THE CHALLENGE
The social route plan is a brochure published by the association unicum:mensch for people in financial and social need. It contains - clearly presented - organizations and institutions with their offers, opening hours, addresses, etc. The project aimed to identify the limitations of the analog form and, based on this, to plan an easy-to-use, barrier-free smartphone application to provide low-threshold access to Innsbruck's social support system.
OUTCOMES
In the academic year 19/20, the students of the Bachelor's program "Management, Communication & IT" already implemented possible solutions for the realization of an application in prototype form. These versions were tested in the academic year 20/21 by students of the master's program "Social Work, Social Policy and Management" checked for their usability. In terms of user experience, the organizations listed in the social route plan were asked about the current use of the brochure and about possible use case scenarios for the application. Based on this, a specification document was developed, which will serve unimcum:mensch as a decision-making basis for further realization and implementation.
Social Road Plan digital
- Study Program: Social Work, Social Policy & Management
- Team: Anke Karin Seifert, Anna Alliger, Ann-Kristin Knickmann, Carina Seewald, Johanna Hofmann, Lilith Hildebrand, Maximilian Nocker, Nina Schneider, Severin Vogt, Thomas Schmid, Ernesto Wanner
- Supervisor(s): Margit Schäfer, Magdalena Posch
- Partner Organisation: unicum:mensch
- Year project was carried out: 2020/21
Partner Statement:
Thanks to the cooperation with the MCI, we are very pleased to have received external feedback for the social route plan from two different directions. Many exciting suggestions and attempts at solutions came from both the IT study programme and the "Social Work" study programme, which have also changed our view of the social route plan. For example, we now have a much better understanding of the importance of the clearest possible mediation at different levels and also of specific problems in accessing the target group. And I think it was also an interesting practical experience for the students, which above all brought to light the diverse problems that arise with such digital solutions for the social work target group. Of course, it would be exciting if in the future it were possible to bring the different study programmes directly into conversation with each other in a project like this. Incidentally, the results will now also flow into a Laura Bassi project for the digitalisation of the social route plan, with which it is also to be rolled out to the whole of Western Austria. - Andreas Exenberger and Teresa Waas, unicum:mensch
Further Information
The project has delivered results that are valid beyond the social area of Innsbruck and, under appropriate assumptions, can be transferred to the project region of Western Austria, thus providing valuable input for the recently launched project of the Laura Bassi Program, which will be realized with the participation of the MCI over the next three years.