In-Depth Research for COVID-19 Testing in Schools
Goal:
The goal of this study was to gain insight into the decision-making process, challenges, and opportunities around COVID-19 testing in different states across the US and with different target groups: parents, teachers, superintendents, principals, and school staff (i.e., nurses or coaches).
Process:
After stakeholder interviews with the client, we determined the important themes and questions to investigate when interviewing the target groups (parents, teachers, superintendents, principals, and school staff). From there, the team interviewed the target groups in 5 different states. Once completed, we then gathered data about the priorities, challenges, and opportunities that face each group when it comes to COVID-19 testing in schools.
Interview guide for Arizona and Pennsylvania
Role:
UX Researcher on a team of 5
Responsibility:
I created the interview guides and took part in leading interviews with the target groups.
Methods:
In-depth interviews and exploratory research.
Process
This research project can be broken down into four phases:
Interviews with client stakeholders
Analysis of data and theme creation
Interview with school staff (teachers, nurses, parents, superintendents, and principals)
Analysis of data and report creation
Phase 1: Client stakeholder interviews
Over the course of a week, the Bentley team conducted 8 stakeholder interviews with the biotech client to understand what they wanted to learn from each state and school.
Phase 2: Analysis of stakeholder interviews
Six themes emerged after the stakeholder interviews.
Barriers to Participation
Decision-Making Process
Audience Priorities
How to Improve the Testing Program
Communicating Test Results & Follow-up Reflex Testing
Evolution of the Product and New Opportunities
Interview scripts were crafted to match these themes and each target audience. We needed to ask different questions depending on if we were interviewing a superintendent vs. a school nurse.
Phase 3: Interviews with school staff (teachers, nurses, parents, superintendents, and principals)
Over 50 interviews were conducted while I was on the team. I led almost half of the interviews, specifically focusing on the states of Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Phase 4: Analysis of interview data and report creation
The client was fast-paced and requested daily interview summaries and weekly summary reports to understand the current pulse on COVID-19 testing. In addition, once we completed interviews with a specific target audience or with a state, we created an additional report. Overall, we created reports to answer questions about how each target audience understands, reacts, and feels about COVID-19 testing in schools.
Limitations & Constraints
This project did face a few constraints and challenges:
COVID-19 testing at the time was an extremely polarizing and emotional topic. As we interviewed target audiences across the country, it was not only draining but updates to COVID-19 laws and policies were occurring while in process. For example, Arizona banned testing in schools for certain counties in which we were interviewing.
The client was not totally aligned on what their goals were. We had to level set many times to ensure we were meeting their expectations while also conducting reliable research.
Outcome & Reflection
Overall, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand decision-making behavior on a rapidly evolving and controversial topic. If I were to do it again, I would work harder to make sure the goals of the client were solidified every step of the way. I learned quickly how to remove emotion and personal feelings from an interview setting. I also learned how to interview very emotional participants, including people who yelled at me or who used the moment to remember a loved one they had lost from the pandemic.