What happens when young people are directly involved in building solutions for themselves and their peers? This summer, we had the privilege of finding out by hosting two Seattle Youth Employment Program interns to support our Youth Connector initiative.

Research shows that being involved in sports, clubs, internships, and other activities can go a long way to prevent and reduce mental health challenges for youth. The City of Seattle invests in over 100 programs that offer a wide range of youth services and activities, but right now, they are too scattered and difficult for youth to find and use.

The Youth Connector initiative aims to address this by raising awareness of and improving access to the resources youth need to be happy, healthy, and successful. Working closely with Seattle youth, we are developing a user-friendly digital platform that will bring resources into one place, accompanied by a new marketing strategy focused on reaching youth who have low engagement in youth programming.

Central to this co-design process were our summer interns, whose contributions and fresh perspectives were vital to the project over the summer. Our Seattle Youth Employment Program interns led conversations, tested features, and helped us ensure that the final product will reflect the real needs of their peers.

In this article, you’ll hear from Ada Cheng and Tony Hang in their own words about their journey, what they learned, and the impact they’ve made on the Youth Connector:

Ada Cheng, Marketing Intern

Why does Youth Connector matter to you and other youth in Seattle?

Youth Connector matters to me and other youth because young people do want to do activities outside of school. There may be a perception that we’re lazy or uninterested in programs, but we just don’t know where to look. Many of us don’t even realize that there are opportunities out there to learn new skills, earn money, get a meal, find volunteer hours, or access important support like Teen Life Centers and therapy. There are over 1,000 youth programs in Seattle, but how are we supposed to find them? How are we supposed to sign up for them if the process is difficult? That’s why a website like Youth Connector is so important. It brings all these programs together in one place, so youth can filter programs based on interests and sign up easily. Speaking from my personal experience, most of the programs I’ve joined were only because someone told me about them. I didn’t know where to look for programs outside of that. I wish I had something like Youth Connector when I was just getting started. It would’ve made finding opportunities so much easier and accessible.

What was your research question, and what did you find? 

We asked youth what they thought of our marketing mood boards meant to guide the future look of our social media campaign. Through interviews and focus groups, youth gave us honest and thoughtful feedback.

Youth stated that many of the designs reminded them of things they personally enjoyed, such as clothing brands, posters, K-pop, album covers, comics, bullet journaling, etc. These associations helped the content feel more personal and authentic, rather than like a generic ad. In contrast, designs that didn’t feel relatable were often described by youth as too corporate and overly promotional. This feedback will help us improve designs by guiding us towards visuals that resonate the best with youth.

What did you learn during your internship?

During my internship, I got the opportunity to learn and develop valuable technical and soft skills that helped me grow both professionally and personally. I learned how to create clear, well-structured presentations and how to organize my thoughts before presenting to an audience. This has helped me gain more confidence towards presenting ideas effectively to a group of people.

In addition, I learned how to conduct interviews to both learn and gather feedback from others. I got the chance to do informational interviews with professionals in fields I hope to work in. One of those was with PeiPei Sung, a Senior Graphic Designer and Community Engagement Specialist at City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development. I learned about her path getting into design and what the graphic design process looked like in her role. With everyone I spoke to, I was able to learn more about their roles, career journeys, and overall insight into what working in those industries are really like. Furthermore, I conducted individual peer interviews to collect detailed feedback on marketing designs, while learning how to ask thoughtful open-ended questions to guide the conversation. I also conducted interceptive interviews to gather on-the-spot feedback on marketing designs. Journee, one of the people I interviewed, shared that Mood Board A resonated with them the most personally because it reminded them of something they love, K-pop.

These experiences have helped prepare me for what I want to do in the future, digital marketing. I learned how to communicate ideas clearly, understand what resonates with people, soft skills, and how to effectively gather feedback. These are valuable skills I need to succeed towards my goal of becoming a digital marketer.

