PROJECT SPONSOR MEETING

The community sponsor we met with was Brandon Cutler. He is the Associate Dean of Associates and the Director of Fraternity, Sorority, and Cooperative Life at Purdue. They are currently working to better inform students of their resources and rights on campus in regards to mental health and risk management.

CO-DESIGN

Takeaways

• Students react based on their level of trust for authority and a switch between sympathy and empathy vs. actionable actions.

• In a tough situation, participants explained that they will just Google something since its easier but many also felt like technology platforms are currently not effective or useful (only for making appointments).

• Participants thought there is very little awareness at Purdue about resources, laws (like the Indiana Lifeline Law), and how to contact anyone outside of CAPS or PUSH.

• Other participants noted how important it was for students to not feel singled out when seeking help and that having students more involved may help people feel more comfortable talking to peers not ‘shrinks’.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

We decided to focus on the Greek community because we thought it would be a good starting place for implementing change that would eventually trickle to the whole community. Greek Life includes various opportunities for friendship, shared values, and philanthropy but it also includes room for poor decisions, risky behavior, and bad situations.

• The Greek community is built upon the ideas of shared values, support, leadership, networking, philanthropy, and a sense of community. For students who may be experiencing mental health issues, stress, or other traumatic events, the Greek community would be a good place that could help support that individual. Chapters are also required to have a risk manager that help students make good decisions and stay happy and healthy.

• On the flip side of this is the increased opportunities and situations where students in Greek Life may make poor or risky decisions, such as binge drinking and drug experimenting. According to studies like the one done by Scott-Sheldon et al (2008) “Greek members engaged in more risky health behaviors than the typical college student”.  Greek Life may promote more peer pressure, stress due to increased social obligations, and access to potentially dangerous materials like drugs and hard alcohol.

PERSONAS

Based on our interviews and the data we collected from our co-design, we were able to identify issues which formed the base characteristics for our personas. We created these personas to better understand and empathize with students, as well better understand how they may deal with mental health and risk management issues.

 SKETCHING

For sketching, we began ideating the screen contents and how to display it to the user. We all sketched out our own ideas and then created a collaborated sketch. In these early sketches, we explored different layouts for the home screen and what the menu sections were for the app.

FIRST PROTOTYPE

After sketching out ideas and screen flows, we decided to make a digital first prototype in Adobe XD. Since the final outcome of the project was going to be coded and a digital product, we wanted to create an identical experience for the prototype. Creating the digital prototype helped to determine what we wanted the digital product to look like and the information we wanted it to convey. Also it is important to note that we only fleshed out the scenario in which a friend passed out.

USABILITY & DRUNK TESTING

FINAL SOLUTION

After finding the balance of determining the stakeholders and project requirement needs, we have decided to create an applet to teach Greek members the resources set in place. In un-sure/ dangerous  situations, Greek members can go on to this applet and find out exactly what to do in a sticky situation and why they should do such. We also wanted to design this applet to be straightforward and easy to use. We realized that, in a party setting, this applet may be used by inebriated people the most.

Our solution includes:

• A new screen flow based of the insights from our usability and drunk testing.

• A coded out final version of the digital and responsive web page.

• A digital experience to help college students better understand their resources during times of need.

Home screen & Substance screen

User is presented with the 3 main common issues, which are “Substance”, “Mental Health”, and “Sexual Assault”. Once a user clicks into an issue, they are presented with more detailed issues. It also displays the “Emergency Contact” button and “Driving Service” button for easy access for the user. These two buttons will be fixed on the screen and show throughout the whole app experience. 

Responsiveness Screens

Once the user chooses the specific issue, they will then start to be asked questions. In this case, the user choose “Passed Out”. Therefore, they are asked the first question of the response process, which is “Are they responsive?”. The user will then have the option to choose “Yes” or “No”. Depending on the answer they choose, the user will receive a varying response.

If the user selects “Yes", then they will be given some additional information. The information would be steps to keeping the user’s friend safe while they sober up.

Breathing Screens

If the user selects “No”, then they will be brought to a new screen that will display the next question of the process: “Are they breathing?”. The user will then have the option to choose “Yes” or “No”. Depending on the answer they choose, the user will receive a varying response. 

If the user selects “Yes", then they will be given some additional information. The information would be steps to keeping the user’s friend safe while they sober up.

If the user says selects “No", then they will be brought to a new screen that will suggest to “Call 911!”. Below that will explain some extra tips and also insure the user that they will not be in trouble if they cooperate and our honest with the police.