FUTURE FORWARD
a platform that showcases hardworking and skilled ex-offenders with the intent of providing them with equal employment opportunities by allowing them to tell their story and be transparent with employers.
TEAM
Katherine Chiu, Alec Temple-Richards
HYPOTHESIS
Ex-offenders experience job placement discrimination. We believe that by providing vocational training through a job support program will achieve a higher rate of employment and rehabilitation. This will be validated when we see re-employment occur 25% faster.
PLATFORM CHOICE
We’ve chosen to create a responsive website due to our speculation that it is easier for ex-inmates to gain access to a computer. And our users are more likely to find a website more credible and useful due to the amount of information it can provide and features it can offer.
RESEARCH
We researched what resources were available to ex-offenders in order to understand what works, what doesn't and how we could possible help the cause.
USER INTERVIEWS
We held a series of interviews with ex-offenders. Some who have gotten jobs and others who have yet to. We affinity mapped in order to synthesis the main insights found during our interviews.
"I" STATEMENTS
Here are some key quotes from our interviews.
“I was an IT technician before my arrest, yet now I struggle to get work at McDonalds.”
“I know I have made mistakes, but it feels like the world will never forgive me for them.”
“I think the only way for employers to trust me is to be completely honest with them.”
“It feels impossible to get someone to hire me or to leave that stigma behind.”
“Once an employer has done a background check I instantly become unsuitable.”
“I will do any job I can find on Craigslist, but my current role was thanks to a friend putting in a good word.”
JOEY DANIELS
Male - 32 year old - Washington State
Joey spent two years in prison for non-violent drug related charges. Before his arrest, he was an IT technician. After repeated attempts to continue his career in IT, he faced constant rejection despite his reform.
“It doesn’t seem to matter that I’m hard working and have a lot to offer, they just won’t hire me!”
PAIN POINTS
Proving both to employers and himself that he’s trustworthy.
BEHAVIOURS
Applies to positions in the fields he has relevant skills
NEEDS
A stable job that offers opportunities for growth with financial independence & security.
GOALS
To re-launch a career in his chosen field; tech.
HIS JOURNEY
To make sure we thoroughly understood the problem space, we mapped out Joey's journey post-incarceration.
Joey can’t find a job worthy of his skills, due to his criminal record. If he doesn’t find a stable job he could be forced to join the 68% of released prisoners that reoffend, in order to survive.
How might we create a platform that enables Joey to be fairly considered while being transparent to employers?
HR RESEARCH
Ex-offenders cannot get jobs without Hiring Managers. Hiring managers make the final call in all hiring decisions. We recognized our problem space would benefit from understanding the perspective of hiring personnel.
HYPOTHESIS PIVOT
PROPOSED PARTNERSHIP
WITH LINKEDIN
DESIGN STUDIO
LO-MID FIDELITY PROTOTYPES
HI FIDELITY PROTOTYPE (DESKTOP)
After testing our low to mid fidelity prototypes we made all necessary revisions as we continued with our hi fidelity prototype. We designed mobile first and then desktop. As desktop is the main focus it will be showcased first.
HI FIDELITY PROTOTYPE (MOBILE)
WHAT HIRING MANAGERS SEE
Our objective is for our platform to be integrated with LinkedIn. Therefore, our users will ultimately have to create a LinkedIn account in order to use our platform.
Our concept is to have our platform as a feature on the site. Clicking into it would open a list of candidates from our platform. Then prompting hiring managers to check out their profile, send them an application and change their life for the better of the community.
MOVING FORWARD
Our objective is for our platform to be integrated with LinkedIn. Therefore, our users will ultimately have to create a LinkedIn account in order to use our platform.
