Trigger warning: This project is focused on sexual trauma and violence - which may be disturbing content for some.

In 2017, the University of Sydney published a report highlighting the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. The survey highlighted that upto 31% of students - almost 1 in 3 students - reported sexual harrassment in university settings. With this information in mind, for our capstone university project, my team and I decided to explore how we could help find a solution in this space. This project was the highest scoring project in the studio unit.

Understanding the problem space

Conducting primary research into this space was a challenging task - how does one probe such a traumatic experience without triggering uncomfortable emotions or feelings in the participant?

We were able to have 10 people openly speak to us about their experiences - including victims, psychologists and non-profit organisations. Additionally, we received ~47 detailed survey responses.

With victims of sexual violence, our interviews were designed to be as unstructured as possible - with a strong focus of the interviewee leading the discussion. This was done in order to ensure that interviewees felt as comfortable as possible, and that we ensured that we avoided triggering any uncomfortable emotions.

Our research questions included:

What is sexual harassment and assault, and how does it impact women’s lives?

How is sexual violence perceived?

What are the challenges faced by victims before and after sexual violence?

What opportunities can be found from this?

What needs, interests and motivations do users with PTSD have? What applications or other forms of technology are currently used?

What are the different contexts of PTSD symptoms, recovery, and sexual violence?

How can sexual violence be prevented?

Our findings included the following

Source: Australian Human Rights Commission 2017. Change the course: National report on sexual assault and sexual harassment at Australian universities

Existing Initiatives used by survivors

• Anonymous reddit forums

• Pandora's Aquarium

• Women's and Girls Emergency Centre

• NSW Rape Crisis

Existing products: Devices that make victims feel a sense of safety post-incident

Defining our insights

Based on our interview data, we then defined the key needs that were faced by individuals after an incident. These include the following:

One of the most important needs, however, was the need to be in the present moment - the need for mindfulness

These insights were then distilled into personas, which have been detailed below.

Insights derived from personas include:

• Safety and security are core needs
• Victims often struggle to find a sense of belonging post-incident, so a discrete solution is necessary
• Other needs include the ability to control emotions easily, and quickly access a safe space in emergencies

Ideation

With these core needs identified, we then began our journey of ideation. Some of our idea sketches have been attached below. These include an alarm notifying system, an app for a home speaker that detects certain words, and a smart pillow.

Feasibility assessment

We then assessed each of the above ideas along the following dimensions:

1. Technological Feasibility - including voice operation when hands restricted
2. Discrete
3. Versatility - To be used as both prevention and support

We realised that one of the most successful "Wearable" products is earphones, and found an existing product where earphones were integrated with heart rate monitors.

Final design solution

The final design solution was a set of earphones designed with an integrated button with a companion application. When pressed, this button would trigger the companion application to open, to trigger emergency calls, or calming exercises - depending on the context of the user.

By making users feel safe, our design solution served as both a method for prevention as well as aid.

Prototyping

We initially tested out UX flow through paper prototyping. These paper designs were then iterated - some of the iterations including:

• Integration of a visual "heart rate" that users can follow to breathe

• Combining "Relax" and "Sleep" features

• Including anonymity features

We then evaluated our medium-fidelity prototype, by giving tasks to 8 users to perform, and evaluated users on:

1. Success of task

2. Understanding of task

3. Time taken to perform task

It was ensured that tasks did not use any terms from the app, and were contextually relevant, but not triggering. Examples include:

1. Perform a meditation exercises

2. Change emergency contacts

3. Find other people who also suffer from insomnia

Final Design Solution

The complete prototype can be viewed on https://invis.io/ZHE3HUEQ4

Impact

This project was not done for a commercial client, but rather, for awareness within the University - and for that purpose, it was extremely successful. The project was featured in the annual Design Computing exhibition, won first place in the interactive product design studio unit, and also featured in the D17 publication issued by the university.