Modernizing campus religion, spiritual, and wellness resources through ORSEL
Duration
March—April 2022
July 2022
Team
Team of 4 designers
Tools
Figma
Illustrator
overview
the client
The WashU Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life is dedicated to supporting religious, spiritual, and ethical communities on campus. ORSEL has designated locations on campus for meditation, reflection, and prayer, as well as periods of time throughout the semester where students take a pause from their busy lives and focus on reflecting, meditating, or praying.
the challenge
We are interested in exploring how ORSEL's Spaces for Pause could be more supportive, integrating the value of "pausing" into WashU’s student culture. Our team aimed to offer ORSEL insights on how to allow for more students to pause and take purposeful breaks at Washu's spaces for prayer and reflection.
Research
field research & site analysis
Analyzing spaces of pause and how they're used.
An integral component of ORSEL is the provision of designated spaces for pause, officially known as the "WashU Spaces for Prayer and Reflection." These areas cater to the diverse religious and spiritual needs of WashU's students, faculty, and staff, offering dedicated spaces for prayer and reflection across its campuses. Our team collected data points at the designated locations found on ORSEL's website. We formulated a few key questions to focus on during our immersions:
Was it easy to locate the spaces? Was it easily accessible?
Were the purposes of each space clear?
What is the environment of each space?
A discussion with users of the Serenity Room
While waiting outside to check out the Serenity Room during a lunch break, I must have appeared out of place, prompting a student to give me an odd look as they exited the room. I explained my purpose, stating that I was researching WashU's Spaces for Prayer and Reflection, part of the university's ORSEL initiative.
I engaged in conversation with the student outside the room, and soon, two of their friends joined in, enlightening me about their experiences with the space. I gathered some insights:
I engaged in conversation with the student outside the room, and soon, two of their friends joined in, enlightening me about their experiences with the space. I gathered some insights:
- The students mainly use it for prayer, specifically salah. This room specifically is mainly used by WashU's Muslim community and it always seems to be in use.
- The Muslim student community know about it through their GroupMe
- All three students use the room multiple times a day for around 5-20 minutes.
- They have seen students misusing the room: for example, napping or conducting interviews.
Interviews
Understanding student awareness and attitudes
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Our team also conducted interviews with students at WashU. We prepared two sets of interview questions: one for students who had limited or no knowledge of ORSEL, and one for those who utilized ORSEL resources and know of the department.
Points of exploration for:
Points of exploration for:
participants of ORSEL
- What aspects of ORSEL are most impactful?
- Do they utilize ORSEL's spaces for pause?
- How did they discover ORSEL?
- What does Pause-ing, or taking a break, mean to them?
Non-participants of ORSEL
- How do they incorporate well-being into their lifestyles?
- How do students respond after we describe ORSEL, its mission, and its events?
- What does Pause-ing, or taking a break, mean to students?
- As students of WashU, are there obstacles to valuing or achieving wellbeing?
synthesis
key takeaways
Students who have heard about ORSEL associate it only with religious life on campus, while most student haven't heard of ORSEL
The Spaces for Pause on campus range greatly in terms of volume level and foot traffic
Spaces are scattered and students aren't drawn in by them as they're not sure of its purpose.
ideation
Opportunities
1. How might we give students an accurate understanding of spaces for pause without needing them to go there?
Students “pause” differently, and each space has different characteristics. While one students said they paused by taking a walk, another said they locked themselves in their room and meditated. Some want a quiet, small place to pray, while another may want an outdoor space to take a break. We can leverage this to improve student experience.
2. How might we improve ORSEL’s campus presence and enhance the meaning of pause so that the organization is accessible and beneficial to all students?
Many students do not have knowledge of spaces for pause or ORSEL’s resources and events. Some don’t even know what ORSEL is. Both people who use ORSEL services and don't use ORSEL services could benefit from the department increasing visibility to its Spaces for Prayer and Reflection.
3. How might we represent ORSEL spaces so that they have a clear purpose and feel inclusive to students?
The distinct experiences of going to a space for PAUSE were mixed, but there was a common response of hard to find locations and unwelcoming signage. When one student stumbled upon a space, they felt wary about whether they were allowed to enter or not. The signage had strict instructions and mentioned how to “maintain the integrity of the space.” This made them feel as if they were infringing, since the instructions were there but not information about the room's purpose.
solution branstorm
We brainstormed with a focus on quantity and diversity of screen-based, non-screen tech, and analog ideas. We then ended up organizing the ideas into the following 5 themes:
📄 Physical marketing
Increase visibility and interest through appealing visuals of marketing material
🪧 Signage
Incorporate improved storytelling that conveys clear and consistent information about location, availability, and details on each space of pause.
📱 App
Give quick and convenient access to information on the ORSEL spaces through WashU's existing app.
🖥️ Website
Allow users to easily navigate through the spaces for pause and have a desire to utilize them through an improvement of the existing site.
🏷️ Tags
By using tags to define the spaces’ characteristics, students can have an understanding of spaces for pause without needing to go there physically.
concept revision
Client feedback suggests strategic focus areas and implementation challenges
After meeting with ORSEL’s Director, we narrowed down the categories to three main focus areas: physical marketing, redefining spaces, and mobile implementation.
