fancyham
commented
1 day ago Adding this for posterity: Tools and techniques answering 'what, why, and how'-type questions
Question: I'm interested in finding out:
- How do users determine which food assistance program will best meet their needs?
- What are the challenges users face when looking for food assistance?
Discussion and Recommendations
The research team might have some interviews with subject matter experts (academics and social workers), and I don’t think they’ve done much talking with food-seekers directly (yet)..
So in the meantime, while they’re on break, let’s both look for studies that other people have done — perhaps academic, or even news articles or interviews profiling what people go through when they start needing food. It won’t be the same as a direct interview, but it’s a start. If you find a good one, share it here in this thread.
Also, another technique we can do is:
Role Play (not perfect but it’s a start) — what would you do if you started running out of money and needed food, and to actually start pursuing it. That is, literally write down what you do, do it, and see what barriers or discoveries you come across. Also, note your emotional state as you go - frustrated? Sad? worried? angry?
You might pretend you’re in LA county, but I’d suggest doing it for your area. It’ll be similar to LA. and what you write up becomes a walkthrough if what one person has gone through.
Or pretend you’re helping a friend or friend’s family find food.
Sometimes drawing it as a mind map or flowchart as you do things can be useful.
I’ve done this when I evaluate sites or try to get to know a subject I’m not familiar with but need to design for. It’s far from perfect - perhaps we’re actually housed, have food (acting is far different from living it), are too tech savvy or are too young or lack connections (to church, friends in similar situations, etc.), but it’s a great way to peek into the experience.
interview - Lots of people have needed food at one time or another - even our friends and relatives. So asking what those people did can be really useful. The one downside of this is that it often lacks details and emotions and time, as our memories often collapse and simplify what really happened.
Asking them how they’d help a friend is another way of getting to that information.
I just talked to someone who’s done research like this and she recommends looking into:
Newspaper and magazine deep dives into food insecurity and perhaps homelessness (though many/most food insecure people are housed) — there have been some Pulitzer-winning ones that might be helpful:
(Pulizter prize) Eli Saslow of The Washington Post “For his unsettling and nuanced reporting on the prevalence of food stamps in post-recession America, forcing readers to grapple with issues of poverty and dependency.”
Documentaries
Books about how people survive when they don’t have money
What to look for: profiles of what its like to be food insecure
Reddit or discussion groups by and for food-insecure folks (if such a thing exists) — sharing strategies, knowledge.
Part of the challenge here is that you may be looking for info about people experiencing food insecurity for the first time, and what do they go through - for example, someone who has just been laid off from their job — … that’s kind of a different experience than someone who has already figured out a system that works for them (or works as best it can)
Also, volunteer at a food pantry or social service where you interact with folks looking for food. This is harder, but talking to someone who does this and asking those questions would be the next best thing.
There are academic papers that might also be helpful but also hard to read
But here’s one I found by googling for “that is profiling people in the UK - skim past the Methods section and read the parts with quotes from interviews: Understanding Lived Experiences of Food Insecurity through a Paraliminality Lens
—Bryan
Overview
Starting with the questions:
and how can we better help food-seekers?
To better design features, we need to better understand food-seekers and people who help them.
Methods
Some goals
Some methods
This info would be used…
(Note: I created this issue after-the-fact to help us track, record, and to link to work that @ihorng designer/researcher been doing since July 2024 —Bryan)
Results
About food seekers, the food-assistance landscape, and their context
Secondary Research: Food Seekers by @ihorng (14-page Google Doc) Overview
Understand the broader landscape of food insecurity
Understand food seekers personal experience facing food insecurity
Identifies user needs and decision making process
Identifies user pain points
Food-Seeker Needs 'Mind Map'
Food-Seeker Needs 'Mind Map' by @ihorng (8-page Google Doc) Overview
Objective
Methodology
Goal