PLO 2. Identifying Information Needs Through the Design of an Information Resource for Newcomer Families

Course: LIBR 506: Human Information Interaction Artifact: Mobile App for Newcomer Families to BC (group final project) My role: Group member; contributed to needs analysis, resource gathering for newcomer families, and the development of content and service ideas for the portal/app concept.

This artifact reflects my achievement in PLO 2: identifying information needs and responding through the design and provision of information products and services. In LIBR 506, our group designed a mobile-friendly portal and app concept for newcomer families in British Columbia. The project began with a clear user group and a real information problem: newcomer families may face language barriers, unfamiliarity with local systems, and difficulty locating trustworthy resources related to health care, education, housing, settlement, and child development. Rather than treating these as abstract issues, we translated them into a concrete information service concept shaped by user needs and barriers. What makes this artifact especially meaningful is that it required more than simply proposing an app. It required understanding how information needs emerge within lived contexts. In our proposal, we drew on research about immigrant information behaviour and on gatekeeping theory to explain why important information may not easily reach newcomer families. The final project then turned that understanding into design choices, including multilingual onboarding, searchable resources, filters, categorized service pages, and direct links to relevant programs and supports. These features were meant to lower access barriers and make information more navigable, usable, and responsive to a specific community. My own contribution included gathering and selecting relevant newcomer-family resources and helping shape how those resources could be organized within the portal. This process helped me understand that information work is not only about collecting useful content, but about deciding how people will encounter it, trust it, and act on it. It also deepened my appreciation for user-centred service design as a core part of library and information practice. As someone interested in information services, research support, and inclusive access, I see this project as an important step in learning how to move from recognizing information inequities to designing structures that respond to them in practical ways. For that reason, I assess this artifact as strong evidence of my development in PLO 2, though I would still like to strengthen my ability to test such designs with users directly in future work. Self-assessment rubric score

Overall score: 4.5/5

Connection to PLO: 5/5Clarity of role: 4/5Depth of reflection: 4/5Relevance to career direction: 4.5/5Readiness for professional application: 5/5

Short rationale for score:This artifact strongly demonstrates my ability to identify user information needs and respond through the design of an information product/service. My role is clear and meaningful, though because this was a collaborative project, my individual contribution should be framed carefully rather than overstated. The project also connects well to future work in user-centred and inclusive information services.

Copyright and permissions note

This artifact was developed collaboratively as a course project in LIBR 506 by Jacy Cho, Mingzhe Xue, Mitchel Wrayton, and Taran Dhillon. It is included in the portfolio for educational and reflective purposes with attribution to all contributors. Copyright in the group-created project content is shared among the student creators unless otherwise specified. Any external statistics, linked resources, referenced organizational materials, screenshots, background images, or other third-party content remain the property of their original rights holders and should be used only in ways consistent with citation, educational fair dealing, or permission requirements.