It’s well established that that employment is down rural areas[REF] and for the people that have jobs, they rural workers earn less than their urban counterparts. In theory, there is no reason why jobs cannot be done remotely, especially in the area of technology. However, in light of what we saw happen in american presidential election, there blatantly is lack of work being done in this area.
The angle I took for this brief, was to look how the experience of a young person seeking the services of Social Welfare Protection can be improved. In addition, I looked at the current job seekers landscape to understand the full user journey of a job seeker, from the day they first interact with a Social protection office to when he/she Signs on for Job seeker allowance to the day they get employment or training either through the FÁS(Intreo) scheme or goes on to further training. Even though, the app will be for a Job Seeker it was also important to understand the major pain points of the Social officer, who’s job it is to give advice to job seekers and help them get back to employment. By looking it the problem from both perspectives, a solution could be derived which could bring a better service to the Job Seeker and in-return make the job of a Social Welfare Officer much easier.
The Solution
The scope of this project was limited to a interactive prototype and a timeframe of six weeks. From speaking with two job seekers and one social protection officer it was evident that work getting the participant booked in, and prepared for their first appointment should be the focus of the application. With the app the user could also:
Get access to general information about social welfare Receive notifications of their application
View upcoming appointments
Contact their job officer and view the documents they need for an upcoming appointment.
The Challenge
The Solution
The Process
Final Prototype