From as far back as I can remember, I have always been keen on customer service. If this is not because terrible customer service is a freefall everywhere around me, it will be because I am an empath by nature. There was a time when all I wanted to do was either be a Therapist or a Customer Service Personnel; just about any post that will put me in a position to listen to people, empathise with them and solve their problems. I also enjoy giving feedback. Pointing out bad customer service and praising the rare good ones, I believe is also part of customer service. Which is what I intend dedicating my IG page for. On the quest to breathing life into this dream;
I Found Tech
Finding Tech is falling in love with Tech. With tech, I was exposed to coding and UI/UX. I enjoy coding but I do not enjoy UI. As you might have rightly guessed, I fell deeply in love with it’s twin - UX - the Research and User Study part specifically. But since then, it’s just been love. No means of showing or proving it. I mean, what’s the point of a love you can’t prove? Getting an opportunity to practically explore and harness my passion for UX/Research seems like a dream so far away. I never knew that the time for that dream to see daylight was drawing nigh the day I mindlessly applied for Outreachy internship.
Hello, Outreachy
My Outreachy application got accepted! I never saw it coming, but hey! That’s just the first phase, the struggle still continues. To get accepted as an intern, we have to contribute to a project. I recently participated in two hackathons/open source projects: HNGi8 and She Code Africa (SCA)/Coil Hackathon. So, by default, I was looking forward to building on that on an international project with Outreachy. There I went, scanning through the project page slowly looking for a coding project to contribute to. But my search gladenly came to a halt when I saw a non-coding/community/User Studies project. If you’ve ever found, unexpectedly, something you’ve been looking for, then you’ll totally understand my eureka moment when I found the Oppia project .
The Oppia Project
Because it is what I’ve always wanted, I thought it would come easy. What could possibly be the big deal? “This has been my dream all the while, it’ll be easypeasy”, I thought. So before starting the project at all, I had planned and executed it all in my head, and it looks smooth! Maybe this imaginary smoothness is why I intentionally decide to make the task just a lil challenging, by going to the field and practically getting my hands dirty. For the project, we’re required to carry out user studies on under-privileged student(s) between ages 6 - 13. Studying how they interact with and enjoy or not the Oppia classroom on Basic Maths lessons. Rather than stay in my familiar zone, I decided to take the “under-privileged” part personally and go looking for kids from struggling families. And lucky me, I found and gained me a family!
The Challenges
Trust
At a sensitive time like this in Nigeria, walking up, as a total stranger, to a family and requesting access to their kids. Not just for a day, but for days; not just a kid, but kids, is a big deal. Pulling that off and building trust will require caution, diplomacy and lots of friendliness and openness. This was a little tricky and almost uncomfortable for me at the start, but with time, I gained confidence and control of the situation.
Environment
Did you remember me saying ‘getting my hands dirty’? Well, that was almost literal. My participants’ spot is an open space by the roadside on the street, it is the hub of smokers and okada riders in the area. Adding to that is the dumping site very close to the spot. So you can imagine the thickness of the air. But who am I to complain? I only breeze in for some hours, for a limited period of time and then I’m gone. Compare to my participants.
Convenience
Aside from the street noise and distraction, which bravo to my participants, they managed well. The other major concern for me was the seat. All through, my participants took their study sitting on a backless, uncomfortable chair. One of them outrightly complained about neck pain. Sometimes, we’d have to stand up just to stretch and continue. My participants are the real MVP!
Kids
You know how kids can be. This minute they’re welcoming, cool, cooperative and willing; and tomorrow, they are the opposite. I wasn’t prepared for this.
The Gains
Mentorship
What is it like getting into a new field without a roadmap or someone lightening up your way through? Well, I guess I’ll never know. If there’s one thing that has made this easy and productive so far, it’s the gentle mentorship I am enjoying. From the beginning till end, we’re permitted to ask the simplest questions. And it’s not just words on paper, it’s been happening. There are two dedicated mentors guiding us step by step and answering our most mundane questions.
Communication
Working remotely is learning how to communicate clearly and constantly. I wish I could judge myself on this, but I can’t. But one thing I’m aware of is that I am getting better at being mindful while communicating over email. Bearing in mind the person is not next to me to say ‘What do you mean by..?’. Clear and effective communication is a productive skill that this project is helping me improve.
Negotiation
Getting NGOs on board is one of our required task; painfully, negotiation is not my strength. To be honest, it’s the scariest part for me. It is considered one of my gains because now I get to explore that part of me and stretch beyond my comfort zone.
Reading
The first UX book I read is “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. I had left it at that since I am not applying the knowledge. But now, I have four UX books on research lined up to be read: “User Research” by James Lang and Emma Howell, “Think Like a UX Researcher” by David Travis and Philip Hodgson, “The User Experience Team of one”, by Leah Buley, “Just Enough Research”, by Erika Hall. I am curious to know how much I’ll learn about User Research after consuming these books.
There you have it, my Oppia experience so far. Oppia is not just here to bring quality basic education to under-privileged students alone, Oppia is here to help vibrant, willing individuals who are looking to enrich their UX research experience or build their UX career from the scratch. Either as a total beginner or not, you can be assured of one-on-one mentorship all the way. Volunteering opportunities are not limited to researchers; it’s open to all, teachers, software engineers and many more talents are welcome to come contribute their brains and be a part of something great.
Thank you for your time.👍
Temz.🌹