VANESSA KO

List of projects
2016
Orange County Bridges Maternal Health Network
Improved the user experience for healthcare providers in a maternal health
network program.
United Nations OCHA: Blockchain for the Humanitarian Sector
Explored use cases for blockchain technology in the humanitarian sector.
Research report published November 2016.
United Nations OCHA: Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX)
Developed an intuitive tool to find, share and use humanitarian data all in one
place.
Digital Diasporas
A deep-dive into the role of diaspora communities online in spurring political
action in both Canadian and origin communities.
FinTech Channel Strategy
How can a Toronto fintech startup better identify and engage small-to-medium
businesses? Conducted primary research and a competitive analysis to inform
a new channel strategy.
2015
Digital Public Square Project
Investigated what motivates citizens to participate in political movements
online. Co-authored a research report published in 2016.
Ontarios Connected Entrepreneur
Creating the first-ever comprehensive map of Ontarios entrepreneurial
ecosystem with a focus on the individual entrepreneurs. A joint project with
MaRS Data Catalyst and the Innovation Policy Lab.
2014
The Blue Dot Movement
Developed new digital engagement tools for a Canada-wide initiative to
mobilize citizens on the right to a healthy environment.
Data Science for Social Good: Chicago Public Schools
Built new tools to better predict and allocate student enrollment for Chicago
Public Schools using research and data science methods.

SKILLS &
METHODS
Strategy
Compettive analysis
Financial analysis
Business modelling
Viability analysis
Strategic positioning
Writing
Research
Interviews
Survey design
Observation
A/B testing
Data analysis
TOOLS
Digital
R/Python
HTML/CSS
Adobe CC
Excel
PowerPoint
Analog
Post-Its
Pen & Paper
Languages

VANESSA KO

Case Studies

1 - Bridges Maternal Health Program

2 - Chicago Public Schools

ORANGE COUNTY BRIDGES MATERNAL

HEALTH

Improving the user experience for healthcare providers

PROJECT
DETAILS
CLIENT
The Children
and Families
Commission of
Orange County
TEAM
Vanessa Ko
Emily Fabiaschi
ROLE
Project Lead

SUMMARY
The Bridges Maternal Child Health Network (MCHN) is a collaboration of Orange
County hospitals and community agencies, working together to ensure parents
and children are supported from prenatal care to infant & toddler home visitation.
There are over 15 different hospitals, agencies and providers involved in the
Network, making it extremely difficult to coordinate and collaborate between
each other.
We were asked to a) identify potential areas of improvement in service delivery,
and b) develop solutions.To better identify specific challenges, we conducted
interviews and data analysis to understand the needs and challenges of
healthcare providers in the program.
For this project, we considered the individual healthcare provider as the end user
and asked: how can we improve the experience of providing maternal healthcare
for a Bridges provider?
APPROACH
Image: A photo
from South Coast
Global Medical
Center, one of the
maternity hospitals
we visited.

Consultation and in-depth interviews with 15 healthcare providers & hospital

administrators
Systems mapping of the patient journey & interaction points
Co-creation of a new user experience alongside Bridges healthcare
administrators
Collaboration with software vendors/developers to create a more intuitive,
user-friendly system

WHEN
June 2016
August 2016
METHODS
Interviews
Data analysis
Process
mapping
Participatory
design
TOOLS
Post-Its
PowerPoint
Excel
Pen & Paper
DELIVERABLES
Process maps
Presentation
Final Report

Image: A first
attempt at distilling
and aggregating the
interview results into
a patient journey
map.
This was an
iterataive process
with lots of scribbles
and edits!

METHODS USED
Field studies: Simulated the experience of providing Bridges maternal health
services by shadowing and observing different healthcare providers.
Interviews: Deeper investigation into the workflow of hospitals administrators and
healthcare providers. This helped us map out the process of treating a patient for
each of the healthcare providers, and let us create a holistic journey map.
Process mapping: Explored and depicted each step in the Bridges Network,
highlighting missing or problematic areas at each stage of the process. This
helped clarify pain points and areas of improvement.
Participatory design: Co-creation of new communications and data-tracking
system alongside all Bridges Network hospital / healthcare providers
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

How do you keep track of the information a patient tells you?

What tools do you use?
How do you document each patient visit?
How do you decide whether or not to refer a mother to a different program?
What is frustrating about the systems and tools you use?
How do you know if a mother has been successfully referred and enrolled in
a new program?
How do you communicate and share information to other healthcare
providers?
Do you know if a mother successfully completes the Bridges program? How
do you follow up?

