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We use human-centered design for equity, inclusion, and sustainability in Houston. Students creating local and social impact. Shaping the next generation of social innovators. Continue reading Welcome to DFA.RICE.EDU
Hi DFA! Over the past few weeks, we have continued to familiarize ourselves with this project and gathered further insights into our problem space. On that end, we created and sent out a questionnaire to Rice students, and we have collected over 40 responses so far! We also had the amazing opportunity to speak to a few panelists on this topic, which has allowed us to develop a user persona that will guide us through future steps in our design process. Jason is a 19-year-old Rice freshman who has used a wheelchair since a young age. Jason loved working … Continue reading Immerse: Team Rec Center
Hey DFA! This week our team worked on researching our problem space and held an interview with our community partners at the Rec. There, we narrowed down potential problem spaces that we would tackle like high traffic areas. As for our research, we found that there is no formal method of communication between the users and our clients. To address this, we’ve moved to develop a survey to gather user inputs for the general Rice population. It’s important to go through the identify step in order to outline the user information that’s readily available and what holes might exist when … Continue reading Identify: Team Rec Center
Hi everyone! We are team RDRC + Rec! Our problem space is important because university students with disabilities often lack resources for physical accommodations on college campuses. Also, a lot of students aren’t typically aware of challenges that students with … Continue reading DForientation: Team Rec Center
We have come such a long way to reach this point, where there have definitely been both challenging and rewarding aspects of this project. Throughout this semester of researching and interviewing different users, we learned how to format the CAB … Continue reading Final Review: Team Air Alliance
In the testing phase of our project, our goal was to get feedback on our CAB framework and find out what users, potential CAB members, and AAH would like to see most out of it. To do this, we created a rough draft of our CAB framework and a google form that people could respond to as a way to give us their feedback. This form contained a link to our framework draft so anyone responding to it could look over the draft while they were answering questions. We first asked general questions about aesthetics and what the overall framework … Continue reading Test: Team Air Alliance
We were able to successfully deliver our mid-semester review, even though there were certain aspects of our project that we were still uncertain about. Since we haven’t been able to narrow down our project in terms of a potential solution, we specifically wanted feedback on our solution spaces. Generally, the feedback we received expressed enthusiasm for incorporating a storytelling element into the Heart Gallery. Moving forward, we plan to focus on this idea and research more about the Heart Gallery, as well as how to personalize it for individual children. We are also hoping to be able to get user … Continue reading Mid-semester Review: Team BEAR
Build is the stage in the design process where the ideas, research, and dedication start coming together into tangible products. Here, we built out a few prototype skeletons to then test and receive feedback on. During Build, our team focused on creating the community advisory board framework we had been gathering insights for so far in the process. This included first creating an outline of all the subsections we wanted our outline to follow as well as the high-level information we wanted our framework to include. After this, we drafted a document that included all the information in an outline … Continue reading Build: Team Air Alliance
After our site visit to BEAR’s facility, we gained a better understanding of their operation, strengths and weaknesses and we used this new information to reframe the scope of our project. At the start of the semester, we were given a really broad ‘How Can We’ statement – an objective. After Immerse we were able to put down our major insights and group them into clusters. Some of those insights include BEAR’s limited operating capacity, fluctuating volunteer participation and quick turnover of donated resources and other inventories. These clusters then lead us to our final ‘How can we’ statement – … Continue reading Reframe: Team BEAR
Our project with BEAR targets a critical issue: the complex needs of foster children. Through secondary research and a site visit, we gained insights into the challenges these children face, from instability in living situations to a lack of personal … Continue reading Immerse: Team BEAR
Our Ideate phase consisted of a more in-depth analysis of our preemptive solutions. We started brainstorming these solutions with a Jamboard, on which we grouped a number of different ideas into categories like community engagement and CAB outlines. These themes translated into two different solution branches– the framework and a smaller scale solution both of which fit our HCW statement. Both processes can be testable with sets of guidelines we’ve found related to CABs. One of these framework outlines comes from the Urban Institute and contains a checklist to run through as we build the CAB framework for AAH. Additionally, … Continue reading Ideate: Team Air Alliance
This week, our team delved into identifying the core challenges underlying our project’s focus. Our primary concern is the well-being of Houston area children within the foster care system. Among the many avenues to support CPS-involved children, we pinpointed key areas: bolstering awareness across Houston, facilitating access to essential resources and mentors, and fostering a sense of belonging and support. Our initial research endeavors not only augmented our understanding of the intricacies of the foster care system but also prompted us to reevaluate our preconceptions. We recognized that many foster children lack the fundamental support structure provided by a nurturing … Continue reading Identify; Team BEAR
Hey there! We are Sahitha, Ife, Rahul, and Shieun, and we’re the DFA team collaborating with BEAR Houston! Our main focus is on supporting CPS-involved children, making sure they feel validated and supported through their experiences. It’s crucial for these … Continue reading DForientAtion; Team BEAR
During the Mid-semester Review, we gave context about the air pollution situation in Houston and how it is disproportionately impacting certain communities more than others. We explained why CAB was an ideal solution for this situation and how it would … Continue reading Mid-Semester Review: Team Air Alliance
