Human-Centered Design A Study of the Clock-In System at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington Kent Devaney, Evan Hick, Alex East, David Argast

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1 Human-Centered Design A Study of the Clock-In System at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington Kent Devaney, Evan Hick, Alex East, David Argast Page 1

2 Our Processes Throughout the course of this case study, our team adopted seven mindsets and five modes of thinking laid out by the Stanford d.school in order to embrace creativity and to create a product that is unique and applicable to its purpose. D.MINDSETS The following D.MINDSETS, from the Journal Bootcamp Bootleg are listed below, with how our team plans to implement each one. Mindset - Show Don t Tell The lives of the people who run the boys and girls club would be a whole lot simpler for the process of employee log-in hours by being more organized, less time-consuming, and more centralized. Mindset - Focus on Human Values The people who run the club are already busy enough with all the stuff they have to do. We could design something that could take away some of that workload. Mindset - Craft Clarity We plan to take this unorganized way of clocking in/out and design a way that is more efficient to the volunteers, regular employees, and program directors. Mindset - Embrace Experimentation We are thinking about building a centralized clocking in/out system that can only be used in the building to ensure employees can t falsify when they are actually working. This would be backed up in a database so all the information for every person will be store away. So pulling up someone s information is a few clicks away instead of hours of shuffling through login sheets. Mindset - Be Mindful of Process We are in the ideation part of the process where we generate ideas to solve the problem Mindset - Bias Toward Action Instead of just thinking of ways to fix the problem we are constantly creating scenarios of different ways to solve the problem. By doing this it will create a more efficient solution. Page 2

3 Mindset - Radical Collaboration Before implementing and going through with our final design we will make sure to collaborate with highly intelligent colleagues to get various opinions on our design to ensure the efficiency of the product. Modes Along with the seven D.MINDSETS, our group has also implemented and plans to implement the five modes of thinking, as laid out by the Stanford d.school. These modes are listed below, with how they are being and will be used in this project. Mode - Empathize When we visited the boys and girls club the program director took us through what he did on a day-to-day process. The only thing he was frustrated about was the time it took to organize the sign-in sheets because of how everything is done on paper. Mode - Define We defined that the biggest issue that the boys and girls club had was the clocking in/out system. We decided to focus our attention on this problem in order to save time for the employees and volunteers of the organization. Mode - Ideate We came up with the idea to create a centralized clock in/out system located in the main area of the building. It will store all the data in the local database. This will solve the problem by being more organized, keep employees from falsifying when they are there, saving time, less room for human error, etc. Mode - Prototype We will build a prototype that best exemplifies our design aesthetics. It will most likely be a computer where an employee/volunteer will need to type in their name and click on clock in or clock out depending on the situation they are in. Mode - Test This is where we will test our design to see if we need to fix minor issues or add more details to the design. This will make the design quality better and more efficient. Page 3

4 Our Methods In order to successfully empathize with a client, define a need and ideate solutions, we first needed to determine the core methods to be used throughout these steps. Method 1 Preparation for Interview Valuing our client s time was very important to our team. Being given the chance to speak with a Boys and Girls Clubs Program Director, we wanted to make a good first impression in order to build strong a rapport, such that we would be welcome back for future questions and analysis in the future. The following are the steps we took to prepare for this interview. Looking up Information about the Boys & Girls Clubs In order to fully understand our client, we first researched the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. What we found is that the Boys and Girls Clubs is a non-profit organization that gives children a place to relax, study and have fun. Across America, over 4 million children occupy over 4000 clubs (BGC Nationwide - Facts and Figures). The Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington operates under the mission To empower all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as caring, productive, and responsible citizens (BGC Bloomington). This Club has three main focus areas, Character and Leadership, Health & Life Skills, and Education and Career (BGC Bloomington - About Us). Generate a list of questions to ask Examples of questions asked during interview Brainstormed areas where our client may have needs for development. In order to be fully prepared, our team brainstormed ideas that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington may be interested in, in the case our client could not think of any ideas. These ideas ranged from topics of keeping track of the children to location specific developments, such as designs for a more interactive gym. Page 4

