DESIGN PROCESS
Our first brainstorms when we were assigned the CA were quite focused on the environmental situation a person may be in. One idea was how to improve office/classroom environments to promote better workflow. Another idea was how the differences between rural and urban environments affect mental well-being and life satisfaction. This is the final idea that we decided to develop further, we thought about the differences between the two environments. We hypothesised that rural living has a better sense of community and a slower-paced life compared to urban environments. We also hypothesised that urban areas may have higher isolation and lower life satisfaction. However, urban areas also have benefits such as better healthcare services and better transport services.
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We decided to focus on bringing the community aspect of rural environments onto the IADT college campus. We thought the campus needed something like this after the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to be off campus. We also took part in the activites and encouraged conversations amongst the other students.
PERSONAS
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The picture on the left is of our Personas.
A Persona is a fictional characters, which you create based upon your research in order to represent the various user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand.
Woman - 30yrs old
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Finds the city lonely
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Finds it hard to make friends and find social support
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Does not have a medium through which she can
interact with anyone (her hobbies are solitary, reading and running).
How can we help this person find more of a community in the city?
Idea: more accessible social groups, book clubs, athletics associations that are easily assessable. Use of social media to connect people and groups. Social events encouraged more in workplaces, social events advertised more in workplaces / in public settings.
Man 25 Years Old
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Lives in Rural Ireland
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Has a close knit social support network of neighbours, and family
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Has to drive long hours to work and to social events
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Wonders if he is missing out on his 20s by not having as much nightlife as in urban areas
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Has a medical condition-health care is not as accessible in rural Ireland
COLLABORATION AND MIRO BOARDS
User Testing
"That is a great idea! This excersise was so much fun"
"This excersise really made me feel like I belong! I cannot wait to be a part of this event"
EVENT DESIGN AND ORGANISATION
For our end solution, we decided to organise an event to hopefully build a sense of community and connection on the IADT campus. The event was mainly targeted towards first and second year students as the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected their time on campus and their ability to make friends.
We changed the event from one big group of students to smaller groups throughout the day. This made it easier for us to get to know the participants and explain the project in-depth.
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