CHALLENGES
1 - No one provider had a holistic view of the entire Bridges program. Since
each provider worked at a particular stage in the patient journey (for example,
hospitals only saw the mother during birth), no single provider was able to see
and access all of the information along a mothers progression through the
Bridges program.
2 - Data was not consistently collected or reported when mothers were referred
to home visitation services. High drop-out rates were found at each referral
touchpoint, but we werent able to accurately understand why this was occurring.
We knew that addressing this gap was necessary moving forward.
PATIENT JOURNEY MAP
A single patient interacts at least 3 different hospitals or providers in the Bridges
Network. In certain cases, a patient will interact with more.

Image: High-level
patient journey maps
of the mothers
progression through
the Bridges Network
programs.
This was part of
a larger analysis,
where we mapped
these touchpoints to
the user process for
a healthcare provider.

INSIGHTS
We discovered two pain points in the patient journey that affected healthcare
providers:
1 - No formal communication processes between hospitals and home visitation
providers, leading to duplicate services or unmet patient needs. Some hospitals
had informal processes, such as calling individual providers to follow up on the
mother, but this was done on an ad-hoc basis.
2 - The data system and tools used to track and send patient data were clunky
and non-intuitive. From interviews, we learned that the Bridges database system
(used to track and share patient data) made information sharing between
providers difficult. This also meant that critical patient data was not being
collected.
OUTCOMES
Co-designing a new process for information sharing between healthcare
providers in the Network adding a communications protocol at each referral
point. Since many of the challenges were due to the providers working in silos,
we made sure to gather everyone in the same room to co-design the new
process. This made sure everyone was aligned on success, understood the
process, and had an active stake in the final result.
New data tracking and sharing system to make collecting and sharing patient
data simpler. Adding one additional software feature made data sharing easy
and non-intrusive. We worked with software developers to simplify the user
interface for healthcare providers. This also meant that important data was
being collected at each referral touchpoint, which could help long-term service
improvements for the Bridges Network.
IMPACT
An easier, more intuitive user experience for providers (based on feedback
surveys). All of our recommendations were adopted by the Bridges Network
providers, and theyve continued the process of co-designing solutions.
Most importantly, the Bridges program saw a 10% increase in patient retention in
3 months!
MY ROLE & ACTIVITIES

Led and engaged 15 stakeholders across hospitals, community service

providers and hospital administrators in the co-design process
Conducted data analysis and qualitative research
Created a patient journey map of a mothers progression through the Bridges
Network

CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Understanding student enrollment

PROJECT
DETAILS
CLIENT
Chicago Public
Schools, as part
of the University
of Chicagos Data
Science for Social
Good Fellowship
TEAM
Vanessa Ko
Andrew Landgraf
Tracy Schifeling
Zhou Ye

SUMMARY
Each spring, Chicago Public Schools allocates $1.8 billion to the hundreds of
public schools in its system. To determine where to distribute that money, CPS
must predict next years enrollment for each school months ahead of time; large
discrepancies between predicted and actual enrollment disrupt funding and
teaching each year.
We worked with CPS to better understand: what factors determine which school
a student chooses to attend in the fall?
APPROACH
1 - Primary & background research
We began with field research: in-depth interviews and shadowing of school
administrators to better understand the school decision process and policy
landscape. In addition, we simulated the process of predicting student enrollment
with CPS staff.
Image: A
screengrab from
Chicago Public
Schools School
Finder web app.
Geographic
catchment areas
were just one
small part of the
puzzle in solving
why students
choose to attend
certain schools
over others.

2 - Statistical analysis
The next step was to dive into the data. We looked at data on school, student
and staff attributes, as well as other context-specific features such as transit,
crime, and economic development data. Since we were building a model, most
of our work was spent trying to find which variables best predicted student
enrollment.
3 - Stakeholder collaboration
Finally, we pooled our research insights with community partners, such as the
University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. Our research bolstered
their policy recommendations on education reform.

ROLE
Researcher &
Project Manager
WHEN
June 2014
September 2014
METHODS
Interviews
Data analysis
Literature review
Policy review
Communication
facilitation
TOOLS
PowerPoint
Pen & Paper
R
Python
DELIVERABLES
Workshops
Presentation
Data visualizations
Interactive tools

Photos: CPS
schools start
early September,
but budgets are
allocated in early
spring.
Budget
misallocations
impact school
resources and
teaching
We visited several
high schools, such
as Lincoln High
School (historically
high-performing)
and ACE Tech
Charter (now
closed).

