Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, BuyDetroit
The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) has launched and is continuing to develop the BuyDetroit online procurement portal. The overall goal of the procurement portal is to bring more Detroit-based, diverse, small businesses into the arena of procurement. In addition to the features on the portal which support procurement processes, the BuyDetroit portal will also contain an educational curriculum to prepare inexperienced suppliers to participate in the procurement process.
Our team’s work begins with the educational aspect of the BuyDetroit portal. Our team was tasked with designing the experience for the educational modules in the portal while considering the needs of users on both sides of the procurement process.
Before designing, our team conducted survey and interview research with small suppliers who will be the primary users of the educational modules as well as Buyers Council members who are helping fund the BuyDetroit portal and are invested in seeing suppliers learn and succeed. Next, our team conducted research on the platform on which the portal lives and therefore where the educational modules will live called Connect Space. This part of our research was imperative in understanding the constraints under which the educational module would be designed.
Ultimately we created two sets of final designs for the educational modules—one set of designs that can be implemented in the Connect Space environment and one set of “ideal” designs that could be implemented if there were no creative constraints. Connect Space is an event planning and hosting platform and thus is serviceable but not ideal for implementing educational modules.
However, we do believe the overall goals of the program can be achieved through Connect Space and feel that this option better fits DEGC’s current budget and timeline. While Connect Space is our main recommendation, we also acknowledge that an alternative learning system could be a solution that might solve more of the client's problems, but would cost more money and require more time and expertise.
This project taught our team invaluable skills in managing client expectations, working with complex requirements, and dealing with many stakeholders. Ultimately, working with DEGC has taught us the importance of relationship building. Through this project, we have gained new knowledge on Detroit's procurement, but more importantly, we have gained connections with some incredibly hardworking members of the community. These connections are what will leave the most lasting impact on our team.
Winter 2021 — Savannah Redlinger, Sam Drew, Dylan Yono, & Kristen Picard
Our team’s work begins with the educational aspect of the BuyDetroit portal. Our team was tasked with designing the experience for the educational modules in the portal while considering the needs of users on both sides of the procurement process.
Before designing, our team conducted survey and interview research with small suppliers who will be the primary users of the educational modules as well as Buyers Council members who are helping fund the BuyDetroit portal and are invested in seeing suppliers learn and succeed. Next, our team conducted research on the platform on which the portal lives and therefore where the educational modules will live called Connect Space. This part of our research was imperative in understanding the constraints under which the educational module would be designed.
Ultimately we created two sets of final designs for the educational modules—one set of designs that can be implemented in the Connect Space environment and one set of “ideal” designs that could be implemented if there were no creative constraints. Connect Space is an event planning and hosting platform and thus is serviceable but not ideal for implementing educational modules.
However, we do believe the overall goals of the program can be achieved through Connect Space and feel that this option better fits DEGC’s current budget and timeline. While Connect Space is our main recommendation, we also acknowledge that an alternative learning system could be a solution that might solve more of the client's problems, but would cost more money and require more time and expertise.
This project taught our team invaluable skills in managing client expectations, working with complex requirements, and dealing with many stakeholders. Ultimately, working with DEGC has taught us the importance of relationship building. Through this project, we have gained new knowledge on Detroit's procurement, but more importantly, we have gained connections with some incredibly hardworking members of the community. These connections are what will leave the most lasting impact on our team.
Winter 2021 — Savannah Redlinger, Sam Drew, Dylan Yono, & Kristen Picard
2 Teammates
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