PORTFOLIO

Csibesz Youth Foundation

Improving the onboarding experiences of children

PORTFOLIO

Csibesz Youth Foundation

Improving the onboarding experiences of children

Project Background

Designed For

  • Working with an NGO, running children’s homes, providing care and home for more than 200 children.

  • Conducting in-debt user interviews and contextual inquiry, aiming to improve the experiences of their protégés, understanding the needs of their children; identifying and crafting experiences for their educational improvement.

My role

  • Designing and conducting interviews with young children. Conducting diary studies, contextual inquiry, data analysis, synthesis, creating artefacts, communicating with stakeholders as a solo researcher.

Deliverables

  • 11 in-depth interviews with vulnerable children
  • Personas
  • Service design blueprint, based on primary research
  • Customer journey maps
  • Empathy maps

The Proposed Solution

  • Improved the onboarding experiences of children arriving to the institution by uncovering and communicating user insights to stakeholders.
  • Offered personalized recommendations to stakeholders to help children better adapt to their new environment.

My Constraints

  • Quick turnaround: I had 2 months to complete the entire project, including stakeholder interviews and presentation of findings.
  • Limited budget: Needing to work on my own during the entire project. The foundation puts most of its resources into locating and supporting these children, which leaves them with fewer resources to hire qualified professionals.
  • Ambiguous problem definition: agreeing on the research goal was no easy feat, due to the ambiguous nature of the problem.
  • Ambitious scope for a solo researcher: Given the ambiguous nature of qualitative research, it was challenging to justify project costs and come up with measurable ROI. Senior stakeholders wanted to have a tangible and practical advice on implementing better solutions.
  • Stakeholder resistance: Meaningfully presenting findings, while at the same time preserving confidentiality and anonymity of research participants.

Research process

Defining objectives & existing hypotheses

I led a stakeholder workshop, including senior stakeholders for defining research objectives. This session was also turned out to be valuable for understanding the context in which the organization operates as well as to get to know the future research participants better through shared personal stories.

I recommended a three-step framework for stakeholders for scoping this project.

  1. Identify the problem space. Defining the main reason of undertaking this research project as well as the most pressing problem that we want to solve.
  2. Identify potential research questions for approaching the problems we want to solve. Developing hypothesis about possible improvement opportunities.
  3. Identifying research methods that help us answer our most important questions.

As a result of a 2 hours-long stakeholder meeting, as a joint effort, we developed a research brief for moving forward with the project. –>

Finalizing the research brief

Research Goal

  • Coming up with tangible recommendations for improving the onboarding process of children arriving to the institution.

Research Questions

  • What are the biggest pain points of these children during onboarding? And how can we eliminate them?
  • What do these children like the most about our current process? How can we make more of it?
  • How can we help them better adapt to their new environment?

Identifying Methodologies

  • In-depth interviews
    • For defining the problem space and understanding how these children perceive their situation
    • For identifying possible pain points, needs, wants, desires and expectations
    • For uncovering hidden motivating factors of children, who find it difficult to express themselves and get their voice heard
  • Diary studies
    • For uncovering user habits, attitudes and motivations
    • Understanding user journeys
  • Contextual inquiry
    • For better understanding the context in which these young people live and operate on a daily basis
    • Gaining an objective understanding of their day-to-day habit patters and interactions

Data Gathering

Conducting User Interviews

Main steps involved

  • Preparing a field guide
    • Introduction and participant background
    • Main body — asking participants to walk me through their process of joining the organisation
    • Diving deeper into the details and exploring specifics — “Imagine that we are filming a documentary about your journey…”
    • Environment — What if questions, exploring possibilities of a “perfect” experience
    • Wrapping up

Diary Studies

During the 3 days reporting period participants above 8 years were asked to complete a diary, logging their daily activities, behaviours. Aligning diary study with our search goal, we asked participants to pay a particular attention to their interaction with other people. They also logged their emotions and feeling on a scale of 1-7.

Our aim was to gain a contextual understanding of children’s behaviour over the course of a regular day.

