Design Research, Design Anthropology, Participatory Design
Orchestrating Serendipity: On-Campus Wellness
Spring 2019
THE PROBLEM: College students have a lot of unhealthy habits, but this isn't all their fault. Because of their busy schedules and demanding class-loads, it's increasingly harder for college students to make healthy choices in their day to day lives. As students, they prioritize things on a "need-to-do" basis, and for many, their own personal health can be put on the back burner. Lack of resources, knowledge, and time keeps students from eating healthy foods, engaging in physical activity, or evaluating their mental health. Being healthy isn't just about food and exercise– It's about the mind and body, and college students are perhaps most guilty of forgetting this.
RESEARCH QUESTION:How can we facilitate the pursuit of everyday joy in the lives of college students?
Research + Discovery
Through an ethnographic research approach, I used a combination of interviews, photo journals, and participatory engagement activities to gain insights into everyday joy. I knew that I'd have to employ a highly personal approach since happiness is not so easily observed or quantified.
Interviews
I interviewed a handful of college students asking questions like, "What sort of role do others play in your happiness?" and "What do you do to make yourself happier when you're feeling down?". The interview questions were designed to get participants talking about their strategies to employ joy in the everyday. From my set of detailed field notes, I coded the interview content into themes to establish insights, shown below.
Photo Journals
Seven students participated in creating a one-week photo journal in which I asked them to photograph things that made them happy and share them to a google drive folder. This exercise allowed me to see "the little things" instead of more expected happy moments. I saw photos of people, places, objects- but the breadth of significance was key.
Engagement Activity
The final component of my research strategy was an interactive activity situated in a busy part of campus in which students were asked to respond to the prompt "I feel happy when I'm…" and "I feel unhappy when I'm…" using post-it notes. The responses to the engagement activity were documented and coded using the same process as my interview notes.
Data Analysis + Synthesis
Through the research + discovery phase, I identified 3 key themes in the ethnographic data:
Themes
Relationships/People
Participants spoke about or demonstrated the role of others in their emotional wellbeing as a source of happiness via their presence or company, a motivator to achieve their goals, or a means of escape from unhappiness.
Activities/Practices
Participants spoke about or demonstrated that they engage in certain activities for reward, enjoyment, or duty.
Intention/Choice
Participants spoke about or demonstrated that happiness is active and that they combat unhappiness by addressing the source through problem-solving, shifting attitudes, or mindsets.
Design Solution
Inspired by my primary research insight, I imagined a system of guerrilla signage that was intended to inspire serendipitous activities by students on or around campus to introduce a sense of newness into their daily experience.
Each sign would be placed in high-traffic areas around campus in order to reach the highest volume of students and spark conversations. They could be placed on light posts, poles, or trees and are bright yellow, featuring an eye-catching 2-component ask. Students, after seeing the signs, might be inspired to go out and experience something new, introducing a small moment of joy into their day.