5 Method 2 Seek Empathy from Interview Much like the d.school, we want to understand a person s thoughts, emotions, and motivations, so that we can determine how to innovate for the client (d.school 10). By building empathy, our team was able to understand our clients needs better by getting closer with them by sharing feelings and emotions with them. In order to build empathy, we followed four guidelines. Empathy Guideline 1 Ask short questions that can be answered with detail. By asking short questions, we minimize the chance of the interviewee becoming confused, as discussed in d.school 10. While also minimizing confusion, we do not ask questions that can be answered in a few words. Instead, we ask questions that could evoke memories, stories or deep explanations. Empathy Guideline 2 Use Who, What, When, Where and Why, when answers need more detail. Often, the interviewee will answer a question intended for a detailed response in a short manor. At these times, or any time when more detail is needed, we ask Who, What, When, Where or even Why. Empathy Guideline 3 Pause during silence to give interviewee time to think. An important guideline we followed during the interview to build empathy to allow our interviewee time to think. Neil, our interviewee, made it clear that he was in no hurry, and neither were we. The questions that we asked required deep thought and had most likely never been asked to him before. Allowing thought gave our interviewee time to process the question and to determine a meaningful answer. Empathy Guideline 4 Have one group member proctoring questions as two record responses. Once the interview began, everything the interviewee was willing and able to tell us could be potentially important to our study. For this reason, we decided to let one group member at a time ask questions, many of which were determined from our preparation step, as two other members recorded responses. To accomplish this, each member recorded notes in a notebook. Page 5

6 Method 3 Determine Extreme Users From questions we asked during our client interview, we were able to identify several user groups that exemplified extreme uses of the current system of clocking in and out. Employees that clock in and out frequently These employees are considered extreme because of their increased interaction with the clock-in system. For example, an employee may need to clock in and out of several different areas in a given day. These employees offer a unique viewpoint of the system through this extended use. They may possess strong likes and dislikes of the system that would be important to the development of a new clock-in system. Administrators that send announcements to employees Current administrators frequently use to push critical announcements to other employees. These administrators would be considered extreme because of this frequent use. Their insights to the core nature and content of these announcements would be vital to the implementation of a new announcement system implemented within the clock-in system. Program Director/ ACE Employees These employees are the current backbone of the conversion of paper clock-in records to digital copies. This process takes copious amounts of time and knowledge of the system, pinpointing these individuals as extreme. These individuals hold knowledge of the final result the system must produce in order to be meaningful. This information is very important to a successful system. Page 6

7 Method 4 Think as a Beginner After defining the needs of our client and before brainstorming possible solutions, our team needed to put all previous experiences with the defined topic (clocking in and out) behind ourselves. This attitude change was needed because several team members had previous experiences with these systems at their workplaces. By doing this, we were able to not be restricted by the amount of real empathy we could build so that we could approach the design challenge afresh (d.school 6). By doing this, we were able to consider: Users of the product Unique functions for the product Unique ways of implementation All with one goal: To be able to create a system that is crafted to be unique only to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. Method 5 Brainstorm Now that our group had determined the needs of our client and had assumed a beginner's mindset, we were ready to brainstorm solutions. Our client had laid out a list of features he wished to include with the proposed clock-in/out system. Through collaborative discussion and creative thing, we were able to generate solutions for each given feature. These features with solutions are as follows: Page 7

8 Our Findings From our research, we have determined four common character profiles of workers at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. Of these profiles, all share common traits in health (can t be sick while working around kids) and age (young and starting careers). Of our four profiles, Scott is the most common as an hourly worker. Rebecca resembles an administrator, Lauren as an ACE intern and Neil as a program director. These character traits compose much of the workplace structure found at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington and serve as the target audience for the system in development. Page 8

9 Our Design Brief In order to give a brief overview of our design, we set explicit parameters for our development to follow. The following parameters lay out the core design of this project: Parameter Purpose This system is to be used only for the clocking-in and out of employees, viewing announcements, hours worked or requesting an hours worked change. Parameter Location The clock-in system will be located in one central location that is not accessible from anywhere else. Parameter Authorized Users Only employees with a valid ID or login will be able to access clock-in/out system. Only administrators with valid permissions should be able to issue employee announcements (From another location, such as mobile). Parameter Security of Data Only employees with proper login should be able to access their own data. Only administrators with proper permission should be able to access all employee data. Parameter Time to access resources Employee clock-in should be instantaneous, along with the accessing of employee data. Page 9

10 Visualization of Concept Our concept is one that is driven by the suggestions laid out by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. This concept is more than just a computer system, it is a way to eliminate needless paperwork and mathematical conversions, reduce time spent by employees clocking in and maximizing time spent with children as well as serving as a portal of communication between employees, reducing confusion and frustration. Page 10

11 Mapping of Concept Page 11

12 Our Sources BCG Bloomington. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from BCG Bloomington - About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from BGC Nationwide - Facts and Figures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from d.school. Bootcamp Bootleg. Retrieved November 8,2014, from N. Smith, Personal Communication, November 11, Page 12