Wellness Wagon
The Wellness Wagon is UT's mobile physical and mental wellness truck that delivers essential resources and services directly to students. Partnering with University Health Services, the Wellness Wagon brings visibility and accessibility to existing university resources by actively engaging with students. We believe belonging starts from within, and students should be reminded that their university is invested in their personal wellbeing.
Overview
PREPARED FOR: Intro to Design Thinking
ROLES: Research, Ideation, Lo-fi and Hi-fi Prototyping, and Presentation
CHALLENGE: Find a solution that connects students and builds community on campus to combat isolation.
PARTNERS: Aimee Jones & Rebecca Youngers
TIME FRAME: Oct. 2023 - Dec. 2023
SOLUTION: A mobile physical and mental wellness truck that brings wellness resources directly to students across campus. The truck seeks to bring visibility and accessibility to the plethora of health & wellness resources available for free to UT students.
“Design a university space that fosters a sense of camraderie and belonging amongst students.”
Introduction
Finding community can be overwhelming
52,384
Total enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin
44%
College students who reported symptoms of depression
1,000+
Student organizations at the University of Texas at Austin
Loneliness and isolation on college campuses is a pervasive problem that increasingly plagues the student community. The University of Texas at Austin is marketed as a massive university with a plethora of opportunities to find community. However, this is often seen as intimidating for newcomers, often feeling left to their own devices to find their own space in such an expansive environment. A solution to this issue requires a holistic humanistic approach that focuses on students and how to improve their socialization into the UT community while supporting their personal growth.
Research
Building community starts with the individual
STUDENT INTERVIEWS
Each group member conducted student interviews, asking questions relating to the campus environment, socialization, and their personal experience living on campus as a UT student. The students described their struggles integrating into longhorn culture and finding their place in the UT community beyond having a few friends. Community involves building all different types of relationships.
ANNA
Junior Business Major
EDEN
Sophomore Journalism Major
"Having a bunch of friends doesn't mean you feel like you belong."
"I almost hung out with no one because I was just work, work, work, sleep wake up work."
NABI
Freshly Graduated Student
"Sometimes I don’t think I’m ready for relationships."
"My first semester of college was one of the hardest times of my life."
"It's really easy to just get holed up in my room for a long time"
"I feel alone, even in a group of people."
INTERVIEW INSIGHTS
Each group member conducted student interviews, asking questions relating to the campus community, socialization, and their personal experience living as a UT student. We developed three key insights that further informed our design process:
Comfort
Our research reflected that comfort both within yourself and within the community significantly contributes to socialization. Students must feel free to express themselves in an accepting environment. Fostering a comfortable environment for students helps facilitate positive and authentic interaction among students.
Wellness
Our research reflected the eternal lesson that you have to accept yourself to be open to acceptance from others. Mental and physical wellness contribute significantly to the health of students, which translates to better self esteem. A healthier student body fosters a healthier community.
Connection
Our research reflected the importance of connection to friends, other students, and UT as a whole. To build camaraderie we must make an effort to facilitate connections between students. Helping students connect with their peers develops a strong social fabric across campus.
HOW MIGHT WE...
Encourage students to open up?
Create a comfortable space to facilitate connection?
Ideation
Developing a space with purpose and impact
Our ideation process led us all over the place. Much of our research informed our focus on how to build community while simultaneously supporting student mental health on an personal level. Walking this balance led us down a path of very different idea. Each new concept helped us sharpen the purpose and goals of our initial prompt by finding creative ways to better serve students.
Dog Park
Coffee Bar
Wellness Wagon
STUDENT DOG PARK
Our initial concept was to create a rooftop dog park accessible to all students. Since both dogs and the outdoors are great for mental health, we could provide a space for the longhorn dog owners. However, the idea came with its challenges as student exposure to the hidden rooftop space would be difficult, especially since dog owners are a small fraction of the UT community.
RATIONALE
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Many students own dogs on campus​
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Dogs parks build community amongst dog owners​
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Utilizing existing outdoor space accessible to all students​
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Dogs and outdoor spaces provide positive impacts on mental help​​
WHY WE MOVED ON
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Not enough dog owners on campus to make significant impact
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​Does not do enough to actively build community, just a green space
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​​There are dog parks somewhat close to campus
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​​Hard for students to locate the park ​
ROOFTOP COFFEE SHOP
We still liked the idea of utilizing existing outdoor space for students, so we came up with a multi-purpose coffee shop green space. This includes a full coffee shop, a large rentable projection screen, foldable tables from the walls, and small screens across the walls featuring student art. We prototyped the idea for class hoping to harp on the flexibility of the space's use for students. However, feedback showed us that our idea was nothing inventive and would be another retail place students had to spend money that was hidden.