METHODS USED
Policy review: Every school system has its own policy restrictions, so we first
documented and investigated how school enrollment decisions were made in
Chicago (ex. many schools were restricted to a geographic catchment area, but
just as many were not). We first had to understand the policy landscape.
Interviews: Conducted a series of 15 interviews with students, school principals
and administrators across several Chicago neighbourhoods. This helped us gain
qualitative insights into why students attend certain schools.
Quantitative data analysis: Analyzed datasets to create new statistical models
and predictive tools. The bulk of our work was spent here.
Community facilitation: Conducted workshops and presentations to policymakers to communicate research results and tools.
KEY RESEARCH INSIGHTS
1 - Current models arent working. Current methods of allocating budgets were
on average about 65% accurate, leading to millions of $ being lost in reshuffling.
2 - One size does not fit all. Different grades and schools require different
approaches. The jump from Grade 8 to 9 was especially significant students
didnt necessarily attend the closest high school to their middle school. Our
interviews also informed us of additional factors we needed to consider, such as
transit accessibility for both students and staff.
3 - Context matters more than student/school performance: Student enrollment
was highly correlated along demographic, geographic and socioeconomic lines,
more than test scores or school performance.

(Credit: Chicago
Public Schools,
Chicago Sun Times)

CHALLENGES
Not imposing technology as the solution. Because our work was prescriptive,
and potentially had an impact on future policy recommendations, we were very
cognizant of our own biases. Algorithms are biased because the humans creating
them are biased too. We had to make sure that we werent just proposing a
magical statistical solution to a very complex, context-sensitive issue.
Creating sustainable solutions. Since our tools were based on very technical
skills, we were conscious that we werent just leaving CPS with a tool they
couldnt replicate or use.

Images: Some
preliminary analyses and
data visualizations we
attempted. Not the prettiest
things to look at, but they
gave us a sense of what
areas to focus on.
The top graph examines
whether the previous years
school choice predicts the
next years choice. After
grade 8, predictability falls
dramatically.
The bottom graph looks at
the geographic distribution
of school types throughout
Chicago.

Image:
Chicago Public
Schools current
interactive school
map, similar
to the tool we
produced for
them in 2014.
(Credit: Chicago
Public Schools)

INNOVATIONS
We were upfront about assumptions in our presentations and tools. We made
sure to highlight possible areas of bias and practiced process transparency
showing exactly what variables we included in our analysis. Also, our analysis is
fully available online.
We also translated the data analysis into easy-to-use data visualizations. We
trained school administrators and Chicago Public Schools staff in how to use and
update the tools to ensure sustainability.
OUTCOMES
Created interactive tools for school administrators to use to predict enrollment on
an on-going basis, combining school and student data with other variables from
the City of Chicagos Open Data Portal.
Held three workshops and presentations on our research insights to Chicago
Public Schools, various research consortiums and policy-makers.
MY ROLE & ACTIVITIES

Facilitated all communication between CPS and the rest of the team
Technical translator between policy-makers and statisticians/computer
scientists
Conducted qualitative research
Conducted statistical analysis
Led meetings with stakeholder research groups to share insights

VANESSA KO

Books and articles that inspire me

Ethnographic Research: A Key to Strategy by the Harvard
Business Review
As a social scientist, this article resonates with my research practice.
Imposing top-down solutions without understanding the local context and
people is presumptuous this has led to my belief that problem-solving
approaches need to center on end stakeholders.
Good research, to me, means having conversations and interactions
with the end stakeholders to deeply understand the human experience.

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

Specifically, I like the chapter on Design in the World of Business. As
an MBA student, Im taught countless analytical tools and frameworks
to improve business. This book reframes the idea that innovation is not
about adding more things.
Instead, innovation is about discovery, simplification, and enhancing the
human experience.

Design Thinking for Social Innovation by the Stanford Social

Innovation Review
Design thinking isnt limited to product innovations it changes systems.
To me, innovation combines research, strategy and design to ask the
following questions: How can we have an impact at the systems level?
How can we change rigid processes that dont actually serve the people
they are meant to? Why do we do things the way that we do?