My Virtual Summer with Wychwood & St. Clair West

This summer, I had the pleasure to work with a wonderful, passionate team from the Wychwood Barns Community Association, to provide assistance on the St. Clair West Oral History Project. I was keen on finding an opportunity to utilize my skills and knowledge in user experience design, while working with a local, community-driven and non-for-profit organization. I was given the perfect opportunity to exercise this while learning more about one of Toronto’s historic neighbourhoods that I have visited countless times over the last five years.

For most of my time spent living in and exploring Toronto, I’ve visited the St. Clair West neighbourhood to visit a friend that lived there. What I remember most would be the friendly, vibrant energy of the neighbourhood, and all the places we’ve been to eat. It wasn’t a surprise for me to be surrounded by a similar energy working with the folks at Wychwood Barns for this project. There was a clear passion and concern for giving the best possible platform to the community, for sharing and discovering their stories.

Some major changes that I had my hand in were the mobile usability evaluation, the assessment of the website’s main navigation, the rebranding of the project, and the accessibility assessment for long term preservation. In evaluating the mobile usability and the main navigation, Yaxian Wang, another practicum student, and I went through the current website for assessment, and conducted user tests in order to identify user issues, for more strategic recommendations. In rebranding the project, it was important for me to get members of the project committee involved in the process of defining the brand, in terms of its culture, tone of communication, audience and it’s x-factor. In turn, I developed a set of options and iterations that ultimately resulted in a modern-heritage direction. Finally, for the accessibility assessment, I conducted testing throughout the site, along with access to tools for future use and to implement recommendations.

Overall, this was a rewarding summer in which I was able to learn and feel more connected to the St. Clair West community through the stories and interviews from this project, while also exercising my skills and practice in user experience design.

- Gianina Ramos, Master of Information Student at the University of Toronto