BMC 377: Group 3 Final Project
Bill Bulek, Mathew Ritter, Rachelle Haddock, Sola Lawal
Introduction
At the start, our team was faced with perhaps the worst dilemma thrown to designers to solve: fill a blank canvas. Preferably, with some attempt to address a problem that was common enough to be understood by most audiences, yet narrow enough to find a resolution.
Perhaps the best way to address a problem is to first look within our own team environment. What life experiences, skills, viewpoints and questions did each member bring to the team? How would we leverage our diversity to ensure the best of our effort and ideas made the final cut, all while contributing to each of us attaining our developmental goals for the course?
Identifying the Problem & Creative Collaboration
Of the tools available, we selected Mural’s Team Charter template to work though how our team would function. Individual brainstorming was performed to populate our own perspectives on elements of the charter such as “Core Values,” “Group Norms” and “Metrics of Success” (Mural.co, 2020). We then collaboratively consolidated individual elements into common, shared elements as a group. This yielded a cryptic, virtual, sticky-note outline of how we saw ourselves working together both as a virtual team and remotely during this pandemic-induced isolation. Rachelle, emerging as a natural leader, refined these clusters of input into a literary, consumable format which was submitted as our first team assignment.
In retrospect, this exercise went surprisingly well. Everyone on the team had valuable insight, complimentary skills, a positive can-do attitude and showed empathy to their peers. But this exercise was simply a way of sharing who we are, what made each of us tick and how we saw ourselves working together. Given that we were working with “knowns,” it in no way foretold the effort required to achieve the next step: defining a problem.
In everyday life we are often presented the problem in a way tangible enough that we can begin working on a solution early. But to define a problem, out of the ether without being first asked for help — with an existing problem — was a bit nebulous. We approached this with the team brainstorming potential problems using “What’s On Your Radar” (Mural.co, 2020). The tool presents space for unconstrained brainstorming with virtual sticky notes. Once everyone had an opportunity to contribute a range of problems, we collaboratively grouped similar suggestions, then migrated them onto a representative radar screen. The radar metaphor enabled everyone to place problems on the “radar” based on the importance of the problem, allowing everyone to migrate problems closer to or farther away from the centre.
If there was one weakness in this template, it was a lack of context and specificity. While we placed items proximal to the centre based on importance, there was no metric for importance or specificity to a subject or event. Fortunately, this is where our team exhibited open, direct and honest conversation to collectively determine how we would score concepts like “importance” as we targeted our problems on the screen.
It wasn’t until later in the design process that we realized our chosen problem, “Awareness of mental health issues” was too broad to effectively resolve. “Design thinking at work” addresses this issue as a form of tension. Specifically, they look at the tension between incremental and disruptive innovation, ask which is ideal in a given situation and refer to the dilemma as the “tension of disruption” (Dunne, 2018).
If one question could be added to “how might we…” it should be “is the intent to implement transformational change over time, or to resolve a tactic problem in the short term?” Had we asked that question, it is likely given the course duration and project due date that we would have selected something more granular earlier in the process.
In order to narrow our subject matter down even further, we decided that we would focus on men’s mental health in terms of abuse, as it relates to COVID. We noticed that there was a lack of awareness and stigma still around this subject, as the focus is primarily on supporting the women who have been abused and not the abusers themselves.
With this crucial decision in mind, we moved to creating an empathy map for us to better grasp the mindset of those affected in this situation. As a group we brainstormed throughout the week in Mural and came together at the end of the week on Zoom to discuss what we deemed to be the most significant aspects to pull aside and seek further insight.
The empathy map was a fantastic way for us to brainstorm while keeping everyone’s ideas flowing. When going through and pulling aside the best notes, we were able to combine particular elements we seemed to see consistently. Many of us in the group were all on the same page, only needing to see it visually to really grasp and understand it.