We decided that physical marketing is the simplest and most straightforward way to spread the word of ORSEL and its spaces to students. Unfortunately, in-person marketing would be the only physical aspect of revamping ORSEL. The director tells us that while she agrees with all aspects of our physical marketing plan, each location is within the jurisdiction of various departments, and it would be very difficult to implement consistent signage across campus.
Luckily, conveying information about locations through signage could be done through the other parts of our project, namely tags within the website.
We decided that physical marketing is the simplest and most straightforward way to spread the word of ORSEL and its spaces to students. Unfortunately, in-person marketing would be the only physical aspect of revamping ORSEL. The director tells us that while she agrees with all aspects of our physical marketing plan, each location is within the jurisdiction of various departments, and it would be very difficult to implement consistent signage across campus.
Luckily, conveying information about locations through signage could be done through the other parts of our project, namely tags within the website.
Gathering user feedback to validate ideas
Our team created three different versions of testing guides for each of our concepts and interviewed WashU students. We focused on collecting feedback related to the usefulness of the three directions. From the feedback collected from students, we were confident in moving forward after getting our ideas validated.
Students say that while the visuals of physical marketing isn't a make or break, it does enhance their impression of the organization or event.
Students would be more inclined to use Spaces for Pause if it seemed more welcoming
Students recognized the importance of tags when used clearly, noting that if designed unwisely, could be counterproductive.
design
physical marketng
ORSEL currently does more digital advertising than physical, and when they do table and hand out physical marketing, it’s usually for events. However, they do not have as wide of a reach as would be liked. We want to spread knowledge among the student body of ORSEL and its spaces.
According to our primary research, stickers are widely appealing, and having ones that are ORSEL or well-being related, and designed for college students is a good way to get people coming up to the tables. We also discovered that many students find out about on campus events through flyers that are posted or handed out. So, brochures will be available, and in them will be pictures of the spaces, as well as a specific and clear description of ORSEL, including its mission statement, and what (the categorized) spaces are for.
According to our primary research, stickers are widely appealing, and having ones that are ORSEL or well-being related, and designed for college students is a good way to get people coming up to the tables. We also discovered that many students find out about on campus events through flyers that are posted or handed out. So, brochures will be available, and in them will be pictures of the spaces, as well as a specific and clear description of ORSEL, including its mission statement, and what (the categorized) spaces are for.
website page redesign
The current ORSEL site clarity, whether through lack of location images, directions to the spaces, hours, or organization. Our team aims to fix these pain points through a redesign of the site with a focus on redefining spaces by incorporating tags, so users know the purpose of each location and can make more informed decisions about which locations to pause in.
The collected user research from the three interviews and previous research helped inform our design decisions for the website revisions. From there, we created a wireframe of the website. The main changes include
Having images for all locations
Directions via links
Consistent and balanced layout
Filter tags
Emphasizing hours and locations
Having images for all locations
Directions via links
Consistent and balanced layout
Filter tags
Emphasizing hours and locations
integrating into the washu app
Aside from the website, ORSEL should have information displayed on a mobile app as well. To reach a wider user base, we target WashU students and specifically WashU Mobile users. Our team hopes to incorporate ORSEL information and resources into the existing WashU Mobile.
For the incorporation into WashU Mobile, we focused on clarity and consistency in order to visually incorporate into the existing app, as well as communicating only the information that would be most useful to the user.
Wireframes of Review and Profile
outcome
strategy 1: physical marketing
strategy 2: improving website page
BEFORE
AFTER
strategy 3: washu app integration
takeaways
Adjust process and focus based on project goals
Working with ORSEL highlighted the importance of understanding client constraints, such as jurisdiction and funding limitations. As our project progressed, we realized ORSEL was more interested in our research findings, including immersions and student interviews, than exact mockups or prototypes. During client reviews, we prioritized presenting our research and improvement plans, alongside visual mockups to illustrate potential enhancements. This emphasis on research over visual development also allowed for deeper community engagement, which was personally rewarding.
Working with ORSEL highlighted the importance of understanding client constraints, such as jurisdiction and funding limitations. As our project progressed, we realized ORSEL was more interested in our research findings, including immersions and student interviews, than exact mockups or prototypes. During client reviews, we prioritized presenting our research and improvement plans, alongside visual mockups to illustrate potential enhancements. This emphasis on research over visual development also allowed for deeper community engagement, which was personally rewarding.
Genuine curiosity leads to great insights for the project and beyond
During this project, I conducted additional research between classes. One day after lunch, I visited a Space for Prayer and Reflection in Olin Library. As I arrived, two students were leaving the room, and I asked if they could tell me about the space. They agreed, and shortly after, another friend joined us. Our conversation veered from formal interview questions to a rich discussion about Salat, their daily routines, WashU’s Muslim GroupMe, and more. They even showed me the all-gender restroom with a Wudu station and taught me how to use it. I deeply appreciated their willingness to share and educate me. This experience underscored how people generously invest time to share what matters to them.
During this project, I conducted additional research between classes. One day after lunch, I visited a Space for Prayer and Reflection in Olin Library. As I arrived, two students were leaving the room, and I asked if they could tell me about the space. They agreed, and shortly after, another friend joined us. Our conversation veered from formal interview questions to a rich discussion about Salat, their daily routines, WashU’s Muslim GroupMe, and more. They even showed me the all-gender restroom with a Wudu station and taught me how to use it. I deeply appreciated their willingness to share and educate me. This experience underscored how people generously invest time to share what matters to them.