NYC Mayor’s Office of Technology + Innovation
I conducted 29 one-on-one research sessions across video, phone, and in-person formats, generating over 1,200 qualitative data points. I recruited participants from all five boroughs to represent a range of industries, demographics, and both English and non-English speakers. Running in-person sessions with language interpreters, and others where I shared a native language with the participant, helped me understand the specific barriers that limited multilingual access creates for many New Yorkers. That insight led to concrete recommendations for the portal: writing for a 6th grade reading level, formatting dates for translation, and designing for the character counts and syntax of different languages. Conversations with lower-income participants also showed me a strong reliance on mobile-only access to city services, which validated a mobile-first design approach.
I synthesized these findings into trend analysis that fed a final research report, visual concepts, a customer journey map, and a set of technical requirements for the MyCity Business portal.
2022