Leila Akberdin
Expert Workshop
Our team came together to examine the results of the initial secondary research and industrial design studio class to distinguish their core properties. We identified three overarching categories (conjectures) that can be leveraged to create an environment conducive to positive mental health: Beautification, Activation, and Transformation of Use.
Our team then invited experts from the fields of social work, psychology, and local suicide prevention efforts for a two-hour workshop to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of our three conjectures.
Objective
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Deduce core categories from our previous research to be leveraged as a typology in designing environments for positive mental health
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Evaluate and assess the validity of our categories in the scope of mental health
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To realize any missing points our research overlooked
Conjectures
Seeks to address the neglected nature of a typical parking garage through solutions that significantly improve the aesthetic quality of the physical space.
Seeks to address the value of the individual experience through solutions that are responsive to individuals within the space. Also, it aims to change the behavior of the individual. By creating an alternative activity (if even for a moment) it works to redirect toward encouraged behaviors
Seeks to address the value of the shared experience through a change in the purpose of the garage. This strategy is the most direct of the three and it seeks a shared participatory response with others, so that an individual is re-focused towards an entirely new (and possibly unexpected) activity.
Seeks to address the neglected nature of a typical parking garage through solutions that significantly improve the aesthetic quality of the physical space.
Expert Workshop
My Role
I was in charge of leading the discussion with the experts and presenting them with various questions about our proposals.
Questions Asked:
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What are your overall thoughts about these concepts?
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What would strengthen this concept?
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What would restrict this idea?
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What do you think is successful about this concept?
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What would you change?
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Where do you see potential?
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What other ideas could fit within this category?
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How effective would these be in addressing wellness issues?
Feedback
Beautification Feedback:
Strengths
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Effective in making the garage a lighter and less prison-like space
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Ideas like this would show that OSU cares and is taking action
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Allows for someone to become more aware of their feelings
Weaknesses
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Important to focus on what the garage looks like from the inside
Activation Feedback:
Strengths
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Mainly positive response
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Beneficial in distracting user's from impulsivity
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Felt responsive intervention would offer users individual choices and responses to their actions
Weaknesses
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Distraction needed to be paired with the means of connecting people to:
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The outside world
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Resources
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The future
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Strengths
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Reclaiming these spaces as a destination can improve the perception of the space
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Suicide is usually a solitary act, the presence of others could prevent jumps.
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Interactive elements could encourage people to activate the space and connect with one another
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Play is important
Weaknesses
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Necessary to consider the most prevalent hours of the day in which suicides take place
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More of a temporary solution
Transformation of Use Feedback:
Insights
1. Distract and Connect
Best to create a distraction and capitalize on the moment to connect people to other resources, the outside world, or the future.
2. Diversity of Approach
It's important to have a diversity of approaches in connecting people to resources in order to "meet them where they are" and address the individual needs of the person
It would be beneficial to get everyone to think about the garage in a more positive light, not just those who go there to commit suicide. Benefits of cultivating mental fitness and recognizing the brain as a part of the physical body.
