PROJECT TYPE
Service Design
TIME FRAME
13 weeks
DESIGN BRIEF
This human-centered interaction project was initiated in the final year of the Bachelor of Design Computing, as part of the Interactive Product Design Studio unit (DECO3200).
The design brief called for a focus on the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Integrating Goal 3 (Health & Wellbeing), Goal 4 (Quality Education) and Goal 5 (Gender Equality), we defined our problem space in the importance of women's nutrition, and the process of its research and education. Our proposal focuses on three key elements: mobility, adaptability and playfulness.
TEAM MEMBERS
Irene He
Dinara Janaratne
Emily Adler
INTERESTS & SKILLS
Social Impact Causes, User Research, Playful Design;
Figma, WebAR, Guerrilla Testing, Thematic Analysis, Prototyping, Adobe Creative Suite
Why Women's Nutrition?
Women play an important role in the wellbeing of societies at large. From home-making to income-earning, their active participation in family and public life offer boundless support for a thriving community.
Besides that, women are the carriers of future generations - they birth the children in families. Often as caretakers after, they are also educators within homes. Hence, their knowledge and ability to care for themselves and their children nutritionally during this time is one of the key factors to maintaining the health of future generations.
Go to final prototype 'The Female CAREavan'
The Aim
Inspired from three of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the aim of our project is to utilise accessible information and communications technology to promote the education of women’s health - not just exclusively for women, but could extend to other members of society.
Target 3.7
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Target 4a
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Target 5b
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Target Audience
13
to
25
year-old females
Research Overview
Methods
Auto-ethnographic
Cultural Probe
4 completed entries
Research Data
Interviews
10 females across
different cultures & backgrounds
Questionnaires
31 responses across different
cultures & backgrounds
Analysis
Affinity Diagramming
Synthesis
Personas
Ideation
Findings
There were several themes that emerged from our research. Many women have expressed their thoughts and opinion towards their health and nutrition.
1
I believe that understanding the importance of nutrition is vital for a positive well-being.
2
I do think that our attitudes towards food are a reflection of who we are.
3
I believe that the way - thoughts and emotions - you approach food highlights your relationship with food.
4
I think that gaining knowledge on nutrition for every individual is important.
5
I believe that I have limited control over my nutritional choices due to external factors.
6
I think that my menstruation cycle has a massive influence over my nutritional choices.
7
I believe that understanding nutrition can be complex since it is dependant on many different factors.
8
I think that I struggle learning about nutrition.
Conclusively, it was clear to us that many women are aware of the importance of nutrition for their physical and mental wellbeing. Yet they struggle to navigate through copious amounts of nutritional information, whether it is because of busy schedules or information overload. Despite this, many still maintain a positive and eager attitude towards learning about how nutrition can support them, and to take control of what goes into their body to feel energised and confident.
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Before we moved on to ideation, we made clear that our future solutions hold the qualities of convenience, conciseness and clarity. We believed that because of the lifestyles and educational levels of modern women, these qualities are key to attaining our goals of sustainable education.
Ideation
After further reframing and analysis, we came up with three core ideas (The Female CAREavan, Groceries to Recipes and the Femme Education Pack).
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We concluded on The Female CAREavan as our final idea after going through a decision matrix, which incorporated criteria such as their capabilities for social engagement, effective use of technology and durability.
# Idea 1 - The Final Idea
As a team of four, we each came up with component of The Female CAREavan. The three characteristics that we wanted the caravan to embody - and were also our guiding principles - were mobility, adaptability and playfuiness (M.A.P). While ideating, we made sure that every component had a conceptual or experiential link to each other, such that the user experiences the caravan as a narrative whole.
As for myself, my role laid in creating Playful Posters, which also included Spin-the-Wheel - a take-home material that housed content similar to that of the former. I felt that the caravan required a graphical focal point that was also a source of attraction for visitors. The idea of Playful Posters started from this basic idea.
The posters had several iterations, and can be simplified to digitisation, content development and experiential development. Every iteration either included the personal reflections and/or prototyping with other designers and users.
The Initial Sketch of Playful Posters
Iteration: Digitisation
Iteration: Content Development
Evaluation
The final iteration, experiential development, was done after prototyping with users. Three testing methods were employed to acquire qualitative and quantitative data, which will aid in the evaluation of the interactions and guide possible areas of improvement. They were Guerilla Testing, Cooperative Evaluation and System Usability Scale (SUS) coupled with a Questionnaire. Assets for data collection were developed before prototyping sessions.
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After gathering data from prototyping, the team went through a rigorous affinity diagramming process to draw out insights for future improvements. We also gave feedback to each other about our prototyping processes and collected data. From there, we gave one another suggestions to further improve our components.
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Beyond that, the final iteration was also done with consistent introspection - not just from our own knowledge, but also our biases as designers. We made sure our decisions till this point are still evidence-based, whether from background or primary research, or our prototyping stages.
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Prototyping Processes
Affinity Diagramming
The Female CAREavan
With that, we present The Female CAREavan. This is a pop-up style exhibition that aims to engage and educate both women and others in public spaces. We found that many women do not wish to go out of their way to learn about nutrition and their health. Hence, we hope to bring the learning experience to them. This pop-up would include both analog artefacts and digital interfaces to create a multimedia and interactive experience.
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The key characteristics that guided us at every iteration was its mobility, adaptability and playfulness. We ensured that every component attempted to retain and contribute to the this big picture.
Playful Posters & Spin-the-Wheel
The Female CAREavan comprises of four main interactive components: Turning Heads, Nutri Lens, Meals and Match, and Playful Posters. Each team member led the ideation and development of each component. My role laid in creating Playful Posters, which also included Spin-the-Wheel - a take-home material that housed content similar to that of the former.
I felt that the caravan required a graphical focal point that was also a source of attraction for visitors.
As it developed, I was careful with the use of colour, images, typography and especially, the use of language. It was important for our target audience of 13-25 year olds.
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Beyond the naked eye, elements within the posters were extended into Augmented Reality. Besides being a fun way of learning and interaction, it was a tool to conceal certain content that may still be stigmatised in some communities.
For example, these posters do not have headings in their analogue form. The headings are the stages of the menstrual cycle (i.e. 'Menstruation', 'Luteal Phase' etc.), which may be distressing to look at when printed largely, and may deter people from approaching the caravan altogether.
Finally, I felt that education should not be limited to just the caravan. I believe that knowledge is best retained when emphasised, and thus I developed a take-home material (Spin-the-Wheel) that can be mass distributed to users as their guidance at home.
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The content is similar to that of posters, and also include a grocery list that users can export, to end their experience with our caravan.
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I believe that this is a piece of knowledge that can be passed down generations.
