Alternative Fall Break 2017
October 15-17, 2017 | Alternative Fall Break | Jordan Earnest | MSI 1st Year, Big Data Analytics
During Fall break, 12 School of Information students were selected to take part in an Alternative Fall Break project in Detroit. I feel grateful to count myself among them. Throughout the three days we got to know non-profit Data Driven Detroit, learn about community initiatives throughout the city, and take part in user-experience research. As a first-semester M.S.I. student, I was able to practice classroom methodology and better understand the use of data outside the private sector, as well as connect with others from UMSI.
Data Driven Detroit (D3) is currently developing a centralized data repository. This project, titled the Metro Detroit Data Alliance (MDDA), aims to increase collaboration between participants in Detroit’s data landscape and improve consistent data sharing with the public. Our role in this project was to conduct user-experience research with various stakeholders, to learn how an initiative like MDDA could best serve them.
This process began Monday morning with an extensive briefing from D3 about their project mission and goals for our collaboration. They had pre-arranged interviews with 12 individuals from local nonprofits and foundations that work with or support D3. In teams of three, we were tasked with developing interview protocols specific to our assigned interviewees, as well as cooperating across all teams to assure consistency. This process engaged the Contextual Inquiry methods for collecting field data as a consultant, which is foundational to UMSI coursework. Many of us referred to our class notes!
After lunch, our teams set out for interviews across the city. My team met with three people from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on community innovation. Following our semi-structured interview protocol, we explored their previous experiences with D3, data access, and what they would value in a project like MDDA. The three 30-minute interviews gave us many data points to later chart in an affinity wall, discerning similar and contrasting themes.
On Tuesday we spent the morning preparing visual presentations of our findings to share with the entire D3 staff and others. The turnaround was very fast. A project of this caliber would typically span an entire school semester, if not longer in a professional context. It was excellent practice in staying focused, finding group consensus quickly, and preparing a succinct presentation of both raw data and synthesis. As each team gave their 5-minute presentation, the variety of interest groups became apparent. Data Driven Detroit’s work spans across sectors, and appeasing numerous stakeholders is not easy-- taking inventory is just the first step. While our few days in Detroit did not significantly impact public access to civic data in the city of Detroit, this experience illuminated our pathways. Those days helped me conceptualize a career leveraging technology and data analytics for community empowerment, and see the value of my UMSI degree in a new light.
During Fall break, 12 School of Information students were selected to take part in an Alternative Fall Break project in Detroit. I feel grateful to count myself among them. Throughout the three days we got to know non-profit Data Driven Detroit, learn about community initiatives throughout the city, and take part in user-experience research. As a first-semester M.S.I. student, I was able to practice classroom methodology and better understand the use of data outside the private sector, as well as connect with others from UMSI.
Data Driven Detroit (D3) is currently developing a centralized data repository. This project, titled the Metro Detroit Data Alliance (MDDA), aims to increase collaboration between participants in Detroit’s data landscape and improve consistent data sharing with the public. Our role in this project was to conduct user-experience research with various stakeholders, to learn how an initiative like MDDA could best serve them.
This process began Monday morning with an extensive briefing from D3 about their project mission and goals for our collaboration. They had pre-arranged interviews with 12 individuals from local nonprofits and foundations that work with or support D3. In teams of three, we were tasked with developing interview protocols specific to our assigned interviewees, as well as cooperating across all teams to assure consistency. This process engaged the Contextual Inquiry methods for collecting field data as a consultant, which is foundational to UMSI coursework. Many of us referred to our class notes!
After lunch, our teams set out for interviews across the city. My team met with three people from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on community innovation. Following our semi-structured interview protocol, we explored their previous experiences with D3, data access, and what they would value in a project like MDDA. The three 30-minute interviews gave us many data points to later chart in an affinity wall, discerning similar and contrasting themes.
On Tuesday we spent the morning preparing visual presentations of our findings to share with the entire D3 staff and others. The turnaround was very fast. A project of this caliber would typically span an entire school semester, if not longer in a professional context. It was excellent practice in staying focused, finding group consensus quickly, and preparing a succinct presentation of both raw data and synthesis. As each team gave their 5-minute presentation, the variety of interest groups became apparent. Data Driven Detroit’s work spans across sectors, and appeasing numerous stakeholders is not easy-- taking inventory is just the first step. While our few days in Detroit did not significantly impact public access to civic data in the city of Detroit, this experience illuminated our pathways. Those days helped me conceptualize a career leveraging technology and data analytics for community empowerment, and see the value of my UMSI degree in a new light.
