Student, how are you?
Student, how are you? is the name of my MA thesis project, created together with fellow co-designer Alice Moynihan. The project focuses on sharing stories and experiences of study related struggles through an engaging digital platform, and was created in collaboration with Studenterrådgivningen in Copenhagen, a free counselling service offered to students in Denmark.
In Denmark the number of students who sought psychological support in order to complete their university studies trebled in the past 5 years. Despite these rising numbers there is very little visibility about mental health related issues on campus. These issues can vary from performance anxiety, loneliness, depression to perfectionism. Being students who had our own stories to tell, as well as seeing the need for more attention to the topic of mental wellbeing, this became the starting point of our co-design thesis project. The aim of the project was to open up discussions and raise awareness around the mental wellbeing of university students, and contribute to the ongoing societal conversation around mental health, from students’ perspective.
Design challenge
The design challenge we initially set ourselves in the beginning of the project was: How might we reshuffle how mental wellbeing relating to studying is communicated, understood and practiced in university culture?
Throughout the project we came to understand how the topic of students’ mental wellbeing can be both individual and complex, and that there would be no single solution that could fit all student needs. We questioned: Who is entitled to professional help and who is not? How could we prevent the number of students needing help from rising, by addressing issues at an earlier stage?
Process
Several students were engaged in the design process through various encounters, both individual one-on-one encounters and group workshops. In these encounters we discussed different perspectives on student struggles, proposing ways in which things could be different, or improved. We shared personal experiences and co-visualised stories together. Finally, we had multiple interactions with students where we focused on co-designing a prototype of the final deliverable – a digital platform.
In our encounters with students, we used What if…? scenarios to trigger discussions and reflection on the topic, as well as generative prototyping tools – a toolkit of different materials (photos, modelling material, velcro, fabric etc.) that through making, could help facilitate a conversation around the topic.
Invitation video: Several students were engaged in the design process through various encounters and workshops. The collaboration with students was initiated through an invitation video we created and shared on social media pages, as well as posters we hung around at campuses and the student counselling service.
In addition to students, we were in continuous dialogue with two psychologists at Studenterrådgivningen throughout the process. They provided us with valuable, professional opinions on the struggles that students who come to them are dealing with, as well as insights into their work as counsellors.
Together with the psychologists at Studenterrådgivningen we many times discussed the importance of normalising the topic of mental wellbeing, where realising and opening up about your struggles is the first step in the right direction. We believe that universities could benefit from being more transparent around mental health, by talking more openly about it in the actual university environment. Below is a brief clip from when we did a pop-up at a university in Copenhagen, a suggestion to how these conversations could be initiated.
Prototyping
The final deliverable – the Student, how are you? platform – was prototyped through several iterations in close collaboration with the students engaged in the project.
At the core, the platform consists of a set of personal stories told by students, as well as comments and advice given by professional psychologists. The linking of connected issues from a variety of perspectives intends to communicate the complexity of the issue while promoting a sense of community that supports students to feel less alone in their struggles.
The very individual nature of mental health meant that we had to accept we could not make a final outcome that would solve a specific issue, but hopefully instead create something that could help ease a difficult situation a student might be encountering through visiting the platform. The platform is targeted not only take into consideration students who have been diagnosed with a psychological disability but to also include everyone else who exist somewhere on a more fluid axis of wellbeing, thereby demonstrating that even seemingly small problems can be important to acknowledge.
Final deliverable
Video walkthrough of our final prototype, the Student, how are you? digital platform.
