Design Research
How might we design an effective assesment tool to connect (opportunity) youth to work?
During my graduate residency at UIC Innovation Center I had the opportunity to work with THRIVE, a data-based non-profit that “envisions a Chicago where Black and Brown youth are equipped and empowered to define their own purpose and path, and where systems support positive and equitable youth outcomes at scale.” They approached our design research team with the intention of developing a digital literacy program for opportunity youth[1] in the south and west sides of Chicago. We conducted several interviews with THRIVE’s youth advisory board, where there was near universal consensus that a household sustainable wage was the primary concern among young people and their families. Many felt alienated by entry level job postings with educational requirements, unable to access reliable transportation, and expressed difficulty translating unconventional experiences (baby-sitting, peer tutoring) into work requirements. We reframed the project scope to better reflect the need of the community, “How might we design an effective tool to assess skills in order to connect (opportunity) youth to work?”
[1] Opportunity youth are young people who are between the ages of 16 to 24 years old and are disconnected from school and work; https://youth.gov/youth-topics/opportunity-youth

THRIVE Chicago
Design Research + Information Design + Product Design , 2022
with: THRIVE Chicago, UIC Innovation Center, Susan Stirling, Jojo Galvan
Research Interviews
Insights
- Youth need opportunity
investment.
- Employers need diverse candidate
investment.
- Employer needs and youth needs are
more similar than they are different.
- Simplify the process of connecting youth to jobs through an assessment tool: questions that identifies key words that enable a "match fit" between jobs and candidates.






Assesment Tool
Our initial approach was to build upon existing assessments for work-readiness that many community-based nonprofits currently use. MHA Labs Skill Building Blocks “comprise 35 core social, emotional and cognitive skills deemed critical for college, career and life success.” After School Matters program director Eboni Sloan currently uses the assessment tool to help place many Chicago area high school students with seasonal, and temporary employment. We would present the assessments to opportunity youth around Chicago and ask employers to identify traits necessary for specific entry level jobs (administrative clerk, forklift operator, point of sales etc). I created a working digital prototype in D3.JS[2] that visualizes what the assessment would look like; it provides a data visualization of opportunity youth strength and areas of improvement, along with a standardized assessment tool that employers could use to reliably identify successful candidates for entry level positions.

[2] https://observablehq.com/@6503ccce2405dc91/thrive_prototype
Future Research