Once we better understood the end user’s perspectives and grasped the thought processes going through their minds, we were able to perform a Creative Matrix template allowing us the collaborative space to ‘reframe our problem.’
For us to solve the identified problem, we had to view the situation from different perspectives. We were able to achieve this by framing our problem as different “How might we” statements.
We came up with the following statements;
- How might we provide resources to men effectively?
- How might we raise public awareness?
- How might we target men specifically?
- How might we harness the growing awareness of mental health to address domestic abuse?
- How might we identify the main reasons for domestic violence?
- How might we reduce domestic violence by engaging abusive men?
- How might we honor abusive spouses perspectives to provide access to resources?
- How might we prevent the abuse before it begins?
- How might we assist a spouse in noticing mental health triggers and changes?
- How might we engage in those who are sheltered from a workplace or social setting?
- How might we eliminate the social stigma surrounding domestic violence?
- How might we get the men to acknowledge and talk about their domestic violence acts?
- How might we use existing structures to reduce domestic abuse (e.g., pre-marital counselling, etc.)?
Our collaborative approach on the “how might we” statements helped us to turn the problem into opportunities for design. From this we came up with a final ‘How Might We’ statement which is “How might we design a solution with an empathetic view of abusive spouses’ perspectives to reduce domestic violence by making access to resources easy for abusive spouses?”
This statement is the basis for our mental health subject and formed well with the direction we chose for providing awareness to accessible resources, with regards to helping the men who have been domestic abusers.
Reframing the problem served as a platform for us to begin our ideation/brainstorming session where we would explore ideas to help us solve the problem.
Finally, we needed to prioritize our ideas to see which ones were the most important and feasible. As a group, we again met on Zoom and together moved the stickies we felt were most relevant to our topic into their spaces.
What we pinpointed was that our focus would be primarily on the marketing aspect of getting awareness out there. We would use social media, a website, an application and marketing ads in order to get our message out to those who are in need.
As was evident to us at the time, there is a serious lack of resources and support for the abusers. It is obvious that not many people would worry about the mental state of the one abusing their spouse, yet there is typically a mental reason that people lean towards violence in stressful times.
Although we tend to villainize the abusers, we forget that mental health plays a role in everyone’s lives, some to a light degree and others suffer terribly. Even as abusers, they are entitled to receive help at an attempt to pinpoint their aggression and explore why they have these violent tendencies. Instead of just seeing the abusers as villains, we need to realize that many have themselves been abused in the past. This is the cycle that gets carried from victim to victim, one which must be stopped.
Prototyping & Testing
For the prototyping phase of our group work, we opted to individually take on one of the four components of our design.
For the social media component, Mat created some mock posts that would be shared on a variety of different platforms. Below are the final images used for the prototyping testing stage.
The process for creating the prototypes for my social media posts was quite straightforward. I searched for images that would represent different types of emotions and used words to grab the attention of the end user. It needed to convey that the stigma for men getting mental health help is of the past and now is their chance to get the help they need.
As we know in today’s society, social media is a great platform for connectivity and raising awareness. Given more time, we would have created Facebook pages and began a Twitter page to gauge more people’s interest and feedback on this topic.
I was not able to actually post these into each social media platform. I was however able to contact my friend Jennifer in Scotland who is a Social Worker in Glasgow. She provided me with her feedback on the possible posts and the subject matter as a whole.
To start it off, she was very happy to see the topic we had chosen to focus on. The most common problem she sees in her work is that first and foremost, men don’t actually realize they are abusing as the “perpetrators of domestic violence recognize the physical and sexual assault, but not the deeper mental aspect.” She notes that “acts like gaslighting, isolating and looking at a partner’s phone are also examples of domestic abuse.”
Jen’s least favourite post was from Twitter, although she liked that it reduced the stigma she felt that it might make domestic violence appear to be justifiable and understanding, which of course it is not. The Instagram post was her second favourite as it offered understanding and techniques in order to prevent abuse in the future. Her belief and mine as well is that if we reach out to people who have not yet abused but are having urges to assault, then this would help reduce the stigma for seeking support.
