Role: User research & service design
Collaborations: Teachers, Students, Directors
Duration: 5 months
As a user researcher and service designer, my recent project on bridging the socioeconomic gap through education reminded me how essential thorough research is to identify hidden pain points and create meaningful solutions. I want to share my approach, from the research methods to the insights I generated, and how these insights shaped my design process.
Starting with the Problem Space
The challenge was vast—how can education systems be redesigned to reduce the socioeconomic divide? Initially, I approached this problem by conducting a mind-mapping exercise. The mind map helped me categorize educational issues: inequality, infrastructure, mental and physical health, unemployment, and the effects of recent global events like Brexit and the pandemic.
To dive deeper into these challenges, I needed to understand the Scottish education system and its relation to the socioeconomic divide. I conducted a stakeholder mapping to visualize how different actors—students, teachers, education boards, policymakers, NGOs, and more—interacted within the system. This step was crucial in pinpointing where inequalities arose and how different stakeholders could help mitigate them.
Expert Interviews: A Key Source of Insights
Interviews were my primary tool for exploring the root causes of the issues. I engaged with several experts, including Dr. Warren Leichtle-Chalklen and Shona Paul, to gather qualitative insights. Dr. Leichtle-Chalklen emphasized how education is currently designed to serve the capitalist economy, highlighting that it doesn’t sufficiently cater to students from marginalized backgrounds. Meanwhile, Shona Paul provided invaluable insights on the barriers faced by students from lower socioeconomic statuses (SES), such as access to infrastructure, mental health struggles, and lack of financial stability.
Secondary Research: Mapping Deprivation
With expert insights in hand, I turned to secondary research to understand how these issues manifested in the real world. I explored the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), which allowed me to map schools based on deprivation levels. The data revealed a clear pattern: higher-ranked schools were located in the least deprived areas, while lower-ranked schools were in the most deprived regions. This confirmed the correlation between SES and access to quality education.
Observational Research: Seeing the Gaps Firsthand
I didn’t stop at data analysis. To enrich my understanding, I conducted observational research in different areas of Glasgow. With a collaborator, we visited both the most deprived areas (like Govan and Drumchapel) and the least deprived (like Bearsden). The differences were stark. Deprived areas had fewer public amenities, such as green spaces and social hubs, which contribute to overall student well-being and success. Observing these environmental factors firsthand added depth to the secondary data, showing how infrastructure and environment directly influence students' educational experiences.
Insight Generation and Concept Ideation
From the research, several critical insights emerged:
Infrastructure and social spaces are vital to a student’s development. The lack of such resources in deprived areas limits students' potential.
Project-based learning could alleviate the exam-related pressure faced by students. Multiple interviewees highlighted the stress caused by the current assessment system.
Teacher support is crucial for assessing student work. With large class sizes, teachers struggle to give personalized feedback.
These insights guided the next phase of the design process, where I explored how project-based learning and collaborative teaching approaches could reduce the socioeconomic gap. For example, I proposed a new project-based examination system where students work in groups on real-world problems, reducing exam pressure while fostering collaboration and critical thinking.
Conclusion: Research as a Foundation for Service Design
Through my research, I learned that solutions must be socially just, inclusive, and scalable. Each step—from stakeholder mapping and expert interviews to secondary and observational research—provided valuable insights that shaped the final design concepts. As a service designer, my role is not just to identify problems but to design systems that can address them effectively, benefiting all users, especially those most affected by the inequalities within the system.
Research is not just a preliminary phase—it’s an ongoing, iterative process that informs every stage of design. It enables us to empathize with users, define actionable insights, and create meaningful solutions that can transform experiences for all.
Comentários