Since July, the Designing for an Independent Future (D4IF) team has been meeting with and supporting homeless young people in Perth, Western Australia. The support has been outreach in nature, typically relating to Vision Casting, Career Planning, Soft Skill development and Job Search and Application assistance. Through these interactions, the D4IF team was able to develop empathetic professional relationships with these young people which have yielded some interesting and deep insights.
We have summarised these insights, and will share them with you as the challenge progresses.
We begin with our Four Personas.
Personas are fictional characters, but embody true emotions and experiences captured from a variety of young people who navigate the system of homelessness and employment.
Personas will assist you as you develop your ideas, to take into consideration the needs and situations of these types of young people.
Each persona is positioned in four points on a 2x2 matrix - motivation and job ready.
- Motivation relates to an internal drive to put yourself out there. The "Struggles" and "Motivators" listed in the Overview are factors that affect a homeless young person's level of motivation.
- Job Ready refers to previous recognised work experiences and capabilities, resume and interview skills, and professionalism.
