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Scouting Association census return

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Case Study

Role
UX Researcher / UX Designer 
Sector
Youth Sector / Charity 
Challenge
Why ethnicity data was incorrectly collected between digital systems
Stakeholders
Scout Association / OSM - Online Scout Manager / Parents
Timeframe
1 month
 

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Intro

Scouting is enjoyed by 400,00 young people and 100,000 adult volunteers a week.

An annual census gives the Scouting Association a detailed picture of its members.

This is important data for Scouting.
 

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OSM - Online Scout Manager


OSM system manages the complexities of a running a scout group

  • children's contact details

  • badges

  • events

  • payments

  • census data


Ed Jellard created OSM in 2011 - Ed is a hero in Scouting.

He has saved volunteers hundreds of hours of time.

OSM is a successful business - it is separate from the Scouting Association.

OSM's data can be exported to the Scouting Association system for the annual census return.

South London Scout Group

One group noticed a mismatch of data with ethnicity on  their census return.

2 new members reported as Mixed /Multiple  when they identified as Black African ?

The census system allowed leaders to edit and correct the mistake but it shouldn't have happened.

Why did it happen ?

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Double Diamond Design Process

I used the double diamond design principles.

Discover - research - OSM / Scout Census / ethnicity groups
Define - user journeys / insights
Develop - prototype / discuss with stakeholders / prototype
Deliver - share case study with stakeholders


 

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Scouting should reflect the local community.

South London is diverse and the borough of Southwark has many different ethnicities within it.

60% of children in Southwark identify as black.

 

Diversity in South London

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Ethnic Identity

Belonging and identification with a group gives a strong sense of self esteem.

Ethnic identity develops in adolescence and is passed from one generation to the next.

Scouting measures how representative it is of the UK via the census data.
 

Scout Leaders - previous user journey with census

Using miro I mapped out the user journey for leaders before OSM census function existed.
It explained why leaders would welcome an accurate digital system.

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Task Flow for Annual Census between users

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Miro - users + tasks for census collection between 2 digital systems

The Scout group had used a "get around " for census data collection prior to OSM census function.
Capturing details when registering new children avoided the frustrating task previously encountered.
The Scout group knew what to expect with the census data - this was how they spotted the anomaly in the final return.

Discover - Looking into a system for users

Leaders cant see a parents view of OSM.

I set up a parent dummy account for a child on OSM.

I looked at what the leaders could see and what a parent
can see.
 

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Discover -Parent users 

Census function -
1.Parent receives email with link ( automated in OSM ) 

2.Parent then selects from the drop down menus

3.Info is then anonymously stored within OSM

Parent users - Familiar patterns 

Looking online I discovered standard patterns for collecting data on ethnicity.

Users are familiar with filling in forms - Gov UK, NHS, ONS

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Case Study 2
coming soon

Define -Census v OSM ethnicity groupings

Comparing the view of the 2 systems led to conclusive insights

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OSM Parent view

  • OSM drop down menu lacks the familiar conventional ethnicity headers.

  • Parents scanned the menu looking for the words BLACK followed by AFRICAN.  

  • The code B2 had no relevance to users.

  • D2: African option would show on the census as BLACK AFRICAN but users cant see the other system.

  • Without the headers or sign posts they opted for B2: White /Black African

Census leader view 

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  • The Scout Census has the conventional ethnicity headers in place.

  • It used text proximity divisions on the UI.

  • The codes are relevant to Scouting system only.

  • Parent have no view of the census return.

  • The issue stood out to leaders.

Define - drop down menu - user journey map 

Miro was used for stakeholders to show user journey and issue.

  • OSM - drop down menu used Scouting coding.

  • Lack of headers - sign posts - usually used for ethnicity groups.

  • Drop down had a continuous list.

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Develop Solution - protoype Adobe XD


OSM - drop down menu for users to revert to standard ethnicity pattern with headers.

Using Adobe XD I made a protoype with -
Headers in bold.
Text proximity.
Lines to define ethnicity groups.

Link for miro board


Link for Adobe XD OSM prototype
 

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Lesson learnt


OSM proved to be a wonderful UI to copy to help master Adobe XD - nested components and prototyping.
Using familiar patterns for presenting familiar information for users is key.
Testing across a wide demo always throws up fascinating insights for UXers.

 

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Next Steps

To contact stakeholders to share the findings and prototype.
 

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