As a cross-functional student team, we are harnessing our unique set of human-centered design methodologies in the hopes of designing a system to help FAME create a diverse and inclusive educational ecosystem in Pittsburgh.
Why do Black educators in the United States leave their jobs so much more than educators of any other race? To kick off our project, we researched the state of race and education in Pittsburgh by talking with parents, students, administrators, and current and former educators. We uncovered patterns about the needs of Black educators from these in-depth conversations.
Explore our research
After conducting our research, we underwent a three-month journey to design the best intervention possible. We used an agile, design thinking approach to quickly create and test multiple prototypes of evolving fidelity. By validating with a mix of administrators, aspiring educators, and current educators from the Pittsburgh area, we found what worked and didn’t work about each version of our idea, in order to make improvements in the next sprint.
Explore our design process
DEI Explorer is a service and accompanying web-based tool that provides a window into DEI culture at schools in the Pittsburgh area. By facilitating conversations about the effectiveness of individual schools’ DEI policy, DEI Explorer allows Black educators to learn about the teaching environment before entering the workforce, therefore empowering them to have agency over their careers. Additionally, this service would serve other stakeholders such as administrators and parents who also want insight into school culture.
Learn about our intervention
We are a team of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) practitioners. As part of our Master of Human-Computer Interaction Program, we have partnered with FAME (Fund for Advancement of Minorities through Education) for the past 8 months. Learn more about our team and our partnership!
Meet our team