Tony Hang, UX Intern

Why does Youth Connector matter to you and other youth in Seattle? 

Not everyone will grow up with the same resources that benefit their development. The City of Seattle is currently offering a variety of opportunities focused on job training, education, personal development, and mental health for young people. But a large portion of the population is not aware of those opportunities, thus leading them to not utilize them effectively.

As a first-generation student moving to the US, I find myself struggling to navigate all the resources that the community around me provides. I typically noticed opportunities via a friend or school’s pinboard. During my first year of college, I often got groceries at the U-District Foodbank in North Seattle College. I knew about that from one my roommates. Now, I could not imagine how I would get through college if I didn’t know that there is help around the community. Later on, I chose to volunteer at the food bank to give back the community that has helped me during uncertain times.

Some youth are often found disconnected and hopeless when they don’t know who to ask for help and if there are resources available to them. I can see how fortunate I am that I knew people to help connect me to resources that are available. Youth Connector could be a great resource, bridging the gap between youth and the opportunities that are available.

What was your research question and what did you find? 

The goal of Youth Connector is to connect young people from age 14-24 with programs that City of Seattle is currently offering. Part of the project that I am working on is to explore what type of registration platform would make it easy and straightforward for youth to fill out and get onboard to join the program. Two main research questions throughout the journey were: “How can we create a centralized registration form that you find easy to access and apply for the program?” and “What could we do to improve and streamline the process for youth to apply to multiple programs at once?”

With those goals in mind, I  did several interviews with different user groups to find out ways to streamline the registration process. We put youth as the center of user experience and tried to get ideas from 1:1 user testing interviews. I have learned that youth often find and assume that government forms are consuming and outdated. In addition, youth who are speaking English as second language often find information is being worded in a way that is hard to read, and translations do not always translate all the content of the form..

Based on my research, I found several ways the City could improve registration. At the end of the internship, I suggested that we could have some key features, such as “at a glance” where we can glance for all of our information, or having active translation, and an information button so that our form can be interactive, engaging, and efficient.

What did you learn during your internship? 

Coming from a background of Public Health, I noticed that trust is one of the top priorities when it comes to providing services to the public. Working with the City of Seattle, not only knowing that my work matters, but also having a direct impact on the community that I am living in is also an experience that I never would imagined.

During my 1:1 user testing interviews, I also learned to ask the right follow up questions and be open-minded about all the answers for the interviews. Some of the answers I had not expected, but they ended up being the key opportunities to integrate into the Youth Connector platform.

I also got a chance to do informational interviews within the department and outside of the department, and I have learned more about what it looks like to be a UX Researcher, a Data Analyst, or an Urban Planner. These interviews have shaped for me a point of view about working in the City, and how the work impacts the community around me.

I think that Youth Connector will not just be a tool, but also a magical portal to open up all opportunities for youth, so that no one will be left behind. This project has shown me the importance of centering the product towards the user, youth, and taking action based on what we need. I am feeling proud that the Innovation & Performance Team gave me a chance to play a part in building and shaping Youth Connector. And I am feeling grateful for Seattle Youth Employment Program for hosting this wonderful internship.

Thank You Ada and Tony!

We want to thank Ada and Tony for being part of our team this summer. Working with them reminded us that the most effective solutions are built with, not just for, the community we serve. We’ll continue to center youth voices and work together with talented young people like Tony and Ada as we move forward with this project!

The Seattle Youth Employment Program is just one of many of the City of Seattle’s many programs for youth. Check out our Youth Programs page to find mental health resources, career exploration opportunities, social activities, and more.  

If you’re a young person (ages 14-24) eager to shape what comes next, or if you know a Seattle youth who should be involved in the co-design process, we want to hear from you! Fill out our interest list form to be notified about future workshops and opportunities to engage.

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Some language in this post was generated using Jasper AI. All content was edited and fact-checked by staff on the Innovation & Performance Team. Learn more about the City of Seattle’s AI Policy.