Category: Fall 2023

Fa23 RMA, Fall 2023

Reframe: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Stuti Mehta

This week, we have been refining our approach to the problem space by focusing on key insights, potential solutions, and setting specific goals. The major insights gathered are related to existing solutions, such as the AOP (Access and Opportunity Portal) and the Magister Furnd. We’ve identified barriers that we may face, which include the challenge of closed funds and the limited involvement of existing members in Rice Mutual Aid. We’ve brainstormed several How Can We statements to contribute to one ‘final’ HCW: How can we streamline RMA’s communication and outreach strategies at/in current students and alumni to enhance student awareness … Continue reading Reframe: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Fa23 RMA, Fall 2023

Immerse: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Stuti Mehta

Our research was collected from our interview with the Co director of Rice Mutual aid and external research on RMA. Our users are Rice University students who face emergency crises (e.g., medical or personal) on a case-by-case basis who rely on Rice Mutual Aid during these times. Example of user scenario:  A Rice University student faces a sudden medical emergency. Needing immediate assistance but wishing to remain anonymous, they turned to Rice Mutual Aid (RMA). With a quick, anonymous request, they receive fast help without needing to go through a detailed explanation of their situation, thanks to RMA’s discreet support … Continue reading Immerse: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Fa23 RMA, Fall 2023

Identify: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Stuti Mehta

This week, our team delved deep into the pressing issue: understanding how we can establish a robust Mutual Aid system to better support the emergency assistance needs of Rice students. Central to our exploration was the question of feasibility; namely, would we have the right stakeholders and influence to address this challenge effectively? A surprising revelation was that there’s currently no funding available, nudging us to consider innovative fundraising strategies. Our own experiences, notably some eye-opening insights from my past, underscored the need for this initiative. Going through this ‘Identify’ step has been transformative; it not only clarified the contours … Continue reading Identify: Team Rice Mutual Aid

Fa23 Restoring Justice, Fall 2023

Immerse: Team Restoring Justice

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Jessica is a single mom who was accused of robbery. She is being detained in prison before and during trial as she cannot post bail. This has upended her life; she is now separated from her young son, and she has lost her job. She fears that her involvement with the criminal justice system will decrease her prospects for finding a job, and she worries about housing instability. Unable to afford a lawyer, she turns to Restoring Justice, hoping that someone will listen to her and defend her case as well as help her and her family find stability in … Continue reading Immerse: Team Restoring Justice

Fa23 Restoring Justice, Fall 2023

Identify: Team Restoring Justice

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This week, our team outlined our prior knowledge about the overarching issue of mass incarceration, including facts and personal experiences/connections. We furthermore identified and unpacked our existing assumptions, including that people largely believe that those in prison have definitely done something immoral and/or are more dangerous. People also generally think that putting people in makes their community safer. Implicit bias leads people to associate fear and anger with incarcerated individuals. Exploring our assumptions and prior knowledge enabled us to identify 4-5 problem spaces that represented more specific facets of the problem—racial bias; misperception/misunderstanding of incarcerated individuals; the rise of mass … Continue reading Identify: Team Restoring Justice

Fa23 The Walk, Fall 2023

Test: Team The Walk

Sarah Wright

Throughout the test phase, our team focused on how our solution will be used by users.  We decided on many questions to ask users to get feedback on our proposed website design and retrofitted donation form.  We compiled these questions in order to better understand our user base and what their needs might be for our prototype.  Overall, our team decided we want our solution to be easy to navigate when anyone visits The Walk’s website.  In addition, we think it may be most important that our community partner be able to update and change our website model easily after … Continue reading Test: Team The Walk

Fa23 The Walk, Fall 2023

Build: Team The Walk

Sarah Wright

This week, our team focused on addressing The Walk’s outreach issues by starting the development of a new, user-friendly website. Low-fidelity prototyping was our first step through wireframes to quickly map out the website’s design without extensive resources, ensuring that we address core features like event information, donations, and contact options based on our previous insights. Despite a lack of response from the organization’s contact responsible for the website, we went ahead with wireframes. These designs aim to clarify what the website should include before we go into creating a fully functional site. This approach not only streamlines the design … Continue reading Build: Team The Walk

Fa23 The Walk, Uncategorized

Mid-Semester Review: Team The Walk

Sarah Wright

We had an awesome time at mid-semester review! Our CP attended our presentation and we got a lot of helpful feedback from him and our studio members. Some notable feedback that we received includes suggestions to ensure our website solution is easy to implement, sustainable long-term, and that we should reach out to organizations that are trusted by underrepresented groups.  Continue reading Mid-Semester Review: Team The Walk

Fa23 The Walk, Fall 2023

Ideate: Team The Walk

Sarah Wright

After weeks of conducting research, holding user interviews, and highlighting key insights, we decided on a final design space of digital engagement and outreach. To address our “How can we” statement, our team engaged in a brainstorming session, where we discussed our initial thoughts and ideas and grouped them into potential implementable solutions. Some ideas include designing a specific marketing campaign strategy and developing a plan to address logistical feedback from this year. Ultimately, to maximize our impact on digital outreach, we landed on a final solution of redesigning the existing website. We went through the existing website and highlighted … Continue reading Ideate: Team The Walk

Fa23 HASSE, Fall 2023

Build: Team HASSE

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We started working on the low fidelity prototype of our HASSE solution– creating a “Space Sprint” event over a weekend where high school students compete against each other in a space related challenge. Full of prototyping their ideas, presenting, as well as lectures and interactive sessions with Astronauts and other industry professionals, this idea allows High Schoolers to get involved with HASSE and pursue their passion for space science. As a team we must test the details of what the exact challenge will be– will they build something physical, draw something, what will the scope be, etc. To start our … Continue reading Build: Team HASSE

Fa23 Tony's Place

Identify: Team Tony’s Place

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Through team discussion, we decided that the main problem to tackle is making existing resources that Tony’s Place offers more accessible to and better utilized by LGBTQ+ youth in Houston. Some assumptions that our team made were that LGBTQ+ youth may be scared to reach out for help, especially surrounding vulnerable topics like homelessness, and that their confidentiality/safety would be of high concern. Discussing our prior knowledge, assumptions, and questions helped our team get on the same page about our problem space and pushed us to acknowledge our initial understanding of the users of Tony’s Place. Continue reading Identify: Team Tony’s Place

Fa23 HASSE, Fall 2023

Mid-semester Review: Team HASSE

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Leading up to MSR, our team was still working through Reframe, having faced some setbacks with outreach to Houston high schools. We only received a limited amount of feedback from our surveys, even having reached out to several administrators at over a dozen local high schools. Despite this, we met with our community partner, James, to debrief. With his feedback in mind on ways to help HASSE, we came into MSR with some insights on what has worked in the past and ideas of what we might try in the future. We wanted our MSR presentation to introduce the audience … Continue reading Mid-semester Review: Team HASSE