Access Test

How the team confirmed reachability of professional women commuters

Following the toolkit naming conventions, this file is named exp-03-access-test-2025-02-22

1. Define Your Group

  • Chosen people/community: Professional women commuting on foot as part of their daily routine in mid-sized U.S. cities
  • Why this group matters: Their commute includes segments where safety feels uncertain — walking from transit stops, through crowded streets, or after dark. These women use quiet but persistent workarounds (text check-ins, detours, vigilance) that suggest unmet needs.
  • Typical settings or gathering places: LinkedIn professional groups, coworking spaces, local women-in-tech Slack channels, evening transit stops, women’s safety forums.

2. Minimum Access Conditions

Result: Passed.

3. Test Design

  • Channels tested:
    • LinkedIn: short DMs to 10 women in relevant commuting geographies
    • Coworking space email list: 1 announcement inviting brief chats
    • Women-in-tech Slack group: posted an open-ended “commuting challenges” question
  • Sample size goal: 10–15 responses across 3 channels
  • Method: Direct outreach (DM/email) + forum post
  • Timeline: 48 hours

4. Execution Notes

  • LinkedIn: 10 messages sent → 5 replies; 3 agreed to interviews within a week.
  • Coworking list: 1 group email → 6 replies; 4 substantive, 2 brief.
  • Slack forum: 1 post → ~15 views, 4 replies, 2 sharing detailed personal stories.
  • Total outreach: ~21 people touched; 15 replies; 9 strong leads for conversations.

Surprises:
- Faster, warmer response from coworking list than expected.
- Slack replies included safety experiences outside commuting (night walks, travel), broadening context.

5. Results & Signal Strength

  • Strong access (green light): Multiple channels yielded replies within 24–48 hours; women were responsive and detailed in sharing.
  • Weak/blocked access indicators: None at this stage; only challenge was scheduling.

Your assessment: Green light.

6. Knowledge Update

  • Validated: Professional women commuters are reachable through both digital networks and physical coworking channels.
  • Overturned: Expected LinkedIn to be slow/cold; instead, replies were immediate and engaged.
  • New insight: Slack posts revealed adjacent contexts (late-night walking, solo travel) worth exploring later.

7. Next Steps

  • Schedule first round of exploratory conversations with respondents.
  • Prepare observation plan at evening transit stops to triangulate.
  • Consider expanding to student commuters as a comparison group.

Attachments (Data Room pointers):
- Screenshot of LinkedIn DM template
- Copy of coworking email invite
- Slack forum post + anonymized replies
- Quick tally of response counts (CSV)