.jpg "A team of eight young adults in business casual poses in front of a blue-and-purple-hued, large photo banner of iconic chicago buildings")
Data of all kinds are becoming more abundant and accessible than ever before. How can data drive on-the-ground strategy, for corporations and nonprofits alike?
A team of eight DePaul graduate students and alumni partnered with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to tackle this question head-on.
The team collaborated with the U.S. branch of the nonprofit, which provides essential infrastructure to underserved communities, to analyze its marketing efforts and develop actionable, data-driven strategies and toolkits.
For the students who participated, the project was an exercise in translating classroom insights into real-world action. It was a chance to experiment with new tools and technologies, including AI. Perhaps most of all, it was an opportunity to envision how analytical savvy can drive strategy — and further social good.
A foray into new technology
For the part of the team that studied EWB’s outreach to individuals, the project offered a chance to take advantage of technology.
“We were focusing on increasing awareness” of EWB online, explained MS in Business Analytics student Abirami Manoj. “Eye tracking played a major role in helping us do that.”
Eye-tracking software is just one of many tools available to students, faculty, and staff through DePaul’s Beta Hub. The software gives researchers real-time insights into how consumers process information. Where do their eyes linger? What do they glance past?
The team got support from Beta Hub’s codirectors, both assistant professors of marketing. Ignacio Luri served as the project’s faculty advisor. Jennifer Tatara advised the team on how to use eye-tracking technology, which plays a major role in her research.
“Jenny [Tatara] was so helpful,” said Manoj. "She helped us understand what works with the system, what doesn’t, and how to effectively work with the system.”
As the team gathered data, they iterated. Manoj describes the process as one of “trial and error.” Insights from each phase of the research process informed the next.
“One thing that really surprised me” initially, said Manoj, “is that people do read the words on a post. But they don’t check who’s posting it.”
That insight, along with others like it, allowed the team to optimize EWB’s social media post with brand awareness in mind. The placement of EWB’s logo, the use of colors, the design and layout of the posts — each decision was driven by data.
An experiment in using AI — with care
Another key part of the research process? Leveraging AI.
“Throughout the process, Ignacio [Luri] challenged us to incorporate AI,” said Rocio Garcia Perez, a master’s in marketing analysis student who was on a five-person team that focused on improving EWB’s outreach to corporate donors.
Garcia Perez’s team leveraged AI to design graphic and written templates for their new communications plan. Similarly, Manoj’s team used AI to generate sample posts for their studies.
The process involved careful prompt engineering.
“AI doesn’t know what you want,” said Manoj. “So we needed to be super careful with what we were putting in the prompt” to generate images.
“I think there’s a lot we can do with AI,” she continued, “if we know the concepts and understand what we want.”
“It’s about accepting that AI is going to be a [big part of] the future,” Garcia Perez echoed. “It’s about really learning how to use it, and how to monitor how it’s working.”
From data to action — and from skills to purpose
Ultimately, for Garcia Perez, the project wasn’t just an exercise in number-crunching or prompt engineering. It was an exercise in storytelling.
“How you share data is almost as important as how you analyze it,” she reflected.
That included presenting the project to EWB board members from the nonprofit’s Chicago and Boston chapters. Board members were eager, Manoj and Garcia Perez agreed, to hear the students’ insights. At the same time, many of them came from an engineering background, with limited familiarity with marketing.
For Garcia Perez, the new audience opened up an opportunity to share what excites her about marketing.
“If you're marketing, you’re trying to share a story,” she said. “Thanks to building a school, there are 200 girls in Tanzania who are now going to be able to get an education and change their lives. So you’re not asking for money to help build a house. You’re asking for money because you want to give those individuals opportunity. You want to give them the chance to choose their life paths.”
The connection between data and results — between skills and purpose — was also what motivated the team themselves.
“It was really beautiful to see everything come to life — and to see how [EWB is] impacting lives,” said Manoj. “Maybe it’s a small impact – but it’s going to spread out. And we get to help with that.”