By: Chayton Marquis
When Chinmay Arora first came across the HUP Collaborative Research Assistantship (HCRA) program this past spring, it was clear that this position was going to be more than data collection and analysis. Arora was in search for a job to complement his ongoing Masters of Data Science, and the program stuck out for one principal reason:
“It provided me [an opportunity] not to work for a professor as an RA, but to use my work in an industrial setting under the assistantship, which is a very unique opportunity,” said Arora.
The HCRA program is one of HUP’s many efforts focusing on reducing disparity across the county, matching graduate students at the University of Minnesota with real-world projects inside Hennepin County government, all shaped by data and powered by collaboration. Arora was eager to dive into local challenges and help craft research-driven solutions.
Chinmay was chosen to join Hennepin County’s Digital Experience Team, working on a project to understand how residents interact with the county’s digital products, analyzing key audiences. Arora immediately realized the amount of liberty he was going to be given within this project, and how his studies would be brought to life.
Improving Customer Experience for Hennepin County Residents Through Community Segments
The county's only parameters for audience segmentation was to avoid grouping by demographics like age, race, or sex, as past analyses revealed internal biases and results that overly varied within each group. Arora pivoted to instate a market analysis, segmenting the population into groups and analyzing their behavior patterns on the county’s digital products, forming ideas of needs, attitudes, and challenges that each group possessed. Arora spoke about this initial research process and HCRA’s unique research process:
“Being a student and being able to apply research into a domain where you are given freedom and are given the responsibility of being in an industrial setting... It's rewarding.”
During this process, Arora initially presented to an advisory group at the county every two weeks, driving an iterative and collaborative process to share preliminary findings and next steps.
Key Insights
Over the summer, he noted that many of his findings were surprising, one of which he describes here:
“When I was linking geographical areas to different segments, I saw a few areas still suffering with low broadband access and low device access rates, which, in Hennepin County … that rate is … higher than I expected, like 14%”.
Arora also found rapid population increases in certain segments, finding that the proportion of senior homeowners within the county had grown by nearly a third in the last decade, and was assumed to represent 30% of the county population within the next 30 years.
Corroborated by Community
However, these findings weren’t delivered to the county without a qualitative grounding. With so many individuals utilizing the county’s website for need-based programs like SNAP, Health care assistance, and more, it was imperative to ground the quantitative findings with human experiences. Because of this, the county engaged community leaders from each audience segment to confirm the accuracy of the attitudes and challenges he identified.
In all, Arora was able to identify various challenges each audience faced and create reports that identified ways to improve digital accessibility and usability, aiming to enhance overall county living experiences. Although Arora enjoyed much of his work this past summer, he emphasized:
“The best part about it is I’m serving the community. I am working for Hennepin County, the place where I live… If you’re able to work with the county, or services or that are making your life better, and you’re able to be a part of it, I think that's great.”
Next Steps
Arora and the rest of the HCRA cohort presented their findings at HUP’s annual Research Symposium, where he more fully detailed these segments and the solution-based research he initiated. With his continued drive and success through the program, Hennepin County’s DX team offered him an extended contract to continue his disparity reduction-based research and cultivate a stronger, more equitable county. He’d like to send out a special thanks to his supervisor Lexi Prahl for her continued investment in his work as well as her overall leadership these past few months.
Arora’s experience with the HCRA program is a reminder of what becomes possible when collaborations utilize their strengths to the fullest. Arora hopes his research will shape further how the county understands its residents, and in turn these essential services will be more accessible to those who need it. As his role within HUP and Hennepin County continues, so does the impact of research grounded in empathy, curiosity, and lived experience.