Students are Finding New Solutions to Resolve Problems in Existing Food Support Services
Graphic designed by Kelsey Lusch
A group of human computer interaction (HCI) students at DePaul University are finding new solutions to solve existing problems in food support organizations in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a class called “Ethnography Design,” they hope to make an impact on their main target – Feeding America, a non-profit food support organization, in terms of improving their food support services.
Feeding America networks with 200 food banks, 60,000 food pantries and many meal programs to make the organization stronger. But, students at DePaul noticed some details that could be changed to enhance the awareness of food shortage resources.
Nina Wang, a graduate student at DePaul University studying human computer interaction, is one of the students working on the research. She thought there might be people out there in great need of food support, but they might not know where to request help.
“I think there are people out there suffering from food insecurity, but they might not know where to seek help. So I think our research could make some changes to give awareness to those who need food support service, and solve their existing problems,” said Wang.
The research includes a survey, interviews with participants, qualitative analysis, and a report on new solutions towards the food support service. They have a survey for participants who have concerns about food shortage to take, along with a follow-up virtual interview with some selected participants who are qualified as food-insecure. They will make a complete report with an intact analysis.
Wang said they plan to find two different groups of people by the end of this week – one group with experience in reaching out to food support and the other without – to compare the background reasons of whether they had reached out or not.
Some of the reasons Wang mentioned that people in need might not want to seek food support might be because they don’t want to be labeled as a food-insecure person, or they don’t want to waste time waiting in a long line at a food support bank.
They are still finding people who are suffering from food shortage or insecurity to take a survey and an additional one-to-one in-depth interview. To thank participants for taking time to join the interview, a $15 gift card will also be given out to those who finish the whole survey and the interview.
Wang anticipates the research could extend to further improvement, such as cooperating with governments or local communities so that people increase knowledge on places that offer help, and making the website an app to improve convenience of user experience, though the final version of the research would be a report only.