College and career readiness is the program that creates

opportunities for students to discover and build awareness on

decisions after high school. While these programs are geared toward
preparing students for college success, they are missing the key
ingredient that ties education to careers and lifelong success. It is
estimated that nearly 30% of students do not graduate from high
school with a regular diploma. Students are isolated and divided by
academic and non-academic skills assessments throughout their high
school career. (Swanson, 2004)

Some students actively participate in

career and college readiness activities. Others are not involved and
decide to start their careers immediately after high school graduation.
They choose whichever path, researchers have noticed that the skills
for work often mirror those required for admission to and success in
postsecondary education. (Bagsner, 2008) Is there an effective
method to evaluate career and college readiness programs towards a
larger audience of students? Are there post secondary options
available for messaging for average high school students? One
method purposed involves Human Centered Design. A college and
career readiness specialist should review their program through the
lens of human centered design.
Human Centered Design is an approach that places human
needs, capabilities and behavior first, and then designs to
accommodate those needs, capabilities and ways of behaving

(Norman, 2013). Incorporating some of the key principles of these

theories, a career and college readiness specialist would create a
stronger valuable resource for each student involved.

A human

centered designed program would engage more students and also be

built on various options instead of a single one. This paper will
examine the components of human centered design and incorporate
specific messages on post secondary decisions involving employment,
enlistment, enrollment and engagement for the average high school
student.
President Lyndon B. Johnson established college Access or precollege programs through the Higher Education Act of 1965. Federal
guidelines were created for need-based student aid, grants, work-study
and loan programs. (Edwards, 2013)

The key components for a

college access or preparation program includes a rigorous academic

program, access to timely and relevant materials, and adequate
support structures. These programs assist students with researching
colleges, writing essays and letters, completing college and financial
aid applications. There are three types of college access programs:
federal, community based, and college campus based programs.
Examples of federal programs include Upward Bound, Talent Search,
and GEAR UP that involve low-income youth ranging in ages from 11 to
19. Talent Search specifically targets high school dropouts and serves
to assist with high school completion requirements.

Community-based programs are facilitated through local

churches, youth organizations or local school districts. Most of these
programs expose students to particular areas of discipline such as
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The final
college access program is a college campus based program. These
programs allow the student to engage current students as mentors
and are also programs to assist with student recruitment.
For the past 30 years, national and state educational reforms
have encouraged more rigorous coursework, stressed the collection of
data through high stakes testing and accountability, but little has
improved. Various research studies have reviewed the effectiveness of
college access programs through several methods. (Barnes, W and
Slate, JR 2014; Bausmith, JM, France, M 2012; Hewett SM, and Rogers,
W.J 2003)

Still they all conclude a similar findings; college readiness

rates are still low, student dropout rates are high, and the achievement
gap is present and wide.

An opportunity exists through Human

Centered Design to cultivate, nurture, and influence the messaging

towards more options within the career and college readiness.
In order to focus on developing an effective Human-Centered
Design career and college readiness program, the program designer
will need to incorporate some of the basic questions associated with
instructional design:
(1)What do I want to accomplish?
(2)What are the Alternative Action Sequences?

(3)What do I do now?
(4)How do I do it?
(5)What happened?
(6)What does it mean?
(7)Is it okay, and did I accomplish my goal?
These questions will allow the designer to create specific steps within
the program that will assist each student and are identified as part of
the first step in human center design. (Norman, 2013)
In order to set the appropriate goals for a HCD career and
college readiness program, it is import ant to first understand the
audience. Most career or college access program participants range
from ages 11 to 27 depending on the program. Numerous career and
college readiness programs also reflect different segments of the
student population: first generation, minority, low-income to name a
few. Most programs are committed to either college ready focus or
reducing high school dropout rates with the hopes of influencing career
options. Some have varying start and stop dates. Some participants
drop programs once they are considered a success story.
In Human Centered Design, the focus is on designing the right
product making sure it is usable (User Centered) and also taking
account of the users needs at every stage of the product cycle (User
Experience).

Adopting a program that meets the needs of all users

would automatically incorporate more afterschool options.

These two

principles in human centered design allow for each audience member

to be open to the overall message of the program, which understands

their options after high school graduation. The four options are:
employment, engagement, enlistment, and enrollment.
Researchers acknowledge their continued disappointment in the
existing programs when identifying academic skills associated with
college going, surveying program participants through social capital
and teaching self-advocacy skills for first generation students. (Bloom,
2006, Camara, 2013, Yamamara 2010) These issues identified that
career and college readiness programs are failing according to a study
from the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University
of Southern California, these programs seem to be as many people
with ideas for helping youth as there are youth in need of supportnot
all approaches are equally successful (Tierney, Colyar, Corwin, 2003).
The goal for the career and college program should not be
targeting high achieving or low achieving students but accounting for
the larger portion of the student population.

