Menu
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is in so may ways the guiding example
for educational equity in New York City. From its Brooklyn flagship it
holds various resource centers along with free classes with topics
ranging from computer literacy to urban anthropology . It is a model for truly inclusive learning environments.
Our Task:
The BP tasked us with helping them develop a truly new type of financial literacy program by truly empathizing with the current and future needs of the local community. In partnership with Idea Trust we set off to design a set of surveys to collect community insights.
We launched a preliminary field survey to begin mapping out the general consensus around financial literacy amongst BPL visitors.
A pattern arose as the team began evaluating all preliminary survey responses. We noticed, that when we interviewees spoke about their relationship with money it wasn’t just about what they did with it but what they were feeling in that moment.
The research found that just 3 in 5 people (60%) used emotive words when talking about their financial decisions. People are more than twice as likely to say that money issues can be psychological than financial.
Large data can yield very interesting findings but often they are best for measuring performance. We approach data with heart and enjoy getting more nuanced insights.
We launched a microsite that would that collects and organizes insights for the BPL team to use .
We then created a proposed syllabus for the Take Charge series – several ‘hero’ reports for BPL, which were used by the marketing to create ‘bitesize’ promotional assets including stories and infographics.
with a community roundtable.
A complete example module designed straight from research.
A qualitative emotional mind map
