The Workforce Almanac
Overview
The Almanac is an interactive directory offering a comprehensive view of ~17,000 workforce training providers across the United States.
The Almanac is for policymakers, employers, training providers, practitioners, and researchers who are interested in increasing quality and equity in workforce training pathways.
Category
Product Strategy
Services
Exploration Workshop
Value Proposition
User Research
Stakeholder Interviews
User Feedback
Sessions
Launch Demonstrations
Team
Claire Owen – Product Strategy Lead
In collaboration with infogr8:
- Jake Madsen – Producer
- David Bumbeishvili – Data Visualization Engineer
- Michael Devereux – Tech Lead
- Will Chase – Conceptual Design
& The Project on Workforce team
Sector
EdTech
Objective
To create an accessible and comprehensive data platform that maps U.S. workforce training providers, aiding in the strategic decision-making for policymakers, researchers, and training entities.
Key Requirements & Functionalities
Data Collection and Integration
Consolidate data from multiple sources including IPEDS, TPR, RAPIDS, and IRS Form 990 to map workforce training providers across various categories.
Geospatial Visualisation
Develop a user-friendly interface that displays geographic distribution of training providers, allowing for easy exploration and analysis.
Data Accessibility and Usage
Provide mechanisms for data download and manipulation to facilitate detailed examination and application by different stakeholders.
Stakeholder Engagement
Enable collaboration and benchmarking opportunities for training providers and offer strategic insights for policymakers and philanthropic organisations.
Product Strategy Overview
Discovery and User Insights
Initiated comprehensive stakeholder interviews and market research to understand the needs and challenges within the workforce development sector, guiding the platform’s strategic direction.
User Experience and Value Proposition
Developed a clear value proposition centred on providing intuitive access to complex data, thereby enabling informed decision-making and fostering sector-wide improvements in workforce training.
The Result
The Workforce Almanac is a first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to help us move away from a siloed conception of workforce development training provision and towards a new, integrated idea of the sector that puts the worker front and centre.
The platform has become an essential tool for visualising and strategising within the workforce development ecosystem, offering invaluable insights and fostering collaboration among stakeholders.
In this first iteration of the Workforce Almanac, we have mapped almost 17,000 providers of workforce training, which we have defined as short-term (lasting less than two years), post-high school training opportunities in which learners gain work-relevant skills to help them find a job.
"Claire is an outstanding product strategist with a rare combination of technical acumen and ability to deeply connect with and listen to people, including users. As our team was conceptualizing and developing a novel data portal, Claire elevated our work from product discovery through testing to launching, including in product exploration workshops, user interviews and feedback sessions, and product launch and workshopping. She has the superpower of communicating complex ideas with simplicity and is an absolute delight to work with!"
- Nathalie Gazzaneo, Co-Director, Harvard Project on Workforce