Having been successfully chosen as an innovator for Nesta’s CareerTech Challenge; in partnership with the Department for Education, Saffron Interactive have launched the Create Your Own Future programme.
Nesta and the Department for Education’s CareerTech Challenge has allowed Saffron to develop a videobot that can recognise voice, text and uploaded video by the user, leading to coaching sessions; at scale.
Saffron used human centred, service based design-thinking principles to create the platform, employing focus group members from the target cohort, as well as their union learning representatives, to iterate and re-iterate the design of the platform.
This platform is aimed at supporting the pool of workers who are in insecure roles, those who wish to identify gaps in their skills sets, as well as perennial workers. Users can choose one of four videobots, to take them on a journey to discover their motivations and barriers to career adaptability and learning. They are guided through a skills assessment which then matches their abilities to over 1,500 job profiles on the National Careers Website, as well as to the learning resources that may be appropriate for those roles. Users are then encouraged to make decisions based on the output and to create goals within the platform.
Nudges, notifications and game mechanics are used to keep the user motivated and engaged throughout and reflection points in terms of the journey travelled are also built in. Whilst the platform allows users to feel like they are having an interactive conversation with their mentor, human help is also provided by union learning representatives and through careers counsellors.
Saffron’s CEO, Noorie Sazen, stated, “Our fundamental mission was to utilise the most cutting-edge technology to create a solution that was effective at providing a life-like conversation with a mentor, but could be applied at scale, given the current economic climate. We are thrilled that users can now access the platform, and that Create Your Own Future can be a positive force for change in so many lives”.
Ian Borkett from TUC’s unionlearn echoed this sentiment, “Unionlearn are delighted to have worked with Saffron on the development of the new Create Your Own Future tool. This exciting and innovative programme will be an invaluable resource for union learning reps work in supporting workplace learners. As more workers become unemployed or at risk of redundancy due to the economic downturn, never has there been a more crucial time for this kind of career adaptability tool. This digital tool will be an enormous help to workers looking to retrain or change career”.
The launch is supported with a webinar on the 6th of November, hosted by unionlearn and Saffron. This webinar will be the first opportunity to hear about the platform design as well as a chance to see the tool in action.
There’s still time to register and secure your spot on the webinar, here.
Saffron are passionate about creating a more secure future for workers. If you want to hear more about our pioneering plans, get in touch with one of our consultants.
