Pathways: Mapping HCDE Career EXPERIENCES
Analyzing survey data, conducting primary research, comparing the Human Centered Design & Engineering experience with other programs, and developing user personas and journey maps.
This Direct Research Project mapped out the journey Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) graduates take in their careers. This research partnered up with the HCDE Alumni Leadership Board along with Mike Berg and Paula Chuchro to identify the diverse range of careers and core transitional moments of HCDE alumni. The primary goal of the research was to understand the experiences and needs of HCDE alumni as they navigate their career paths and highlight the key transitional moments in their journey. We wanted to unravel the ongoing learning, networking, and other needs and discover how alumni are meeting or not meeting those needs today. We also wanted to generate and develop alumni involvement and outreach to support the Alumni Leadership Board in planning events and continuing education efforts for HCDE students and alumni.
RESEARCH PROCESS
We started looking at secondary research on the internet to explore how other university departments engaged with alumni after graduation, and what the popular events and learning activities were for UX alumni and professionals. We were able to find most departments adopted university or college activities like career resources, employment options & job postings, awards and recognition, and specific engagement activities.
After understanding some background information we were able to create as study plan for our targeted research group. We looked into senior alumni who were in the industry for more than five years, from there we were able to identify our research questions and study plan. We conducted eight semi-structured user interviews that lasted roughly an hour long, that were either in person or remote. The screening and recruitment process were performed through outsourced recruiting due to the timeline. We were able to talk to participants working in a diverse range of companies, roles, and levels. Our research focused on these research questions:
What are some of the common paths and key transitional moments in alumni careers and what are some of the challenges they faced navigating that path?
What are three preferences for ongoing learning, volunteering, and networking needs? What are some of the existing channels and routes they are choosing to meet those?
How do they interact with the department as alumni today? What factors motivate them to engage with the department as alumni today? What factors motivate them to engage with the department activities and with current students in the future?
What are some of the barrier that prevent them from staying involved with the HCDE community?
FINDINGS
From our research we were able to identify patterns and pain points in engaging with the HCDE community and department. Our topline findings were that alumni were looking for opportunities that align with their values such as professional development, industry connections, and updates on the latest UX trends. They wanted to give and get value. As well as value the connections they made in different phases of their journey, incising their time in the department and in industry. The emphasized the importance of making connections and how some of those connections shaped their career pathways. We also found that a clear and personal approach when reaching out to Alumni made them want to connect with the department more. Alumni wanted to look for clear and digestible forms of communications from the department so they could feel engaged and easily kept in touch.
From our findings we were able to use the information to create a persona that best represented our user group, showcasing the goals and behaviors. We wanted to make sure they included both the joys and pains the interviewees expressed. As well as show the Alumni Board ways to develop a solution, understand and empathize with the user group. We also were able to create a journey map to showcase each point in our users pathway from post graduation to different stages of their career. Revealing the pleasure and pain points, and consequently revealing opportunities for improvements. As well as the barriers and insights, through each phase of the journey.
IMPACT
Since the research has ended the HCDE Alumni Board have been able to make action changes from our research study and wrote a medium article about it. They since have been sending out personalized emails to alumni, creating “Give/Get” cards to fill out, and creating activities that push traditional mixers.
REFLECTIONS
From this research I’ve been able to understand how small changes can create big impacts, that changing how to message alumni and making things more personal can increase their involvement to the program. That having this research has created opportunities to support not only alumni, but students and the Alumni Leadership Board to continue education efforts that will benefit both parties.
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Looking back at the study we had one outlier who did not want to be involved with the department at all, because of that I wish we could’ve interviewed more participants to see if others felt like that and why. I would’ve liked to either interview the outlier more or others similar to the participant to understand how we can get them involved or if we could at all, but wanted to understand what changes they wanted to see. In addition, I would change the scope of the participants to include those who don’t reside in Washington anymore and how we could get them involved remotely or how we can help them although they aren’t close by. I think it would be interesting to explore how we can support them and how their values and needs are different than alumni who are nearby. Not only that, but I think that opportunity could allow HCDE to broaden the community to not only get alumni from HCDE but other industry professionals and get a diverse community to not only help alumni but current students. I think it would be a cool opportunity to collaborate and share knowledge as well as foster a community that some people want.