Weeknote w/c 1st November 2021

What we did

• We held an internal analysis session to review the feedback about the app that we’ve gathered from young people.
• We had our last (for now) Young Person Steering Group meeting! It was a chance to show off how far the app had come since its initial prototype, gather thoughts on what we should do next, and thank the young people involved for their contributions.

What we’re thinking about

In our analysis session, we listed the hypotheses we were hoping to test, gathered the feedback that seemed most relevant to each hypothesis, and then grouped the comments together where we noticed a theme. We’ve already gained some valuable insights from this process that have challenged our previous thinking.

To give an example, we initially believed that the filter bar would be most useful to young people who already know what they want and just need to add a few filters to find it. For instance, if they know they would like to try a business course, they could select where they live on the filter bar and then find courses in their area. However, what we’ve heard instead suggests that young people who use the filter bar don’t actually know exactly what they want to do yet—they just want quick answers based on their situation or needs, and they filter to save time scrolling through irrelevant services.

Challenges

In some cases, our analysis session exposed some seemingly contradictory viewpoints. For example, we wanted to know whether young people would notice the About page on the app and how likely they were to read it. Some young people told us that the About page would be one of the first things they would read, because it was a vital page to read if they wanted to know if they could trust the app. Others said that they noticed the link but wouldn’t click on it straightaway; they might take a look at the About page eventually, if they were particularly bored.

This variety of views shows us that, as we move forward with the app’s development, we need to ensure that a good range of choices for interacting with the app is available. We don’t want any young people to feel excluded.

Wins from this week

• After being postponed, we were finally able to get together and make a start at analysing what young people have told us about My Best Life.