23 July 2021 3 minute read
What we did
- We’ve been in contact with different service providers about their listings on the app, asking them to check that the information we have about their programmes is accurate. We’ve also invited them to tell us about any services we haven’t included yet.
What we’re thinking about
User testing has already given us some useful insights about the app, but we’re hoping to reach even more young people, especially in Lambeth. We’re on the lookout for young people aged 15-18 based in Lambeth to take part in a 45-minute interview to test the app, in exchange for a £20 voucher. If you think any young people you work with would be interested in being a part of this, please contact emma.barlow@ukyouth.org
Challenges
As we update the app, we’ve been having some technical difficulties with the pictures on the service listings. Where possible, we’ve tried to use official photos from the services’ websites to give a better idea of what young people can expect when they turn up. However, picture size varies, and we’ve noticed that some in the app are pixelated or cut off in strange places. Hopefully, conversations with service providers will give us access to higher-quality images we can use.
We’re also exploring how to make our data model sustainable over time. To date we’ve focused on testing the concept, so we chose to use static data, which we’ve manually collected. We know that this isn’t sustainable long-term as changes are made to services and if we expand beyond Lambeth. This week, we’re speaking to Open Referral UK to explore how technology can improve the availability of data across the UK. This will allow us to more readily share our data through an open API and work with other datasets so that we can cover a wider range of services and locations. There are, however, some gaps with the existing technology: for example, how do you ensure that the information is written in a meaningful way for different audiences (eg, young people vs. their parents), and how do you deal with duplication across datasets? We are keen to explore the role of My Best Life in using or contributing to the technology.