The post most favourable to her was the Facebook page, as it sent a clear message that this is a common issue and the help is available.” She felt that the word map was a nice touch since it was able to show the triggers men might face. She adds that ‘alternative therapy and intervention is available for managing these listed issues”, which is a very positive point.
Her comments on my prototypes will allow me to modify my wording to better suit the outcome I am seeking. It was great to have her feedback and insights.
In Jen’s email, she mentioned the Caledonia Project that highlights coercive control which is a large factor in domestic violence. This is the sustained use of a range of tactics including financial, physical, sexual and behaviour control over a period of time in order to control and dominate the other partner. I have attached the link she provided me from gov.scot in the reference section.
Overall, Jennifer felt that the prototypes were a very positive way to reach out to abusers who have recognized their behaviour and want to change. She really loved the topic and felt that it was one which could be debated for hours. I enjoyed discussing this with someone so knowledgeable in this field and learned a great amount to bring back to this project and life.
Marketing Campaign
In order to target men specifically, we went to locations that are traditionally common access points. First, we looked at having either retailers or manufacturers apply stickers to tools and other ‘stereotypically male’ products:
Another common marketing platform targeting men are posters over urinals. It’s relatively safe that men will be the audience and they’re a captive audience even if it’s only for a moment. Given the intense personal nature of the material, we selected a mirror with a small message so the audience would, quite literally, have to look at themselves in the mirror.
Application
The process for creating the app involved taking stock of the approaches that men have used to successfully cease abusing their spouse (Soriano, 2017). Soriano’s research indicated that the following helped men to cease engaging in domestic violence in their heterosexual relationship:
- Engaging with faith and faith groups;
- Reading self-help books;
- Having support from their spouse;
- Undergoing counselling;
- Exercising;
- Meditating;
- Taking anger management classes;
- Receiving support from healthy friends and mentors;
- Being accountable to others; and
- Celebrating success in ending domestic violence.
After identifying which tools would be appropriate for sharing via the app, a first attempt at grouping the tools was made. Upon reflection, the main themes for the tools were determined to be: celebrate, inspire and action.
Next, a low-fidelity wire-frame for the app was created. The home page has the three main themes for tools and one additional page for each group of tools.
The “celebrate” page would have a feature for men to use to track their number of violence-free days. The page would mark milestones through different .gifs or imagery to acknowledge this accomplishment. This idea builds upon the gamification approach that Car2Go used to incentivize more fuel efficient driving (Washburn, n.d.). The screen conveys three trees that flourish and house wildlife when you drive well or trees that begin to die if you drive poorly. If you achieve perfect scores across all three categories, a rainbow arcs across the sky.
The “inspire” page would feature tools to inspire men to continue their work to end domestic abuse in their relationship. It would have a series of testimonials from men who have successfully ceased to engage in domestic violence; a list of relevant passages from different faiths; and a list of self-help books.
The “act” page would feature tools that are actionable.
The themes here include:
- Contact your accountability buddy or help line
- List of men’s groups in your community
- List of relevant courses
- Workouts
- Meditations
Website
The Website component of our design primarily focuses on providing essential information on mental health and resources on helping to stop domestic abuse. Traffic to the website will be through our social media and marketing campaigns for our target group.
Our idea for the website is that it should have a clean homepage and ensure that it’s not crowded with too much information. More information on the site will be accessed by clicking on drop-down menus included.
The site menu includes the following:
- About us: what we do, our purpose and mission
- Signs of abuse
- Find support: This menu item will provide access to the mentorship program, materials, resources, etc.
- Register: This menu item will be closely linked to the phone application component of our design. Users will be able to register and download the app onto their phones through a link here. Also, users will be able to register for programs, counselling, etc. here
- Pages for Celebrate, Inspire, and Act to align with the app
- Testimonials: Access to stories from changed individuals to inspire and encourage others
- Contact us : Contact information (phone number, email address, office address)
Below are prototype images of our ideas for the website.
