NYU D&T Session 16: Guest Speaker Joshua Ogure; Human-Centered Resource Planning

Announcements

  • TCS Spring Writing Awards. Let me know if you would like to be considered before the April 8 deadline. Last year’s prize was $200.
  • Extra Credit: Roll Red Roll Update: Film ends on 4/4 (Thursday). If you’d like to go, please use code NYUSTUDENT for a discounted ticket, add your name to this signup sheet, and send me the receipt for reimbursement.
  • Suggestions to come: Patriot Act, Peer Feedback
  • Prototyping: NYU Software Options

Agenda

  • Guest speaker Joshua Ogure, Map Kibera Trust
    • Request from Josh: please take pics during his talk and post them on your blog!
  • Human-Centered Resource Planning. Please refer to the (Abridged) Field Guide: Planning Inspiration Exercises for this process.
    • Brainstorm on Sticky Notes: Who specifically will you interview?
      • Specific People in target audience
      • Experts (especially at NYU)
      • Local Organizations (especially at NYU). See the Class Resources Page for suggestions.
      • Other people associated with your direct audience
    • SSI groups
    • Categorize the Sticky Notes and take pics of these categories:
      1. Direct Audience / Perhiperally Relevant
      2. Extremes/Mainstreams
      3. Fans/Skeptics
      4. Who would you need on your side for project adoption?
    • What questions will you ask?
      • Ice breakers: General questions
      • Deep Dive questions
    • How will you group together for interviews? (These groups can be separate from your project groups; instead they can be based on schedules, locations, etc.)
    • Are there any other techniques that you might employ, e.g. immersion, peers observing peers, asking your interviewees to draw resource flows? Refer to pages 25-32 of the (Abridged) Field Guide: Planning Inspiration Exercises.

Assignments

  • REQUIRED Blog post, due Wednesday 4/10: Based on today’s planning session:
    • Make and document initial contact (e.g. via email) with an organization and/or individual who has the salient social identity (SSI) of your target audience. You might want to contact a few people (users, experts, etc.) to ensure that you receive at least one response ASAP. If you plan to work with other students for your interview, don’t forget to CC them.
    • Be sure to consider cultural sensitivities in the way that you name the Salient Social Identity. (E.g. vision-impaired vs. blind, working-class vs. poor, differently-abled vs. disabled.) If possible, se the terminology that your target interviewee uses.
    • Schedule a time to interview them.
    • When you get in touch, ask an ice-breaker question to the org and/or individual. The ice-breaker question should help you start learning about their pain points, experience of bias, and other specifics that can inform your project.
    • I recommend that you use the sample letter below. You are welcome to CC me on the letters as supporting documentation for your blog.

Sample Letter:

Dear [Insert Name Here],

I am a student in the “Diversity and Technology” class (http://senseandscale.com > Diversity) at the NYU School of Engineering. I am working on a project to serve the needs of [insert Salient Social Identity here], and I found your name in the process of researching people who might help my team to understand these needs. Would you be open to a short interview in the coming weeks?

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to contact my professor, Arlene Ducao (arlduc @ nyu.edu).

Thank you very much for your time,
[Your Name]