Low digital literacy work
Not all research trips are alike. In October 2019, I joined my colleague Nadine Levin on a research trip to the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area to understand barriers and opportunities for learning. The recruiting criteria was relatively simple: find people with low digital skills and low levels of education. Although Miami typically conjures images of white sand beaches and glittering late-night parties, our trip involved visits to impoverished homes, many of which belonged to people who were black, immigrants, and/or recently out of jail. We heard heartbreaking stories about domestic violence, drugs, and disability. We spoke to people who, for a variety of lifetime experiences, have struggled to keep up and engage with technology. For these users, the internet has the potential to be a force for so much good, socioeconomically and democratically. And yet, we found that the many structural barriers these users faced—not knowing how to use technology, not knowing how to learn how to use technology—exacerbated their marginalization in society.
We designed the study with a certain hypothesis in mind: learn how people learn, and design ways to reach them. While we were there, we realized our assumptions were too great from the outset. We needed to change our approach: not just for the study, but how we design products intended for the world.
I wrote a note with Nadine, compiling our findings and serving as something of a level-setting manifesto internally. We didn’t need new standards or methods for education. We needed to come to terms with the vast gap between the people designing product and the people using them.
The insights I shared were very well-received, with accolades coming from all corners of the company, invitations to influence product roadmaps, and invitations to summits to discuss how we can do better.