R.A.P. - Resources, Advice & Programming
Community resource packet that connects District 65 students to local opportunities and support programs, promoting educational equity.
Project Overview
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👫 Who?
- Designed for District 65 students in grades 6–8, especially those with limited access to out-of-school resources.
- Designed in with a multidisciplinary team of Northwestern researchers, designers, and Evanston Library staff.
- My role involved conducting UX research (stakeholder mapping, interviews, and gathering insights).
💡 What?
- A community-focused toolkit that compiles local resources, advice, and programming opportunities to support middle schoolers’ learning and development.
- Deliverables include a polished Figma prototype of the packet and a finalized printed resource guide, informed by stakeholder interviews, observation studies, and mind-mapped insights.
- I conducted stakeholder interviews with parents, teachers, and counselors in District 65.
How Might We:
Prevent students from falling behind and get them support earlier?
Stakeholder Mapping and Mind-Mapped Insights
Guiding Quotes
“Covid provided kids with a crutch. In person school took away that crutch.
Kids now lack the executive functioning skills necessary to succeed.”
“They [students of color] don’t have that luxury to have parents just snap their fingers and get a therapist or a private tutor.”
🕰 When?
April 2023
Stakeholder interviews, observation studies, and mindmapping
May 2023
Insight synthesis, initial prototypes, and public testing
May 2023
Iterated on feedback and refined Figma prototype
June 2023
Finalized community resource packet
📍 Where?
- Designed as part of Northwestern University's Design Thinking and Doing course.
- Designed for implementation across District 65 and the surrounding Evanston community—tested in the Evanston Public Library.
❓ Why?
- To bridge equity gaps by providing age-appropriate resources and advice—grounded in United Nation's Goal 4, focusing on quality education.
- To address COVID-related learning gaps. Many 6th-8th graders lack access to extracurricular and support programs that build executive-functioning skills.
Learning Takeaways
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Interviewing across stakeholder groups helped me understand layered perspectives on equity in local education.
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Testing at the Evanston Public Library reminded me how much context shapes usability and trust.
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This project deepened my understanding of accessibility—not just as a checklist, but as a mindset woven into every user touchpoint.