Creating a tech curriculum and pipeline
About this project
Many of the employment programs geared towards homeless youth are not high-paying, which can keep them in a cycle of poverty. Coding is both high-paying and does not always require formal education, making it a promising opportunity for this group. However, while there are coding lessons aimed at people who are underrepresented in tech, very few organizations target homeless youth specifically. I conducted research as part of a team of 4+ user researchers to help build a coding curriculum & tech pipeline for homeless youth from scratch. The research team was part of a larger, interdisciplinary team of 10+ members.
Organization
Accelerator Project × CivicTech Toronto
My Role
User Researcher
Team
Team of 10+: researchers, developers, teachers, marketers, founder
We asked
- How do coding lessons work with people who are homeless?
- What do we need to know to build a coding curriculum?
- Which homeless youth are a good fit for our current program?
We answered with
Observations
of coding lessons
Surveys
after lessons
Interviews
before and after program intake and/or lessons
Making sense of the data
We analyzed our data by discussing common themes and experiences as a team. Because we are building a program from scratch, it is important for us to discuss our insights so we can be on the same page and have a chance to contribute to the program design.
In addition, one of our researchers did a statistical analysis of survey results.
Our findings
We learned that:
- Clients have varied experience with different types of technology (laptops, phones, desktops, etc.) and we need to plan for this.
- Not everyone wants to learn code for career purposes. This is okay, as long as we are able to meet clients’ goals in a way that improves their lives in some way (e.g. a sense of purpose from working on a project).
- Our coding lessons don’t seem to attract many women & non-binary clients. We do not want to create a gender gap and need to learn how we can interest a more diverse group.
- Clients have different goals and interests when it comes to coding. It will be helpful to pair them with mentors who can meet their needs.
| What we learned | What this meant for the program |
|---|---|
| Clients have varied experience with different types of technology (laptops, phones, desktops, etc.) | We need to have a program that’s accessible from a variety of devices |
| Not everyone wants to learn code for career purposes | This is okay, as long as we are able to meet clients’ goals in a way that improves their lives in some way (e.g. a sense of purpose from working on a project) |
| Our coding lessons don’t seem to attract many women & non-binary clients. | We do not want to create a gender gap and need to learn how we can interest a more diverse group |
| Clients have different goals and interests when it comes to coding | To get the most out of the program, it will be helpful to pair them with mentors who can meet their needs. |
Sharing our findings
We shared our findings with both the user research team and our wider interdisciplinary team of outreach, developers, engineers, and team leadership in weekly meetings.
We also shared our work with our wider team through a presentation at a design sprint.
Finally, we presented our plans to potential partners and clients through an information session at a shelter.
Impact & Outcomes
More connected team
Weekly meetings enabled the wider team to stay in touch and have an input in how the program will proceed
Strengthened identity
The design sprint gave the team a clearer understanding of who we are as an organization and where we are planning to go. This was important for building relationships with each other and connecting the smaller teams with the wider group
Grew client base
The information session was important for building relationships with both the partner organization and potential clients. New clients approached us for coding lessons after this session.
Improved program design
The research findings allowed us to go from a prototype of casual drop-in lessons to one-on-one customized lessons with a mentor that matched the client’s learning style, personality, and lifestyle.
Challenges & lessons
Extreme ambiguity
Building a program from the ground up meant that there is no clear path on where to go next. Communicating with my team made the ambiguity easier to deal with because we were able to build the program together.
Lack of lived experience
Not knowing what it is to be homeless means that there are many things I didn’t understand or anticipate. It reinforced that understanding the lived experience through observation and conversation is necessary to answer the research questions in a useful way.