Prototyping
Brainstorming
To start, we discussed our ideas as a team and made a mind map of our ideas on a chalkboard. Our audience was a major point of discussion. We discussed needs for county Office of Equity staff, school-level DEI staff, the general public, students and families, and classroom teachers.
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Eventually, one of the team members drafted a vision for an app on the board too.
Prototype 1
Envisioned format: website
Audience: county and school DEI staff, teachers, parents, general public
For our first prototype, we wrote out the types of content we would like to include on the site, drafted a menu structure, and discussed ways of visualizing the pages.
We envisioned a resource hub, with items grouped into three categories:
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What is equity?
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Why equity?
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How equity?
The "What is equity" section would include items to broaden the reader's perspective on what and who DEI work includes.
Our initial thought was that we wanted to expand upon what Equity was while also providing resources and much large organizations for individuals to turn to when investigating on their own.
The other major component of this initial prototype was having a place where we could share the success stories of equity.
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With the idea that both educators and families care most about the students providing a "student first" approach to sharing equity was a necessary.
Feedback and Planned Revisions
A peer reviewer suggested that our prototype would benefit from including negative examples - what inequity looks like. This would provide additional context for the definition of equity.
Our instructor reviewed our progress, and prompted us to re-examine earlier steps. She suggested we narrow our focus to one particular audience. In doing so, we should narrow our goal to what research indicates are the most effective strategies for galvanizing support: sharing student stories and statistics.
Prototype 2
Envisioned format: course
Audience: county DEI staff
For our second prototype, we made a text-based representation of a course for county-level DEI staff. Blue text represents items to be swapped out in future iterations.
The course included a pre and post test to gauge learners' confidence using statistics and sharing student stories.
Here is one of the lessons included in the course, outlining the content for how to share student stories.
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Evidence for why it's effective
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Examples
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Considerations
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Goal setting and social sharing
Feedback and Planned Revisions
While our team didn't release this version for feedback, we evaluated this prototype internally. We realized that Prototype II provided a framework for planning how to communicate about DEI efforts through statistics and success stories. At the same time, the team wanted to move the focus to actually communicating with the public. Therefore, we sought to provide a ready-to-use template for conversations with community members. The team hoped to better align the product with our learning goals by creating a public-facing solution.
Prototype 3
Envisioned format: presentation template
Audience: county and school DEI staff
For our third prototype, we created a presentation template for county and school DEI team members to customize with their own information and share to present their work.
Coming from the first prototype iteration we still found it to be important that there is some explanation of how Equity can be used in its' most basic form.
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This could be repurposed to again fit specific district projects and outcomes in this work.
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We included a slide with an anti-example to respond to feedback.
One of the key components for our product is still providing student success stories.
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Districts would be able to utilize this template slide, and any additional to share real students' stories to support the work of DEI.
Providing relevant data that shows how the work is being impacted is something that shows a lot of value.
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Based on some of the feedback we received, saying that equity exists is "good" is one thing, but showing the data supports the points that are trying to be made.
Having tangible resources for educators to use is was something that we found a great deal of value in.
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Based on feedback from educators we understand that many individuals would not be receptive to sitting through a whole presentation if they aren't then given ways to act upon the materials learned.
Feedback and Planned Revisions
Reviewers felt most confident about using student stories to garner support. They felt least confident about using the presentation to share statistics. In our next version, we will include more suggestions for where to find data and data visualizations.
Prototype 4
Envisioned format: presentation template
Audience: county and school DEI staff
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Our fourth prototype integrated the feedback we received during the testing round, aiming to increase the usability for school district staff.
Given that the storytelling component was the highest-rated element in our third prototype, we decided to change the order of the slides to begin the presentation with student quotes about how the district's DEI departments have positively impacted them.
One insight that stood out from our educator respondents was that they sought more guidance on identifying county-specific data for district DEI initiatives. Therefore, we created a guide to help DEI and school staff consider where and how to collect data.
One insight that stood out from our literature review was how explaining the benefit of DEI education for all students increases support. The research also suggested that explaining how DEI increases job prospects leads to more support. Therefore, we created this slide to explain why, in addition to enhancing equity, this curriculum is a necessity.
Next Steps
Given the resources, the Equity Explained team would like to pilot this prototype in schools and understand the community's response to this content. Based on the feedback we receive, our team would iterate on the prototype, supporting individual school districts in catering the template to their needs. Finally, as we move towards formally launching our product, Equity Explained will improve the aesthetics and interface of the product.