In order to avoid this

error, the anticipated audience will be youths between the ages of 14

and 19 holding between 1.99 and 2.99 Grade Point Average (GPA).
This audience falls with the middle of the bell curve of each and every
high school. In a National High School Center Brief discussing
preparing high school students for either postsecondary education and
employment suggests a program that serves students with a range of
abilities; otherwise, teachers and students might have lower
expectations of the programs, seeing them as weaker, remedial

efforts (Bangser 2008). This program will attempt to accomplish the

goal of assisting each student with an opportunity to understand his or
her options available after high school involving employment,
engagement, enlistment, and enrollment. Employment brings focus to
the idea of working for a livable wage whether part-time or seeking
full-time opportunities after graduation. Engagement involves
volunteering and engaging with others through community service.
Enrollment acknowledges the opportunity in trade programs, and oneyear certification, two or four year college programs. Finally,
enlistment involves military service. Specific actions should be
available and measured to assist students progress through the
program. If a high school student is able to determine that some skills
are learned outside an academic environment, then it they should be
able to conclude that other skills outside of academia can assist their
long-term goal towards a career.

Messaging
Numerous career and college programs have been created, revised,
dissolved, and recreated, with little to no empirical evidence of their
success. This mystery involving the programmatic success could be
evaluated based on messaging created for the target audience.
Instead of promoting one area such as college as the only option, a
message that involves four options and building awareness to average

student. If the messaging is formulated to provide four options,

researchers have suggested further efforts in different disciplinary
traditions will capture a larger audience.
Some existing career and college readiness programs are not
responding to the complex, multifaceted issues that affect youth that
span disciplines.
These four options were selected based on the target audience
and another theory associated with Human Centered Design: The
theory of the Mind. The theory of the mind states that there is a direct
line existing between acquisitions of skills and placing significance to
everything. (Medina, 2014) The designer will need to create patterns
within the message to allow the student to connect with concept of
career and college readiness. This has been a challenge within the
existing programs. Researchers have demanded the need to increase
a students understanding of the educational and vocational options
that are open to them, their capacity to use the information to support
decision making and thus support them in their transition from the
world of education to the world of work (Sampson, 2016).

Technology
Once the target audience members and messaging has been
created, the vehicle to engage the audience is technology. In a survey
in 2009, it was estimated that 66 percent of children in the United

States have cell phones before they turn age 14. 72 percent of teens
use text messages and the average teen sends and receives 50 texts a
day (Lenhart, 2010). Mobile Technology is the key to spark interest,
create awareness, and bring attention to the audience (Norman, 34).
The function of technology is a connector between the user and the
experience.
Research has been conducted separately based on the either
career or college readiness programs to evaluate the effectiveness of
technology. Technology has been identified as a mechanism for
enhancing the access of resources for a broader connection to career
development. When technology is properly designed for college
readiness programs, it can assist learning through direct and indirect
channels for its participants. Expanding the messaging through
technology for postsecondary options to include employment,
enlistment, engagement and enrollment will increase the rate of return
for program success.

Therefore, the combination of career and

college readiness programs in their use of technology should mirror the

suggestions from where the students success is both academically
and socially.
Web tools and applications are already available to assist in the
career and college readiness program through web portals, video
sharing, and other resources. Placing emphasis through Human
Centered Design will assist more students. For example, the Oregon

Career Information System allows students to log in, create a profile

and research employment forecast in the state of Oregon and
nationwide. Students are able to determine colleges and trade schools
offering specific majors as well the subjects they may enroll in while
still attending high school. In the book, Dont Make Me Think by
Steven Krug, web applications must be memorable and usable. When
connecting both career and college readiness to the larger audience,
web portals that allow both career and college research allow each
student to understand what they are looking at.
Exploration for careers and college options provide a consistent
exposure to the real world. In John Medinas Brain Rules, there are two
rules that would assist a career and college readiness program based
on Human Centered Design. First, Brain Rule Number 12: Exploration.
Humans are powerful and natural explorers. The four options with the
program allow the student to connect career exploration without
isolating their choice not attending college. The second Brain Rule
involves Attention. Web portals and applications such as Oregon CIS or
the College Board create spotlights to the student. The challenge in
only providing a one option of college limits the opportunity to draw
attention to opportunities after high school.

Conclusion

A college and career readiness specialist should review their

program through the lens of human centered design.

A human

centered designed program would engage more students and also be

built on various options instead of a single one. This program will
recruit an audience that falls with the middle of the bell curve of each
and every high school. This message will incorporate student
exploration using web tools and portals: in current and future
employment opportunities, community engagement and volunteerism,
enlistment options for military or civil service, and finally enrollment in
a postsecondary program.

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