RSVP Onboarding
ROLE: UX Researcher / Visual Design
CLIENT: Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center
TIME: 8 Week Project in Interaction x Design: Health and Well-Being
TEAM: Vaishali Shah, Ferris Atassi, Sara Frankenthaler
CLIENT
WashU RSVP Center:
The Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center (RSVP) is a free, confidential, survivor-centered resource for students impacted by RSV. Their peer facilitator groups teach students about healthy relationships, consent, power dynamics, rape culture, and bystander intervention strategies.
PROBLEM SPACE
The RSVP Center struggled with recruiting peer facilitators and building community during the onboarding experience, leading to a lack of retention
Our Problem Frame:
How might RSVP be informed by what’s worked well for other volunteer student facilitator roles on campus?
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Interactive Guerrilla Activity: Post-It Note Community Board
To get a broad overview of students’ thoughts on the clubs on campus, we decided to do field research in the busiest part of the library. Our team encouraged students to take a sticky note and answer one of the questions on our poster.
Semi-Structured Interviews:
We wanted to get a more in-depth understanding of other clubs that had similarities to RSVP as well as clubs that excelled in recruitment and retention strategies.
Participants: Uncle Joe’s Peer Counseling Co-President, The Wilderness Project Recruitment Head, Social Fraternity President, Women’s Club Gymnastics President
Key Questions:
What strategies does this club utilize to increase student presence at recruitment events?
What is the peer facilitator training process like?
How do you empower peer facilitators?
How are newer members integrated into the club?
How do you incentivize members to stay in the club?
What kinds of group bonding activities or outings do you do?
Does any kind of mentorship occur between newer members and older ones?
Club Meeting Observation:
We observed a club meeting for GlobeMed, a student-run health non-profit, to understand the dynamics of how students successfully lead other students.
What is the meeting structure?
What types of bonding events or exercises are emphasized?
How are members interacting with one another?
How is leadership distributed between members if so?
SYNTHESIS + INSIGHTS
After gathering all key quotes, stories, concepts, and observations from our research, we grouped them in an affinity map to see patterns and narrow our focus.
Our team used the sticky dots voting method to anonymously mark which themes we thought were most important.
A guiding insight we found: From their clubs, students value community, inclusivity, and accessibility most
Insight 1:
Getting people to come to that first meeting is essential, but effectively capturing people's attention can be difficult.
“I think minimal posters are the most eye-catching. I saw one that literally just had a golden retriever and QR code on it. I was so intrigued that I just had to scan it.”
“Clear information about the club and meetings is essential, but often highlighting members and free food is the best way to get peoples’ foot in the door.”
Insight 2:
Creating community through vulnerability and social outings outside of the club is almost always integral to members' positive experiences and commitment.
“I didn’t really feel connected to the club and was planning on leaving, but then we all went ice skating together. It’s such a small thing but time spent outside of the club helped me to open up and create those strong friendships.“
“We have a sharing circle once a year where people reflect and speak about what’s on their mind. It’s brought us closer together but most share traumatic things and it’s a bit triggering for people”
Insight 3:
Mentorship is an effective way to help integrate new members into a club and create strong bonds and retention. into a club and create strong bonds and retention.
“Especially for peer facilitation roles, mentorship during the training process alleviates new members’ stress. I know finding a mentor in social and professional fraternities can be time-consuming and stressful though”
“I’ve noticed that dissolving clubs often have a big disconnect between upper and underclassmen. That is a really easy way for the new members to feel overwhelmed, disengaged, and ultimately end up quitting.“
How might we… create posters and content that will successfully intrigue and inform students to increase recruitment?
How might we… help people be vulnerable and create connections naturally while being mindful of triggers?
How might we… help new members find mentorship that is both helpful and enjoyable?
From our ideation stage, we came up with three solutions to change the way RSVP interacts with students and hopefully solve their recruitment and retention problems.
SOLUTION 1
Intriguing and interactive poster designs
Make it personable.
We highlight current peer facilitators with handwritten testimony of positive experiences and their photographs
Balance intrigue and concrete information. Getting people to interact one time makes them more invested.
That’s why we included interactive QR codes that take students to an informational website that allows them to learn more about what a peer facilitator does, sign up directly, and see informational meetings that they can share and add to their calendar
SOLUTION 2
A trauma-informed, open-ended way to connect with others
You can’t force connection, but the Personal Records Activity gives it an opportunity to arise
What is it?
A group activity where members share anything about their life journey or how they came to view the world. It’s an open “make what you want of it” experience and can be as lighthearted or serious as each member wants or feels comfortable with. 1-3 group discussion “leaders“ who have gone through Personal Records before will introduce and guide the activity. Each member is given a set of “Rain Check“ cards to indicate their comfort levels if heavier topics are being discussed.
Personal Records Guide:
To help facilitate trauma-informed Personal Record sharing, we created a guide for discussion leaders to use.
Vulnerability is a powerful pathway to connect, and sharing about your life is a great way to do so and learn more about others.
However, sometimes sensitive subjects can arise. Trauma-informed sharing, with trigger warnings and raincheck cards, is an inclusive way to make all members comfortable.
Rain Check Card Set:
How it works:
Each member receives a set of cards. When they are feeling any level of triggered (low, medium, or high), they put the card in front of them to signal their feelings to others. When a high card is put out / a member leaves the room, a leader will check in with them afterward. The Kudos and Relatable cards are given to members after they share to tell others they are supported and are not alone.
Design Notes:
We included the kudos and relatable cards to balance negative and positive emotions and as a way for members to interact with one another.
We included the scribble illustrations on the low, medium, and high cards to symbolize the emotion of anxiety
SOLUTION 3
Efficient and personalized mentorship
In an ideal world, mentorship would always come from natural connections with no designed system. However, because mentorship is so valuable to members and an organization itself, ensuring mentorship while incorporating natural connections is often a large time commitment.
Popular and so-called “Coffee Chats“ require new members to meet every person in their organization. That time often cuts into time for classes, homework, friends, and other extracurriculars, and causes a lot of stress. Members are forced to navigate the difficult logistics and social fatigue with no other option available. In the end, members submit their preferences, but the mentor-mentee pairings are up to the discretion of the onboarding coordinator and their biases.
To put more power in members' hands, we made mentorship matching more efficient and personalized. Mentors and mentees are matched through an app specifically designed to help people find those who they are most compatible with.
This app integrates...
preferences on when and how often to meet
matching based on both professional + personal information
a non-biased approach to selecting (no photos or names included in swiping profiles)
Reflections on…
The Design Process:
Throughout the project, I grew to appreciate the many many rounds of critique that truly morphed our initial ideas into fully fleshed out, purposeful, and well-designed results.
Realistic Teamwork:
The group work I engaged in was invaluable, as it was a reflection of the design process in the “real world.” We approached teamwork with a realistic understanding of our strengths and weaknesses and were able to lean on and bounce off of one another.
People Being the Center:
Working with a real university client drove home the impact that design has on people. I found myself using a lot of my psychology knowledge and ethnographic research skills when interviewing and designing. Even though we were encouraged to go beyond feasibility and push the bounds of creativity, people and usability were still at the center of our ideas and concepts.