This week we went through the steps of reframing our problem space and looking at our project from different angles. We began by reviewing our major insights from online and site research done during immerse. We consolidated these insights and found that our main targets in creating a CAB framework were accessibility, empowerment, and synchronicity. After reviewing our insights, we looked at existing CABs and began research on how, where, and with whom they operated. In thinking about potential barriers to the project we came up with more “how can we” statements to pair with our key insights and eventually … Continue reading Reframe: Team Air Alliance
During Immerse, we met with a lot of experts in the field, including Dr. Boyer, Dr. Silvia Dee, and our community partners to get more expert insights on what our project should look like. After doing this, we also attended … Continue reading Immerse: Team Air Alliance
During the identify stage, our team worked on scoping our project: we jotted down our initial assumptions on the community’s needs, project accessibility, and the overall practicality of potential designs. In this initial process, we found that low-income communities are most impacted by air pollution due to lack of regulation, and these communities likely may be unaware of the impacts of these environmental hazards. We then sought out ways to identify design avenues. This came in the form of preliminary research to determine potential community organizations that could help us design a community advisory board framework. We brainstormed with several … Continue reading Identify: Team Air Alliance
In Houston, industrial emissions contribute to severe air pollution, disproportionately affecting nearby communities. Residents suffer from respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular problems due to pollutants like VOCs and NOx. Environmental justice is a concern as low-income and minority communities bear the … Continue reading DForientation: Team Air Alliance
Since we decided to move forward with a newsletter redesign, the team began working on designing a new newsletter template for ADDA to use for their monthly communications. We started with a low-fi sketch to establish what information will be included, and in what layout. Then, we started to transfer these designs to Constant Contact, which is the emailing platform ADDA utilizes. For testing, we plan on conducting interviews with ADDA members, and asking them to go through the hi-fi prototype and find specific pieces of information. Continue reading Test: Team ADDA
This week, we aimed to develop a lo-fi prototype that would address the question, “How can we reorganize and update current communication methods with adults with ADHD, parents of children with ADHD, and ADDA members in Houston/the South to better connect them with relevant ADDA resources?” To answer our question, we conducted user interviews to gather feedback on the relevance and effectiveness of ADDA’s current newsletter communications. Our interviews focused on understanding what resources and information are most relevant to users, what types of support they are interested in, and how they currently find ADDA resources. Additionally, we explored their … Continue reading Build: Team ADDA
This week, we started formulating more concrete and implementable solutions for ADDA. We wanted to emphasize making it as easy as possible for members/users to find the relevant information they are seeking, especially through avenues they are already familiar with. We narrowed it down to a website redesign, and a newsletter redesign. We decided against more “traditional” methods of sharing information, such as social media, since Pam highlighted that the main way people stay updated is through the newsletter, and websites are generally more flexible than Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Continue reading Ideate: Team ADDA
We plan on incorporating the feedback about making our newsletters friendly for people with ADHD, by making sure we include a lot of visuals that are easily digestible and that we have minimal text. Continue reading Mid-Semester Review: Team ADDA
This week, we delved into understanding the challenges that ADDA faces. Through user interviews and research, we discovered ADDA’s core problems from reaching users: limited resources and ineffective communication. To address these issues, we framed a how can we statement with a clear vision and goal to solve a user-focused problem. Our goal was to reorganize ADDA’s communication methods to ultimately foster greater user outreach, engagement, and participation. If these goals are not met, ADDA may continue struggling to retain and attract members. This could lead to decreased engagement in workshops and support groups, as well as a lack of … Continue reading Reframe: Team ADDA
Jill is a mother with a 8 year old daughter who was recently diagnosed with ADHD. Jill does not have ADHD so does not know much about it. She wants to learn more about it, so she searches for resources in her local area and comes across ADDA. However, it’s difficult for her to locate the relevant resources she needs to learn more about ADHD in children. This user persona ties into our main insight about users struggling to find relevant resources and how they won’t use resources that aren’t relevant to their lives. It also highlights the insight that … Continue reading Immerse: Team ADDA
This week, the ADDA team worked on defining the project scope and the prior knowledge surrounding ADHD. We identified the magnitude of the problem, including how it impacts our users’ daily lives and how our solution would be able to apply to other similar communities, like other mental health illnesses. Then we focused our attention on the current knowledge, researching on statistics, assumptions, questions, personal experiences, connections, and any easy solutions. We unearthed a lot of assumptions surrounding ADHD symptoms, like how it is only exhibited through hyperactivity, and thus only present in boys, and how it isn’t a “real” … Continue reading Identify: Team ADDA
The DFA ADDA Team is committed to applying design thinking in order to mitigate the pressing increase of ADHD in adults. Our team consists of 3 innovative designers: LeeAnn Feng, a freshman majoring in cognitive science at Baker College; Freya … Continue reading DForientation: Team ADDA
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
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
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
Hello! My name is Adrian Pomer, and my team and I will be working with Rice Mutual Aid during this fall semester. The team leads of this project are Faith Chen (2026, ARCH) and Karla Vasquez (2025, SOPA + POLI), … Continue reading DForientation: Team Rice Mutual Aid