Sidekick is a new online platform created for Jobcentre Plus for job seekers looking for support getting back-to-work.
Sidekick suggests support organisations as well as psychological insights based on answers to short activities. Whilst the platform has integrated insights from major frameworks of psychology, it's designed in a way to make the process enjoyable and maintain interest over time.
Sidekick's main interface presents a friendly environment to play the activities with clear prompts on how to make it through to the advice areas.
Each activity is designed around a personality dimension that could be improved through measurement and advice. Each activity only requires a YES/NO answer
– increasing Sidekick's ease-of-use.
– increasing Sidekick's ease-of-use.
Sidekick's ‘gamified’ framework presents feedback only after it has gathered enough information. Feeback is split into advice based on activity feedback and what local support groups could be beneficial to help get back-to-work.
To help overcome being paralysed by too much choice, Sidekick only initially presents the top 3 support providers.
A set of custom Sidekick characters were commissioned for the platform. Whilst on the surface the superhero character-based design may seem superficial, the premise is that if people can learn to reframe their lives as unfolding personal mythologies, rather as finite and finished stories, they they have the opportunity to reemerge from the adversities of their lives as heroes in their own minds rather than failures.
