NYU D&T 2020 #9: SSI Interview Planning

Announcements

  • Follow up on last Thursday’s group exercise: please add your SSI Statistic to this spreadsheet.
  • NBWC poll results: 20+ respondents, >=70% interest to attend
  • Please answer today’s poll: Plutopia Talk next Tuesday?
  • Dibner “Touch This Page” Opening (see flyer at the bottom of this page)
  • External Announcements: Events / Opportunities
  • Thanks for keeping up with your blog posts.

Agenda

  • Keywords Scribe, Marker Person
  • Medical Bias Media
  • SSI Stats for Background Research
  • Affirmative Action (follow up on blog assignment from Session 8)
  • Some Home Tech
  • Human-Centered Resource, aka “Interview” Planning.
    Please refer to the (Abridged) Field Guide: Planning Inspiration Exercises for this process.
    • Brainstorm: 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
    • Get into your midterm or SSI groups. Choose roles:
      • Document Writers
      • Photographers
      • Sticky Note Wranglers
    • Go to this directory. Copy the document named [COPY THIS]. Then rename your copy with your name(s), and follow the directions in the document.

Assignments

  • REQUIRED Blog post, due Thursday 2/27: 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.
    • Feel free to 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 before March 7? 

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]

External Announcements: Events

External Announcements: Opportunities