Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention Case Study

Brief

This project describes the design process of a design challenge to increase the number of student volunteers at the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center (RSVP) of Washington University in St. Louis. The RSVP center serves an important role on campus by promoting healthy relationships through evidence-based prevention programming that educates students on bystander intervention, violence prevention, and consent. Examples of such programming include The Date, Rewind, and S.A.R.A.H. This is a team project of four designers done as part of the course, Interaction Design: Understanding Health & Well-Being. All members were involved in every step of the process from discovery to prototyping.

My Role

• UX Research
• Interaction Design
• Visual Design

Framing Question

How might we improve the process of being an RSVP volunteer student facilitator?

Primary Research

We conducted primary research through interviewing people with different levels of involvement with the RSVP center. We wanted to hear both student and staff voices regarding participation in RSVP. The main three groups of people are:

• Non-Participants of RSVP Center: college undergraduate students from all grade levels who have not been involved with the RSVP center
• Participants of RSVP Center: College undergraduate students who have worked closely with the RSVP center as student facilitators
• Coordinators: Primary coordinators of the RSVP center

Depending on the people we are interviewing, we asked different sets of questions. Below are some of the questions we asked to the three groups of people:

For Non-Participants

• Have you heard of the RSVP center? If yes, where have you heard of it and what is your first interaction with the RSVP center?
• Have you thought of participating in RSVP? If not, what is barring you from it?
• What is your general impression of the RSVP center?

For Participants

• Where did you hear about RSVP? What was your first interaction with it?
• How did you find out about the RSVP center and their application? What prompted you to join?
• How would you describe your experience with RSVP from applying to onboarding to now?

For Coordinators

• Describe your recruitment process and how you feel about it. What is working well and what is not working as well?
• What are your immediate and future goals for recruitment?
• Describe your onboarding process and how you feel about it. What is working well and what is not working as well?

Secondary Research

To give us a better understanding of the problem scope, we also conducted secondary research through analyzing the websites and social media of student groups and programmes involved with the RSVP center and the RSVP centers of other higher education institutions.

Our Findings

• Weak online presence
• Outdated information
• Scattered information
• Generally hard to navigate

Affinity Mapping

First, we each gathered our top 20 insights from the interviews and printed them out on slips of paper. Each insight included a representative picture, an observation, and an interpretation. We assembled all insights on an affinity map to uncover any common themes.

Then, through the dot voting process where we each voted for the themes that stood out to us, we landed on the following key themes:

• Lack of publicity
• Information overload
• Scattered applications

How Might We

Using our research, we also created How Might We (HMW) statements to help direct us in our design process:

1. How might we organize this information so each group can find the resources they’re looking for respectively?
2. How might we diversify types of publicity to increase campus awareness about how to volunteer with the RSVP center?
3. How might we create a centralized application process for potential volunteers?

Positive Goal Statement + Visual Framework

We wrote a positive goal statement to drive our project and created a visual framework to help us visualize the situation.

Positive goal statement

We want students who are interested in volunteering for the RSVP center to be able to find resources and opportunities that they offer.

Visual Framework

Brainstorming

Using our HMW statements, we each brainstormed ideas on our own before presenting them to the entire group. Below are a couple ideas that were generated:

Wireframing + Storyboarding

From the ideas we generated, we selected our top four and created wireframes and storyboards for them. We have wireframes for email publicity, website redesign, and video publicity. We have a storyboard for how the live information panel could run.

Email Publicity

Email publicity would help the RSVP center increase awareness on how to volunteer with them by delivering key dates and opportunities directly to student inboxes.

Website Redesign

By reorganizing the website, students who visit the website would have an easier time finding information and resources. It also helps the RSVP center centralize all applications to participate in programs under the RSVP center.

Video Publicity - Instagram Story

Currently, the RSVP center does not make use of videos to increase their presence on campus. By using instagram stories, they could reach a wider range of students.

Information Panel

An information panel would create a physical space for people to get to know the RSVP center. It would also allow a more personalized approach to publicity by providing students a chance to talk to current volunteers.

User Testing

We conducted user tests with the concepts on undergraduate students by helping them set a scene, explaining to them each concept, and asking them how they would respond to the concept in that scene through open-ended questions. Below are our findings:

Email Publicity

• Statistics stood out
• Being able to find contact information quick is important
• Simple and concise design is preferred
• Infographics are appreciated
• There is a want for time of events

Website Redesign

• People were able to find the volunteering button easily
• People want to know what opportunities are available, how to get involved, what kind of work they do, how to reach out

Video Publicity

• Video is catchy
• People want a way to ask questions directly
• The video is short and just right for an instagram reel
• People would swipe up to learn more
• People would be more willing to engage with more content if they are easy to find
• Video needs audio
• Content should be more personal (e.g., personal experiences or featuring people they know)
• Movement is nice and captures attention
• The words of the text box can flow out more slowly to make it easier to follow

Information Panel

• People won't be as engaged unless there are activities
• Interactive and student-run are preferred
• Interesting and relatable topics would be best
• Some people would not interact because they do not like to speak

Client Pin-Up

After taking into account feedback from user testing, we settled on three main ideas: email publicity, website redesign, and video publicity. We decided to not move on with the live panel due to the lack of interest and engagement.

Once we have made necessary iterations to our remaining designs, we presented them to to the coordinators at the RSVP center and professional designers from outside the university.

For the coordinators, we wanted to gauge the feasibility of the solutions, scope out any reservations, and determine what stood out to them.

For the professional designers, we wanted feedback on the visual language of the solutions and the features presented by the solutions.

Below are the feedback from the client pin-up:

• We should pay more attention to branding and be mindful of our audience
• We should consider making a storyboard to deliver the three solutions as working together
• We should pay attention to how we organize information on the email campaign
• There are usability issues with the email campaign because the buttons are a bit small
• We should consider font and color restrictions of the website if we want to use the same platform that the RSVP center is using for their current website
• 24/7 helpline box might not be under their umbrella because RSVP center pays another service to take after-hour calls
• We should consider having one application for all RSVP programming

Final Solutions

Using the feedback from our client pin-up, we made final iterations to our designs. We also created a storyboard to showcase the three solutions as a package working together.

Email Publicity

Key Features:

• Developed via Mailchimp to ensure feasibility - Easily editable by RSVP staffs
• Statistics and infographics to catch reader’s attention
• Highlights upcoming deadlines and events
• Offers students a direct form of communication with the RSVP center

Website Redesign

Key Features:

• Updated UI to make navigation easier
• Reorganized information to make things easier to find
• Condensed applications into one area that can be easily discovered
• Chat box for people to get in contact with the RSVP center easier
• Developed on Wix to avoid design restrictions from the university's system

Video Publicity - Instagram Story

Key Features:

• Picture and name of student facilitator
• Quote from student facilitator
• Question box for people to easily ask questions
• Swipe up to access RSVP center website

Storyboard