Testing of Prototypes
Unfortunately, we were unable to engage in robust testing for our design intervention. The selection of a mental health challenge with an incredibly strong stigma and our lack of connections to those working in this space made it difficult. Coupled with the current pandemic we find ourselves in, the barriers to engaging in meaningful testing was too great in this time frame.
Had this project continued past this BMC 377 course, we would have liked to connect with social work students and professors in order to test the prototype and get their inputs.
Conclusion
Our group project was instructive for each of the group members. Moving from group formation through to prototyping enabled the four of us to try out our new design thinking skills. To close off our report, we would like to share one of our main learnings from our involvement in this project:
- Rachelle — My main learning from the project is how to use online tools like Mural and Google Jamboard to enable collaboration remotely. As a facilitator I have been feeling limited by my ability to collaborate with others during COVID-19, however going through the steps of design thinking through this project demonstrated to me that collaboration can be done both in real-time and asynchronously in a virtual setting. I will also share that I am more of a reflective learner, so being pushed to move through the design thinking trajectory through this group project was a bit uncomfortable, however it demonstrated that jumping in is the best way to go with design thinking.
- Mathew — This was a great project to undertake with this group of learners. The process felt seamless, even enjoyable. We used Zoom and mural to collectively collaborate in order to accomplish our weekly milestones. In the end, we used Google Docs to all work on the final project. This was something I had never experienced and changes the way I will edit and proofread work in the future. As with Rachelle, I learned that even with COVID we are able to work together almost flawlessly with the online tools that are currently available to us as a society.
- Sola — This group project was an exciting experience for me. I have been accustomed to solving design problems before now; however, this design thinking process proved to be a more creative approach. The teamwork on our project was fantastic and very collaborative. The Mural application made our group work easier, where we were able to share our ideas and also discuss them thoroughly via our zoom sessions. I have learned from our collaboration that all ideas are significant. No matter the idea, collaboration helped us to build on them and come up with a final solution deemed suitable.
- Bill — I must say that the best part of this project was the team. We had a good balance of different skills, life experiences and roles. But everyone was incredibly collaborative, inclusive and members went out of their way to help each other out. This made for a great experimental space wherein we could brainstorm, negotiate priorities and have frank discussions while always moving forward. If anything, the project exposed me to various new brainstorming and collaboration tools that will be even more useful on future projects due to the COVID-induced isolation and remote work.
References
Bisset, C. (2016). Caledonian System Evaluation: Analysis of a programme for tackling domestic abuse in Scotland. https://www.gov.scot/publications/caledonian-system-evaluation-analysis-programme-tackling-domestic-abuse-scotland/pages/3/
Dunne, D. (2018). The Tension of Disruption. In D. Dunne (Author), Design thinking at work: How innovative organizations are embracing design (pp. 95–105). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Mural.co. (2020, June 29). Team Charter. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.mural.co/templates/team-charter
Mural.co. (2020, June 29). Team Charter. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.mural.co/templates/whats-on-your-radar
Nemeth, A. (2019, June 4). An Introduction to Human-centered Design. (blogpost) Retrieved from: https://blog.movingworlds.org/an-introduction-to-human-centered-design/
Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang (2017) Define and Frame Your Design Challenge by Creating Your Point Of View and Ask “How Might We”. Retrieved from: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/define-and-frame-your-design-challenge-by-creating-your-point-of-view-and-ask-how-might-we
Soriano, L. (2017) Male Perpetrators Perspsectives on Reasons for Domestic Violence in Heterosexual Relationships (Unpublished master’s thesis). California State University, San Bernardino, USA.
Washburn, B. (n.d.) A Lesson in Gamification from Car2Go. Retrieved 29 June, 2020, from https://trainlikeachampion.blog/gamification-car2go/
