The frictionless user experience is not yet so frictionless

There will increasingly be a push for immigrant and refugee-serving agencies to provide frictionless service to newcomers. It's going to come. We should be aware of and planning for it.
There will increasingly be a push for immigrant and refugee-serving agencies to provide frictionless service to newcomers. It's going to come. We should be aware of and planning for it.
Pathways to Prosperity Canada recently launched an IRCC-funded project "to design, implement, and evaluate a process for identifying and sharing promising practices in settlement and integration with an empirical basis for their effectiveness. Over a two-year period, P2P will produce 25 videos and accompanying briefs on promising practices in the immigrant settlement and integration sector, targeting a range of service areas and client groups."
I've started an e-newsletter! Welcome to WTF (What's the Future) of Settlement Work!
I recently attended the 21st National Metropolis Conference in Halifax. I don't get to these gatherings very often and they're always a reminder of how much is happening in a very complex sector and how awesome and committed sector folks are. I presented a summary of some research work I've been doing for a client, and thought I'd share my presentation notes here.
The common thread in my work has become obvious. Working with immigrant and refugee-serving sector organizations. While some of my ideas and writing, and approaches, have tried to be broadly focused (like the Nonprofit Services Canvas), the reality is that I am working and implementing with immigrant and refugee-serving organizations. And that's where this year is looking to focus as well.
Welcome to season 2 of the Technology in Human Services podcast! This is a recording of a presentation I recently made at a technology/professional development day with CSAE Trillium.
Many thanks to AMSSA in British Columbia for having me present this workshop to settlement and language workers across the province. I'm definitely not a marketing expert. But, like making technology, or any service choices, it all comes down to being strategic and knowing/understanding your client.
In this video I’m looking at the future of immigrant/refugee settlement work, but really human service more broadly. I hope you find it interesting. I would love to hear what you think! Comment below, or connect on social.
When it comes to I&R, one of the sites you should be using frequently, and as a power user, is your local 211 site. But, 211 sites are not always the most user friendly. You might find search results a bit confusing, or are unsure how to start, etc. We created a screen cast walking course participants through the 211Ontario site.
At a workshop last year, I asked a group of participants to break into groups and identify the top four things settlement workers need to know, top four skills that they must possess, and the top four work-related attitudes and behaviours in the era of digital service delivery. Interestingly, there wasn't much overlap between groups. This suggests the richness of human service work, as well as its complexity.