Research unravelled: the messiness of an evaluation project of LinkedIn for business-school connections in youth employment

Our youth employability project, aimed at improving employment outcomes, serves as a vital case study on the complexities of social research, with a particular focus on the usability of LinkedIn for connecting local businesses with schools. The project highlights how evolving research questions, unexpected methodological challenges, and contradictory findings are integral to a messy research process, reflecting insights shared by Clark et al. (2007) on the untidy realities of inquiry. Initially focused on assessing barriers to education and employment, stakeholder feedback shifted our approach to evaluating LinkedIn’s effectiveness in fostering connections. Such evolution underscores the importance of a user-centred approach, where adaptability to feedback is key. However, implementation revealed usability challenges, as many businesses struggled to navigate the platform effectively, leading to an awareness gap among youth regarding job opportunities. The project also faced methodological surprises in participant engagement; despite extensive outreach, low response rates prompted the team to refine strategies. Discrepancies between positive engagement metrics and negative qualitative feedback highlighted usability issues, emphasising the need for robust user-centred design principles. Businesses reported that LinkedIn lacked essential user-friendly features, hindering effective use. Finally, publication dilemmas arose from low participation rates and conflicting stakeholder feedback complicating result interpretation. Echoing Clark et al. (2007), this paper stresses the importance of transparency in sharing both successes and setbacks in usability discussions. The lessons from this case study provide valuable insights for future researchers, highlighting the need for flexible frameworks prioritising stakeholder input, effective engagement strategies, and the integration of online and offline support systems to bridge education and employment gaps. By sharing these “messy” experiences, we encourage researchers to creatively embrace challenges, enhancing understanding of user interactions and supporting effective interventions to empower young people.