What we do | Youth research methods platform

Ideation

Engage youth early to explore which problem to solve and to shape initial hypotheses using youth research methods grounded in lived experience.

Validation

Invite youth to validate or challenge your assumptions about the problem and potential solutions.

Prototyping

Co-design a simple mockup of your proposed solution and engage youth in testing it to understand how they experience it in real contexts.

Development

Co-create your MVP and invite youth to engage with it so you can learn how it performs from their perspective as real users.

Launch

Develop a launch plan and maintain an ongoing feedback loop with youth to understand how the solution is landing once it is in the world.

Iteration

Collect feedback in context from youth who reflect your target audience to assess how well the solution is delivering the impact you anticipated and where adjustments are needed.

We make it easy.

Our platform makes it safe and easy for organizations to capture stories, reactions, and lived experiences and deliver them in ways teams can immediately use. This helps organizations build better products, programs, and experiences while giving young people a real role in shaping what is built.

We make it safe.

Safety and privacy are our top priorities.

We secure all personally identifiable information (PII) and are prepared to respond to issues that may arise during research sessions, including identifying youth who may be at risk.

We facilitate authentic engagement.

In Tandem’s Youth Partners know we have their back. When we connect them with teams through teen research methods such as interviews, small-group discussions, surveys, and user testing, they share insights that go beyond surface-level feedback.

Co-design projects Interviews and focus groups Asynchronous engagements Mixed engagements

Co-design projects

We facilitate youth-centered design engagements where partners create solutions alongside young people from the start, helping ensure what is built reflects real needs and experiences.

Interviews and focus groups

We set up interviews and focus groups with Youth Partners, adjusting group size and structure to support your needs.

Asynchronous engagements

Our Youth Partners respond to written feedback requests, supporting teen qualitative research when real-time participation is not required. Share surveys or in-progress documents and get the input you need to improve your product or service.

Mixed engagements

Combine written requests, interviews, and focus groups within a single project. Our team helps determine the right mix of youth research methods based on your goals, timelines, and Youth Partner availability.

“Contrary to popular belief, teenagers definitely have good ideas. [This] is a really good space where teenagers are taken seriously and their input is taken seriously. It’s just a good space for that to happen, and a safe space.”

Manuela C., 9th grade

“Young people have so much lived experience and wisdom to share. Including their perspectives in our recent national surveys helped us identify priority topics that we otherwise might have missed, use language that resonated with youth participants, and uncover additional context related to our findings that helped us make sense of what we were seeing.”

Amy Green, Hopelab

“It is a great honor to provide feedback and have a voice in research studies. I find it fun to answer questions that can potentially help other students my age”

Marwa Z., 11th grade

“Involving youth in research design is valuable because it gives young people agency and a voice in topics that matter to them. In my experiences, this leads to greater impact for youth in developing effective interventions that are relevant and resonate with their lived experiences and expertise”

Eduardo Lara, Center for Digital Thriving

“I liked that we got to provide feedback on studies that I never knew existed. It felt like we were an important part of the study, and that we could make a difference.”

Lynda N., 12th grade

We turn trust and meaningful conversations into actionable research insights.

Youth-centered research & development cycle