Passport to Success® Traveler
Bridging the Global Talent Gap through Games
Across the globe, there is a talent gap impacting the ability for companies, governments, and organizations to find, hire, and retain workers in fields which are rapidly growing. Yet, at the same time there are countless youth that face joblessness, or report a feeling of insecurity about their own ability to find and keep a job. The limiting factor remains the same - young people, and young women in particular have been underserved and underexposed to life skill training which prepares them for a career and success in life. International Youth Foundation aims to make a difference by providing relevant, high impact life skill training for young people in over 50 countries, and 20 languages throughout the world. With our newest partnership with the International Youth Foundation and the creation of Passport to Success® Traveler, we aim to bring this essential training to life for even more young people through an interactive, game-based course that you can get on your phone wherever you are.
Working Together
For youth across the globe, life skills such as leadership, communication, and respect for diversity are a critical for job readiness. Leaders everywhere agree that the gap in soft skills is impacting their ability to grow, hire, and train.
International Youth Foundation (IYF) works to provide high quality training to hundreds of thousands of youth, especially young women, to build these skills. With their in-person Passport to Success® training course, International Youth Foundation delivers this education across the world, to ensure young people have the skills they need to find success in life.
When we partnered with IYF, it was for a shared vision - to take this program a step further and provide the same high quality, accessible training through an online game and empower more youth with this education. We knew to make this succeed we couldn’t design this on our own - we needed to have the people who would be using this at the center of each and every decision.
Constructing Concepts
After a packed couple days of workshopping at International Youth Foundation headquarters we came up with a set of concepts, visual styles, and mechanics that we could draw from. To find out what we needed to design, we shared these ideas publicly with young people across the world. We had them whittle down the list of their favorites until together we came up with an idea we all were excited about.
What we quickly learned from this process was that people are ready for a course that can take them seriously, while being enjoyable and interactive enough to keep them interested throughout. The idea of travel came up quickly as a motivator. Everyone was so excited to find out about new people, places, and careers to better build life skills. The more we thought about it, the better it fit. Travel is a lens through which people learn not only about other people, but about their own lives and goals.
The Excitement of Traveling the World
Travel itself can be a life goal people set for themselves whether or not it’s feasible for them in the short term. This idea of travel, and the feelings of personal growth, exploration, and excitement to learn from others through new experiences grew into the perfect setting for this groundbreaking online program.
Now when you start up Passport to Success® Traveler you learn that you’ve been recruited for an exclusive program where you travel the world, trying out a new job and industry in each country, while solving problems along the way. You’ll visit Mexico City to learn about conflict resolution at a robotics company, or Paris to learn confidence and assertiveness at a logistic firm. As you meet with lovable characters in stunning locations worldwide you’ll find out about yourself and what it takes to succeed in each of these careers. Every career featured aligns with a real world growth industry, and the tasks faced will give you a taste of what a job in that field could really be like.
Youth-Led Design for High Impact Results
This compelling context, with interactive games, and truly impactful learning outcomes was a feat in itself, but the work didn’t stop there. At each step of development we took the time to sit with talented youth in India, Mexico, South Africa, and the US to show them our work and get their honest feedback. This continuous process of critique and extensive co-design with young people has excelled this product beyond what we could’ve envisioned. Passport to Success® Traveler continues to be bettered with each and every collaborator who helps us bring it to life.
The PTS Traveler digital training course is currently available in four languages: American English, British English, Hinglish, and Spanish. Try it for yourself!
