CAREER: Designing for Youth Invisible Work in Families

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This research study examines how youth in families of lower socioeconomic status (SES) do "invisible work," based on their ability to use information communication technologies (ICT). Socioeconomic inequalities are increasing in US families, leading to higher pressure on lower-SES families to find ways to make ends meet. As a result, parents and adult family members greatly rely on their children to take care of family responsibilities and critical needs. For some youth, high priority family responsibilities are a part of growing up, such as acting as a caretaker for younger siblings and being a language translator for English-language learning parents. Because of lower-SES family high reliance on this "youth invisible work," young people are facing challenges in reducing their own stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, and depression. The overarching research questions guiding this project are: (1) What kinds of invisible work do youth perform with ICTs to solve family information problems around health and finances? (2) What design patterns, techniques, and frameworks can be used to embody the socio-ecological supports, funds of knowledge, and family resilience needed to promote youths' invisible work? (3) How can design patterns for invisible work be instantiated into sociotechnical systems that meet the needs of multiple users and designers? The research will use a value-sensitive design framework to engage in empirical, conceptual, and technical investigations. Empirical investigations will examine two lines of inquiry for online collaborative search by lower-SES families around (1) health information, such as mental health resources, preventative care, chronic illness, and medical insurance access; and (2) financial information, including job access, online banking, taxes, and college financial aid. Conceptual investigations will utilize participatory design methods with families, youth, and community stakeholders to develop artifacts and models around collaborations involving family online search and brokering. Technical investigations will focus on technology probes in the home and field studies in community centers and libraries to evaluate higher-fidelity prototypes. This study will result in theory generation, design practices, design cases, teaching materials, and professional resources to support integration of youth invisible work into ICT research and design. Educational activities will train human-computer interaction students in qualitative and design methods to provide future designers with conceptual and practical tools to integrate invisible work as a form of design practice. Assessment will focus on impacts of these activities to prepare students to integrate invisible work as a design priority in ICT development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.