CUTGroup

The CUTGroup BookThe CUTGroup is a community of nearly 1,500 residents in Chicago and all of Cook County who get paid to test websites and apps to help create better technology. In Chicago, we have reached people from all over the city-- all 50 wards, all 77 community areas. We continue to do outreach in Cook County to grow our diverse group of testers.

The premise is simple:

  • Fill out a CUTGroup profile and sign up to be a tester, and we’ll send you a $5 VISA gift card
  • If and when you are chosen for a test, you get paid a $20 VISA gift card

This is a flagship Smart Chicago program to establish sustained, meaningful collaboration with residents around data and technology.

The CUTGroup has generated lots of interest from other people interested in civic innovation across the country. Colleagues in Oakland and Chattanooga have started CUTGroup programs there. We wanted to write down our processes so that others could learn from our experiences. Once we did that, we realized we had a book, so we put it here. Download the book for free or pre-order a copy at Amazon.

The CUTGroup is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, the MacArthur Foundation, and now, the Knight Foundation. 

Recent news about the CUTGroup

SMART CHICAGO IS MOVING!!!

Good News!!! The Smart Chicago team is moving and now will be co-located with the City Digital Team at UI ...

Trust and Authenticity – Reflections from the Knight Media Learning Seminar 2017

Last month, the Smart Chicago team went to Miami to participate in the 10th anniversary of the Knight Media Learning ...

Women in Tech Speakers Series

Co-authored by Kyla Williams and Derek Eder Smart Chicago Collaborative and Chi Hack Night have teamed up to create a ...

Recap of CUTGroup Collective Call with CUTGroup Detroit

On November 7, we conducted our first CUTGroup Collective Call with about 20 individuals who are either interested in or working ...

Introducing the first CUTGroup Collective Call: CUTGroup Detroit’s Story

CUTGroup Detroit Recruitment; photo by Christon Marie photography We are beginning a new series of community calls for those who ...

Connect Chicago Digital Skills Road Map Working Group #1

On September 9th, Smart Chicago hosted the first meeting of Connect Chicago’s Digital Skills Road Map Working Group. Its purpose: ...

CUTGroup’s New Proctor Program

A few weeks ago, we held our first orientation with 17 new CUTGroup Proctors. This was the first step in ...

Smart Chicago is helping build CUTGroup Detroit

We are excited to announce that Smart Chicago is partnering with the City of Detroit, Data Driven Detroit, and Microsoft, to ...

Complete results of CUTGroup Tests to Date

SMART CHICAGO IS MOVING!!!

Good News!!! The Smart Chicago team is moving and now will be co-located with the City Digital Team at UI ...

CUTGroup #30 – Chicago Park District

For our thirtieth Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) session, we tested the current Chicago Park District website. The main goal of this ...

CUTGroup #28 – Chicago Open Data Portal

For our twenty-eighth Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) session, we tested the newly redesigned homepage for the City of Chicago’s Open Data ...

CUTGroup #24 – OpenGrid

Our CUTGroup Proctor, Nathalie Rayter, wrote the final analysis report for this test. The CUTGroup Proctor Program trains once highly active ...

CUTGroup #21 – Digital Skills

For our twenty-first Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) session, we conducted focus groups to have conversations with residents about their access to digital skills ...

CUTGroup #17 – Ventra Transit App

For our seventeenth Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) session, we tested the Ventra Chicago mobile transit app. The Ventra app allows riders to manage their Ventra ...

CUTGroup #15 – Chicago Public Schools (CPS.edu) Website

For our fifteenth Civic User Testing Group session, we tested the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) website. This in-person test took place at one ...
CUTGroup 14 Chicago Cityscape

CUTGroup #14 – Chicago Cityscape

For our fourteenth Civic User Testing Group session, we tested Chicago Cityscape, a website that helps residents understand how, where, and when building ...
Receiving a text message from mRelief on a Samsung

CUTGroup #13 – mRelief

For our thirteenth Civic User Testing Group session, we tested mRelief, a website that helps residents check their eligibility for social services benefits ...

CUTGroup #12 – Roll with Me

For our twelfth Civic User Testing Group session, we tested the Roll with Me, a website that helps residents find accessible transit ...

CUTGroup #11 – Expunge.io

Smart Chicago conducted our eleventh Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) test as part of our current work around this grant from the ...

CUTGroup #10 – Build it! Bronzeville

For our tenth Civic User Testing Group session, we tested the Build It! Bronzeville app, which is a mobile game app that ...

Or take a look at complete results of all CUTGroup tests.

Media

Direct media inquiries to Sonja Marziano,  

Team

Sonja Marziano runs the CUTGroup for Smart Chicago. We owe much to all of the people listed in our Acknowledgements, for all the reasons we reference in detail there.

Press: Finding “real people” to test civic technology

Finding "real people" to test civic technology

On their way out of the library at 8 p.m., O'Neil asked Kompare what he thought of the test. "A home run," Kompare replied. "The woman I was working with. Faaantastic. She gave me at least three (improvements) that are doable." Kompare said the app suggested the woman's son take the Cermak bus to school, but she told Kompare that wasn't an option because that route crossed through unsafe gang territory.

Harris: Finding 'real people' to test civic apps

Press: Civic Hackers Want You: Group Offers Cash for App Testing

Civic Hackers Want You: Group Offers Cash for App Testing

But Daniel X. O’Neil, co-founder of EveryBlock and executive director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, says the current relationship between government agencies and coders is incomplete.

“[D]ozens of developers looking at each other in conference rooms over pizza is never going to lead to making lives better in Chicago without the active involvement of real residents expressing real needs and advocating for software that makes sense to them,” O’Neil wrote on his blog last month.

That’s why Smart Chicago is launching a “Civic User Testing Group,” to involve citizens from all over the city in testing, and eventually conceptualizing, new apps and tools. Participants will become the beta testers for developers looking for feedback on their latest work. Testers will both submit feedback through the group’s site and be a part of “mildly scientific” focus groups through the city, O’Neil says.