National Day of Civic Hacking 2019

SUMMARY

National Day of Civic Hacking hosted by Code for America focused on transforming Santa Clara County Probation Department (SCCPD)’s digital service by understanding the UX challenges. Our team created a user journey map of the youth in the probation system to understand all the touchpoints and identify the problem areas. Our ultimate goal was to empower youth on probation and caregivers the confidence to access available resources on the county’s website.

MY ROLE

UX Researcher

PROBLEM

Youth on probation and caregivers need immediate access to food and other beneficial services during the probation process but face difficulties accessing information.

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STAKEHOLDERS

Identified 3 CORE GROUPS:

Youth, Family, Peers
Advocates / Sponsors
- Social services, schools, 211, public defenders, case managers, probation officers, and community-based organizations
Service Providers
- Churches, food pantry, 2nd harvest food banks, and neighborhood associations

USER JOURNEY MAP

With the help of a staff member from the SCCPD, we created a journey map to understand the probation process and how youth/caregivers currently access food or other beneficial services.

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USER PERSONA

Youth/caregiver are afraid of contacting social services for food stamps due to the fear of deportation of a family member or the fear of jeopardizing parents citizenship eligibility. Another factor that deters them from accessing food is the lack of transportation. They don't have the funds to take public transportation.

SOLUTIONS

Create an online service directory where other services can update their information. This allows probation officers to offer the same information to every youth. Youth can also take an anonymous survey that narrows the services based on his/her needs. SCCPD can also refer youth to food sharing apps such as Olio to get access to free food within proximity.

I presented our process and solution with our team members and won the Judges Choice Award!

NEXT STEPS

Code for San Jose will work with SCC staff members to help redesign their current website.