It Starts with People

As we explored this question together, it quickly became apparent that going digital was a means to an end. That end was really about improving home visitors' practices. The National Resource Center had voluminous content—backed by data—describing what worked and what didn't. Yet, it wasn't clear that people knew about it or were using it. 

I began with user research, which included interviews with home visitors and their supervisors from across the country, from urban New York, to rural Alaska, and Native American reservations in the West. In addition, I performed site-specific research, observing and interviewing home visitors as they prepared for their day.

We learned that they had a heavy case load, were always pressed for time, and found the documentation they were required to do each day burdensome. Yet, they were hungry for ideas for how best to engage with the families they served. While they were aware that the National Resource Center produced materials that could help, we kept hearing there was no time to hunt down print materials or visit an outdated website. They felt isolated and like they had been "thrown into the deep end of the pool."

Discover, Engage, Remix

A key insight that drove the design was to adapt the content into a format that could conform to different needs and contexts, one that could change over time as those needs changed. Rather than asking home visitors to adapt to a print publication or website, we envisioned information resources that would adapt to them.

It was clear that what was essential one week was only "nice to know" the next. It all depended on the needs of the family. Our approach had to fit itself into this reality.

The concept of "discover, engage, remix" was the foundation of the design. At its base, we needed to create a taxonomy that would surface content based on searching and filtering. Next, once a home visitor discovered this content, we needed to be sure it would fit their context.

In the design, I presented traditional, linear chapters, but also broke down the constituent content so if you had only 5 minutes and your learning style preferred video, that these were quickly presented to you. Lastly, I took a page from playlists, and designed a way for content to be grouped via a folksonomy that was unique to each user. This way, home visitors could save mixes relevant for each family, each stage of a development plan, or any other format that best supported their needs.

Data, Data, Data

We built a mobile-first web application called "OpenDoors" to bring this strategy to life. OpenDoors not only helps home visitors find and use content, it also provides tools for people to rate, share, and comment on content. This generates anonymous usage data to the National Resource Center offering them unprecedented insight into the content people find most meaningful. This allows them, in turn, to tune and optimize content creation and promotion.

Role

Strategist
User Researcher
Information Architect
Designer (UI/UX)

Key Deliverables

Strategy Recommendations
User Research Findings
Information Architecture
Web Application Design