This talk is part of the Year of Data and Society Conversations, a series that profiles innovative data projects at Pitt.

In this work, we describe some of the challenges Black-owned businesses face both in the United States and specifically in the city of Pittsburgh. Taking into account local dynamics and the communicated desires of Black-owned businesses in the Pittsburgh region gleaned from a survey, we determine that university students represent an under-utilized market for these businesses. We investigate the root causes for this inefficiency and design and implement a platform, 412Connect, to increase online support for Pittsburgh Black-owned businesses from students in the greater university community.

The site operates by coordinating interactions between student users and participating businesses via targeted recommendations. For platform designers, we describe the project from its conception, paying special attention to our motivation and design choices. Our design choices are aided by two simple, novel models for badge design and recommendation systems that may be of theoretical interest. We also highlight challenges and lessons from coordinating a grassroots volunteer project working in conjunction with community partners, and the opportunities and pitfalls of engaged scholarship.

 

Presenters: the 412Connect team:

Sera Linardi, Associate Prof (GSPIA) CAASI Director,

Adam Gerard and/or Juan Garrett (Riverside Center for Innovation),

 

Alex Jackson, MS (CMU Heinz), Data for Black Lives Pittsburgh

Ivy Chang, UG Econ (DSAS) Communications,

Michael Hamilton, Assistant Prof (Katz) Research Lead,

Collin Griffin, UG CS (SCI) Programmer,

Tyler Olin, UG Digital Narrative and Interactive Design (DNID)*  (SCI Alumni) UX Designer,

Alex DiChristofano, Data Science PhD (Washington University St Louis) Data Lead.  

If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Year of Data and Society Steering Committee at yearof@pitt.edu by 9/3/21.

Event Details

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