Methods Used
Design Strategy
User Research
System of Prototypes
Tools Used
Pen & Paper
Adobe Illustrator
Keynote
The users are a diverse group of young adults (25-35) currently residing in Washington, D.C. who want to maintain their current careers and lifestyle in a city that offers more stability and a better quality of life.
The Challenge
In the Twin Cities the number of jobs generated has outpaced the number of workers to fill those jobs. There are currently 58,000 unfilled positions, this is expected to reach 100,000 by 2020. The Twin Cities needs to attract new talent from other locations to fill these positions. Especially tech talent. That’s where Make It. MSP. comes in. Make It. MSP. is a collaboration of companies, cities, organizations, and individuals working to attract tech talent to the Twin Cities.
The Approach
Utilizing the research Make It. MSP™ has already acquired and doing some more research of our own, myself and a team of 2 other UX Designers created a specific Design Strategy for Make It. MSP™. This strategy helps them connect with young adults in Washington D.C. and involves specific plans to bring awareness to these people and then build connection to them and the Twin Cities through that awareness.
User Research
Make It. MSP. has compiled a plethora of helpful data. They know the key segments they are targeting: People of Color, Households with Kids, Young Adults (25-34 Years Old), Boomerangs (Former MN Residents). They knew the regions that would be interested: Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Dallas, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Salt Lake City. And they knew what these people were looking for: Entrepreneurial Culture, Make a Global Impact, Robust Job Options, Job Opportunities for Spouse, Time for Side Projects, Social Scene, Outdoor Recreation, Access to Housing, Cost of Living, Arts and Culture. (These were selected based on research conducted by Development Counsellors International titled Perceptions of Minneapolis-St.Paul; A Survey of Potential Talent and Residents.)
While this research narrowed the field a little, this is still a large spectrum of people, places, and things.
We decided to construct our design strategy around a more specific segment of people.
These people are a diverse group of young adults (25-35) currently residing in Washington, D.C. who want to maintain their current careers and lifestyle in a city that offers more stability and a better quality of life.
During our initial research we found that there is a significant migration of millennial (ages 25-35) out of the D.C. area due to the high cost of living in D.C. (Source, Source, Source)
As we began to learn more about our target audience, we put together some personas highlighting information about these people, their goals, and what is getting in the way of their goals.
Persona: Sarah
Persona: Gloria
Persona: Vivek
Design Strategy
Now that we had a good handle on who Make It. MSP. was, what our goals were, and who we were looking for, it was time to start thinking of ways to bring these people to the Twin Cities.
We know that Awareness and Connection are two areas Make It. MSP. is focused on when looking for new talent, so we came up with ideas surrounding those two focuses.
AWARENESS: 3 Ideas
- The 2018 Super Bowl will be held at US Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. Leveraging this fact we had the idea to create a Super Bowl ticket giveaway. This giveaway would include all the amenities of a luxurious Twin Cities stay (good food, drink, accommodations) and would also include a tech related event to create connection with those attending. We would open the applications up only to those who work in the tech industry in D.C. and it’s surrounding suburbs.
- Make It. MSP.’s current website has a wonderful FAQ section. We think it would be beneficial to have video answers from Twin Cities residents to these Frequently Asked Questions. The questions would be gathered from the Contact a Local question form, and we would partner with locals who volunteer and are already connected to Make It. MSP. These videos would not need to be professionally filmed, which would allow for quick turn around time. These videos would also be sourced from Make It. MSP.’s You Tube channel so that they could be easily embedded in the website and shared on social media platforms.
- During our initial research we also found that D.C. has the second longest commute time in the United States (Source). Creating colorful billboards with fun facts we would attract those stuck in long commutes with the intention of bringing more traffic to Make It. MSP.’s home page.
CONNECTION: 4 Ideas
- The Super Bowl event would not only create Awareness, it would also create direct Connection for some D.C. residents, and we think they will tell their friends, who would also get connected with some one here in the Twin Cities!
- Contact a Local is a quick and simple way for those outside of Minnesota to ask a question and get a real life response from a Twin Cities resident. We would leverage those who are already connected to Make It. MSP. to volunteer to answer these questions. The long term goal would be to get volunteers for this from those who have chosen to migrate to the Twin Cities.
- The Work, Live, and Play maps would be a quick research tool for those researching what life would be like in Minneapolis. This would give them a chance to connect with the city and find out what jobs are available, where they could live, what it would cost, and what they could do their. It’s fun, simple, and uses existing Google maps!
- Since we would be driving more traffic to Make It. MSP.’s website, we also wanted a cleaner and more strategic home page. The home page we created would highlight the Video FAQ, Super Bowl giveaway, Work/Live/Play Maps, and the Contact a Local button.
THE JOURNEYS
The following is an interpretation of how our target audience would interact with the Awareness and Connection ideas.
THE TIMELINE
Finally, we created a timeline. This timeline maps out a launch plan with opportunities to evaluate, measure, and adjust our strategy along the way.
KRHolmes 