so I went to the career center the very next day.”

Job seeker describing how in awe she was when she found out that she could get help with her job search.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

Journey map learnings

Understanding the steps that job seekers and their supporters go through - from the moment they arrive at the career center to the moment they find employment - was one of our key goals during our first trip to San Diego. Our workshop at the South Metro Career Center revealed many new findings of this process. We emerged from it with a stronger understanding of the parts of the membership application, the timing of different aspects of the journey, and the order of the key steps that need to be completed.  

We documented these milestones in a digital flow chart that shows the various paths that job seekers can take to achieve their goals. We have been told that this is the first time anyone has laid out this process in so much detail.  For our team, it has been helpful to see everything on one page as it strengthens our understanding of the job seeker and career agent experience. The current version of the journey lays out both the steps that occur and the time it takes to complete them. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be adding a richer layer of detail, which identifies the pain points and touch points that jobs seekers and case managers experience along the way.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“I am a messenger of hope, because once you have lost hope, you have lost everything.”

A Career Agent explains how she helps clients beyond the task of finding them employment.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“Why can’t employers tell you right away if you got the job.  They string you along.  They have a carrot in front of you and they make you chase it.  That is what I don’t like.”

A job seeker expresses what they think the most difficult part of the process of looking for a job.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“Our job is to build the person up and believe in them.”

- A career agent defines how she views her role in helping job seekers.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“The minute someone loses their job, they get awesomeness amnesia. They immediately forget everything that is good about themselves. It’s my job to remind them.”

- A career agent talking about the difficulties her clients face and how she keeps them motivated.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

"Sometimes they come to us as a last resort. They're about to run out of unemployment. And they come to us."

Case Manager talking about why people come to the career center.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“Do you realize what a game changer this is?” Apply for food assistance in <10 minutes.

A job center case manager using GetCalFresh for the first time. 

Sharing Code for America tools that can solve job seekers’ needs right now has been a rewarding aspect of our time in San Diego. We’ve identified a long list of challenges that job seekers face when trying to find employment like housing, transportation, and childcare. Through our user research, Paras and I found that job seekers also need help putting food on the table. 

We shared GetCalFresh with case managers to help their clients apply for food assistance (i.e. SNAP) in less than 10 minutes from their phone. Our hope is to build a similar product for workforce services that measures and removes barriers job seekers face when trying to access benefits.

~Kimberly

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“Here at the career center, we have an event called Job-Con.  It’s like Comic-Con, but with jobs, instead of costumes.”

Career center employee expressing genuine excitement over the services that they are able to offer job seekers.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

“I don’t have time to case manage them (job seekers), because all I do is data entry.”

A Career Agent expressing concern that data entry takes away from valuable face to face time with her clients.

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

So, how do I find a job? Our journey map workshop.

Paras and I try to organize all the steps a job seeker goes through.

Over the past week, Paras and I collected all of the paperwork job seekers and case managers need to fill out. We have tons of application forms, document templates, action plans, releases, and contact sheets from six separate career centers. Each of these forms represents a step on the way to finding employment. The forms built our understanding of the journey, which job seekers and their supporters go on together; from the moment a person arrives at the career center to when they find employment.

Using Post-It notes, we documented these steps in a preliminary journey map, which we presented as part of a workshop at the South Metro Career Center last week. Job seekers and career agents were invited to add to the map either by correcting errors, adding in missing steps, or commenting on their experience at each touch point along the way.  

Now we’re able to refine the map to accurately reflect the job seeker journey and begin to identify opportunities to improve their experience. Stay tuned for an electronic journey map coming soon!

[cfa-sandiego-blog]

Exploring Workforce Development in San Diego, CA

We're partnering with the San Diego Workforce Partnership to modernize the process in which job seekers access services at the region’s America’s Job Center of California (AJCC) locations. Paras (Engineering Fellow) and I arrived in San Diego this week to start user research. We're focused on interviews with job seekers, case managers, and program managers to understand how the career centers work. The team is focused on the job seekers’ experiences as they enter the system, receive job training, and find employment.

Our goal is to document a need or inefficiency experienced by job seekers, AJCC staff or both. From the data collected, we’ll create a journey map to identify challenges and build digital tools that successfully address and incorporate user needs. We are lucky to be working with a team that is known for their innovation in the workforce space, including:

Local team leads

Andrew Picard, Director of Programs

Brooke Valle, Deputy Director of Programs

Kristen Walker, Manager of Adult Programs

Alexander Becker, Coordinator, Strategic Initiatives  

We'll share our findings with you as we learn more about the challenges facing job seekers and service providers. And, if you're in San Diego County, we're looking to connect with job seekers. Email the team at sdworkforce@codeforamerica.org

- Kimberly Voisin, UX Design Fellow -