Katie, My Coworker: An Inside Look at Vulnerable Populations
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| Source: Public Health Watch |
Haley Guthrie
*DISCLAIMER: All names and places have been changed in an effort to protect the privacy of those involved*
When you’re not cramming for an exam that you know you probably won’t ace, and when you’re not sitting in your living room with your friends till 4am talking about about what kind of wedding you’ll each have when you get older, you more than likely have a part-time job. For me, I’m pulling 15 to 20 hours a week at Menards, a home improvement store. As a customer service desk employee and cashier, I work with a variety of people of different demographics. I would say that around 70% of my coworkers are fellow Purdue students, just looking to make extra cash for those Thursday nights at the [Neon] cactus or something more important like groceries. While others are stay-at-home moms who just wants some human interaction with someone above the age of six, retired/not retired individuals who like working with their hands and people simply trying to get back on their feet like Katie.
Katie is really special. She works with me at Menards and has three kids that are all under the age of five. Katie and her children are staying with a friend while she saves up enough money for a security deposit for an apartment. Katie’s now ex-boyfriend had abandoned her and the children, leaving them homeless and without any food, diapers or money. Similar to most young women in her position, Katie relies on public transportation as well as government assistance to help her be the best single parent that she can. Katie is a member of an extremely vulnerable population on which Emma J. Rose focuses in the article, Design As Advocacy: Using a Human-Centered Approach to Investigate the Needs of Vulnerable Populations.
This article sheds a light on and expands on the importance of human-centered design through the perception of technical communication and/or communicators. Not to be confused with user-centered design, human-centered designe can be described as more personal. This is a chance for engineers, inventors and designers to build meaningful relationships with individuals who are affected by societal problems the most. Katie is a prime example of an individual who human-centered design is catered to the most. According to Rose, “human-centered design should look more broadly and provide a way to consider how design can support or constrain the needs of people whose lives are impacted by both systems and policies.”
Once I read through what Rose had to say about this type of design thinking, it made me wonder about how Professional Writing and Experience Architecture fit into innovations catered towards individuals with societal needs. Technology holds a very present and very dominant role in our society. One day the roads are fine and the next day, you might find yourself taking a detour on your morning commute to work. Rose conducted her research based on the homeless and public transportation system. As Professional Writers, we can conduct ethnographic research and draw conclusions that will help designers create programs centered towards those whom will benefit the most. I could interview someone like Katie, and possibly some of her friends that are in the same situation, and ask them what kind of things they would like to see from their community or what technology might help them live productive lives.
As of right now, I believe Experience Architecture is more about the details behind a certain place or event and how it helps or hinders people that are affected the most. On the first day of class, we watched a video about airports and learned some pretty interesting facts that are related to usability as well as the experience architecture. I remember when the movie discussed the Atlanta airport and the trains that go through and I remember my experience with that same airport this past summer. I wasn’t sure how to get to my terminal and there were no signs telling me to get on a train. Eventually, I had to ask someone and they looked at me like I was stupid. In that situation, signage was lacking and although I wasn’t late to my terminal, I could’ve been. As for Rose’s reading, I believe I see experience architecture within her methods of research for the homeless people riding the bus. We, the audience, get a glimpse into how the bus system plays a role in these people’s lives. I recall a part of the reading where one of the participants said he enjoyed being on the bus because just walking around downtown, he would encounter people trying to bother him with drugs or alcohol. The use of smartphone apps (telling someone where they might find a bus) increases the value of that experience architecture.
Katie is so similar to the people Rose was dealing with within her study. You can see the parallels between how Katie is struggling and how the participants struggle. As innovators and designers, we have to give a voice to those who don’t feel like they have one. A human centered approach to usability design allows individuals to create a more tangible atmosphere. Physical, mental, emotional and even financial disabilities no longer stand in the way of everyday means.
The RXA Reading Deep Series is the course's "deep dives" into literature on professional writing, user experience & architecture, and design, written by the individual scholars of RXA.
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