Kate Styer
Problem
How might we help millennials with type 2 diabetes develop better eating habits?
Users
Millennials with type 2 diabetes who need help making better food choices.
My Role
I was on a team with four of my classmates in the MFA Interaction Design program at SVA. I coordinated and delegated tasks across several facets of design including: generative and descriptive research, prototyping, information architecture and visual design.
I was solely responsible for developing the tone and voice of our solution, including copywriting and content strategy of the website, and screenwriting and editing our product video.
User Research
In order to better understand what obstacles might prevent our users from seeking wage information from their employers, we spoke to several women currently employed or seeking employment. We discovered that:
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While they didn’t know whether there was a gender wage gap at their companies, they didn’t feel comfortable asking their colleagues or managers about compensation.
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For those seeking employment, there were few public resources for information about compensation, so unless they knew someone at the company who had any knowledge of it, they were left with unreliable reviews on sites like Glassdoor.
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Unless they were receiving pressure from the public that risked damaging their reputation, many companies were under no obligation to make any changes.
Ideation
We were inspired by events like the Shitty Media Men spreadsheet and the #metoo movement on Twitter, where crowdsourced stories ignited enough dialogue and action to disrupt the status quo.
Our first design was a repository of salary data. It took the shape of an app that primarily collected salaries from both men and women anonymously. The information is shared using data visualization, and the community can post reviews of companies and participate in transparent conversations about the workplace.
One concern we had with this design was that companies with poor reviews might seem singled out and put on the defensive, and would therefore be that they would be resistant to change. We wanted to apply pressure, but also provide an action plan for making change.
Solution
Employee Requests for Data
On SheQuality, employees can anonymously request data about the gender pay gap where they work.
SheQuality Requests for Data
SheQuality will then request wage gap data from that company, and aggregate it on the site.
It will provide a grade for each company based on their existing wage disparity and their efforts to close it.
Company Profile
Each company has a profile page, featuring their provided date along with a statement on their wage gap state of affairs.
Company Timeline
SheQuality also shows a timeline of their interactions with each company, including when they sent requests on behalf of employees, how many requests they sent, and when the company finally responded.
Company Support
Companies can share their data with SheQuality, either in response to requests or voluntarily.
SheQuality will provide guidelines for submitting data, as well additional and coaching if needed.
Outcome
This project taught me how important it is to include time for high-quality, intentional user research into your project timeline, even if it's a just a 4-week sprint from discovery to high fidelity prototype. While we were able to speak to 3 of our target users, and conducted usability testing with members of our employee target user group, we did not have enough time for qualitative research with experts or stakeholders within companies who oversee diversity or hiring decisions.