CONTEXT
2021.11
Volunteer Project
MY ROLE
Research
Design
Activity Organization
TOOLS USED
Figma
As a volunteer team member, I worked with graduate students to improve students' living experience in the dormitory. Based on fundamental research about users and our dormitory, we then decided to organize a workshop to let students quickly and freely express their ideas about the lounge renovation. To achieve this goal, we designed a set of toolkits for students. Their outcome really shocked us. Currently, this renovation project is still in progress.
OVERVIEW
Before the workshop, we did a quick survey to learn basic information about students in the No. 10 dormitory. According to the result, we can clearly know that there are more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students who come from all around the country.
Research
USER PROFILE
Then we managed to use plants to demonstrate his feelings by choosing different plants. We took sizes, shapes, colors and textures into consideration in order to select right plants.
LOCATION
Our dormitory is a three-floor building. The rooms for public use are mainly on the first floor, like the laundry room, the activity room, and the lounge. When we started to choose one room as our renovation goal, we compared all these public spaces from four perspectives. It turned out that the lounge would have the highest potential to become a dynamic one due to its large area and superb location. Our decision on the lounge became firmer considering its current undesirable use situation.
SPACE ELECTION
STEP 01 ACTIVITY-ARRANGEMENT
Workshop
In the first stage of the workshop, the board was created for students to show the activities they wanted and then prioritize them. Four parts on this board correspond to the outdoor space, the lounge, the corridor, and the dormitory room. Students were told that they only had 2000 RMB in assumption. Students used the sticky notes to mark activities and then put them on the board so their ideas and preferences clearly shown on this board.
STEP 02 SIMPLE MODEL CREATION
Then, students use papers, playdough and pens to create items they want to have in the lounge for activity they desire in the first stage.
Outcome
In this workshop, all participants were involved in active discussion and made their contributions. Students used toolkits we designed clearly express their ideas about the renovation of the lounge. They all provided superb inspiration. At present, our volunteer team is sorting out ideas shown in this workshop. I hope the remodeled lounge can be a public space to leave good memories for all students in our dormitory.