This study was particularly helpful for understanding user’s habits, finding patters in their interactions with other people, finding common pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Contextual Inquiry

Complementing diary studies and in-dept interviews, I also conducted a field study, involving contextual inquiry. I visited children in their home and spent an extended amount of time with them. The aim of this ethnographic approach was to uncover hidden insights of their behaviour that might not be obvious to them. Also, it was a powerful approach for gaining contextual understanding of their behaviour, particularly about how they interact with the complex system of children’s homes.

Data Synthesis

Most Crucial Findings

My key recommendations for stakeholders aiming to improve the experiences of arriving children were as follows:

  1. Language Barriers as a Primary Challenge: The research revealed that language differences posed a significant challenge for many of the children upon arrival.
  2. Unveiling Emotional Struggles: The diary studies provided invaluable insights into the emotional journeys of these children. They frequently experienced fear, and confusion during their initial days. The most common theme was feeling of social isolation, despite being physically surrounded by people.
  3. Complexity of Children’s Homes: The contextual inquiry revealed the difficulties of habituating to a different lifestyle and adapting to new cultural norms.
  4. Resilience and Adaptability: Despite the initial challenges, the research also revealed the remarkable resilience and adaptability of the children.
  5. The role of early friendships often result in long-lasting bonds: Those children who managed to win friends shortly after their move to the institution had a much greater emotional wellbeing. They were also performing significantly better in school as well as in their other commitments.
  6. Need for Tailored Support: Many children required substantial attention and support in adapting to their new surroundings. This underscored the necessity for personalized, focused interventions to facilitate their transition.

 

These findings formed the basis for designing an improved onboarding experience, focusing on language support, emotional well-being, and streamlining processes within the children’s homes. By addressing these critical issues, the project aimed to provide a more supportive and nurturing environment for these vulnerable children.

Research Impact

Most Crucial Findings

Through research efforts, the organization has transformed its systems, resulting in smoother and more welcoming onboarding experiences for newcomers. The research effort helped design and implement processes and initiatives to support the integration and continuous wellbeing of their children.

 

Nurturing Environment Creation

  • Contributed to establishing a more supportive environment for vulnerable children.
  • This research led to a design and implementation of a mentoring program.
  • Emphasized the importance of early friendships, fostering an environment conducive to emotional well-being and academic performance.

Emotional Well-being Focus

  • Tailored interventions, in a form of one-on-one sessions to address fear, confusion, and feelings of isolation of children, improving emotional support upon arrival.

Language Support Implementation

  • Addressed language barriers, enhancing communication for children upon arrival.

Understanding Complexity

  • Insights into adjusting to a new lifestyle and cultural norms aided in streamlining processes.

 

My Learnings

Most Crucial Findings

My key recommendations for stakeholders aiming to improve the experiences of arriving children were as follows:

  1. Language Barriers as a Primary Challenge: The research revealed that language differences posed a significant challenge for many of the children upon arrival.
  2. Unveiling Emotional Struggles: The diary studies provided invaluable insights into the emotional journeys of these children. They frequently experienced fear, and confusion during their initial days. The most common theme was feeling of social isolation, despite being physically surrounded by people.
  3. Complexity of Children’s Homes: The contextual inquiry revealed the difficulties of habituating to a different lifestyle and adapting to new cultural norms.
  4. Resilience and Adaptability: Despite the initial challenges, the research also revealed the remarkable resilience and adaptability of the children.
  5. The role of early friendships often result in long-lasting bonds: Those children who managed to win friends shortly after their move to the institution had a much greater emotional wellbeing. They were also performing significantly better in school as well as in their other commitments.
  6. Need for Tailored Support: Many children required substantial attention and support in adapting to their new surroundings. This underscored the necessity for personalized, focused interventions to facilitate their transition.

 

These findings formed the basis for designing an improved onboarding experience, focusing on language support, emotional well-being, and streamlining processes within the children’s homes. By addressing these critical issues, the project aimed to provide a more supportive and nurturing environment for these vulnerable children.