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ANANNYA BHAGWAT

Serano Website

Our team represented Rutgers University at The Opportunity Project, focusing on enhancing Puerto Rico's education system. During our research, we discovered a significant mental health crisis exacerbated by the pandemic and hurricanes.

 

This led to the development of the Serano (Serene) website, which connects young adults directly with mental health professionals to provide crucial support and advice.

Scope: The Opportunity Project

Duration: 3 Months

Role: User Research and App Framework Design

Team: Group Project (Team of 4)

Tools: Figma, Miro, Photoshop, Illustrator

Our mission was to improve Puerto Rico's education system, but our research revealed a deeper issue: young adults were struggling with severe mental health challenges due to the compounded effects of natural disasters and the pandemic. 

Problem:

Goal:

Our goal was to support students in Puerto Rico with their mental health needs. We identified food insecurity as a major factor worsening mental health issues.

 

Many individuals turn to social media for support, which can sometimes be counterproductive. By analyzing data and creating an engaging infographic, we aimed to enhance community well-being and address these challenges effectively.

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Research:

We engaged with three residents of Puerto Rico to gain valuable insights into the challenges young people face. This interaction revealed key areas of focus: the availability of resources for youth, how schools address mental health issues within their curricula, and societal attitudes toward discussing mental health. We used these insights to guide the development of our solution.

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Additionally, we created detailed personas for two students to better understand their demographics, pain points, frustrations, and aspirations. These personas were instrumental in shaping a website designed to address their unique challenges effectively. Finally, we mapped out Ian's day gave us a clear view of his daily life and challenges. This helped us understand his needs better and inspired ideas for designing the website.

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After extensive research, we brainstormed various ideas, such as a mental health app, a chat service, a resilience quiz, and volunteering opportunities. We decided on a mental health website designed to make a significant impact.

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Although we primarily collaborated online, we came together in person to design the website. We chose calming colors to match the website's purpose and began sketching our ideas on a whiteboard. With our concepts in place, we proceeded to create wireframes for the website.

Ideation:

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Solution:

After finalizing the details, we developed the screens for our mental health website, naming it "Serano" (or "Serene") to evoke calm and peace.
 

In addition, we created a logo that perfectly captured the serene qualities we aimed to convey. Collaborating with my talented teammates, we brainstormed various ideas until we found the logo that best represented our vision.

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Conclusion:

Focusing on the users was crucial to our project. By understanding their needs and desires, we developed a website that effectively addresses their mental health challenges. Being flexible in our design process allowed us to adapt to changes and improve the final product. Engaging with the people we were designing for provided essential insights, guiding our decisions and ensuring our solution met their needs. Collaboration with my team was invaluable; working together, sharing ideas, and incorporating feedback enabled us to make significant progress and create a meaningful impact.

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