RATIONALE
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Community space where students can do work or meet
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​Large screen would be rentable to host sports games or movie nights
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​Outdoor space accessible to all students
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​Flexible space that can facilitate more event-style socialization
WHY WE MOVED ON
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There are enough coffee shops on campus
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​Texas heat prevents students from extended stay
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​Students will have trouble finding and accessing a rooftop
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​"Just another place where you have to buy something on campus"
ITERATIVE FEEDBACK
Once we completed the prototyping phase, our class gathered together and spent a week evaluating and critiquing each group's project. Critique came from both the students and professor, which provided a multitude of perspectives. Overall, our idea was critiqued pretty heavily because it did not contribute enough to bring students together. Below are a few insights that came from in-class critique.
The space should actively build student camaraderie
Consider how the space contributes to the community
Serving student needs is a top priority
There are enough places to study on campus
The idea should have a purpose, instead of standing alone
We decided to return to our research insights to radically rethink our idea and its purpose...
Wellness Wagon
Showing support directly to students in their environment
Strongly emphasizing our insights regard student wellness, we came up with The Wellness Wagon. The on-campus wellness initiative will utilize a mobile food truck to drive and station around UT campus and surrounding areas. There student employees of University Health Services would be able to interact with students on a personal level to provide mental and physical wellness resources while guiding students to existing university services provided to them for free.
SERVICES
The Wellness Wagon will provide a variety of different resources directly to students. On-site at the truck student employees will share more physical resources such as free contraceptives, dehydration kits, flu shots and more. ​
POSSIBLE SUPPLIES DISTRIBUTED
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Sexual health resources
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Sleep Help kits
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Psychiatry/Therapy Referrals
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Feminine hygiene products
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Over-the-counter medication (ibuprofen, imodium, Emergen-C, etc)
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Water bottles & Hydration Kits​​
POSSIBLE SERVICES PROVIDED
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​Yoga & Meditation Classes
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Educational workshops ​​​
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Certification courses for CPR
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​Therapy Dog Day
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Themed Health Awareness Weeks
CALENDAR
Wellness Wednesday
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Stationed in central campus area
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Distribute physical supplies to students​
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​Direct students to campus resources
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Workshops
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Lead educational wellness activities
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Partner with colleges & other clubs
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Topics such as mindfulness, nutrition, mental health, and more​​​
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Special Programs
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Vaccination administration during flu season
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​Monthly health awareness initiatives ​
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Student mental health support during move-in and finals week
SUBCONSCIOUS PURPOSES
While the physical distribution of wellness material and conducting services for students are important, the Wellness Wagon serves other subtle, yet essential purposes. The Wellness Wagon serves as a constant reminder to students that their university is invested in their personal wellness. Students who otherwise would be unaware of what UT provides would be able to access essential services.
VISIBILITY
The​ mobility of the Wellness Wagon on campus allows for it to be regularly visible by a large population of students. Even if some do not interact with the truck, its outward appearance is a reminder that services are available and that their university cares about them.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Wellness Wagon serves as an extension of the University Health Services. Therefore, students who interact with the truck can be connected to the variety of free health services provided to them by the school. This will help more students get the help that they need.
AI PROTOTYPES
With the help of Bing AI Image Creator, we were able to visualize what the truck would look like. Ideally the truck would be made from a repurposed food truck and operated by paid university student workers as a University Health Services initiative.
Feedback
Deepening the student perspective on wellness
Once we had fully conceptualized the program and developed prototypes, we conducted interviews with UT students to get feedback on our idea. Generally, the concept was very well received. Our feedback reinforced our research insights as many students interviewed emphasized the difficulty of seeking help alone. Students generally appreciate the acknowledgment of their health and an investment in their lives.
"I love that it comes directly to you!"
"This is something I didn't know I needed, but now I want."
"Going directly to students will inspire them."
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
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Interacting with students directly helps set them on the right track​
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Providing concrete supplies will attract students to further services
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Prioritizing education efforts is strong
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Mobility of the truck is a great feature to maximize student outreach
PAIN POINTS
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Feasibility of providing medical care like vaccines seems complicated
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Confused about how workshops and classes would be conducted
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Unsure of how much the truck could actually provide due to university red tape​
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Might need to focus on one type of service​
Reflection
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
University environment can be extremely intimidating and isolating, and students who cannot help themselves need direct support to thrive.
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Building community comes from within. You cannot love someone else if you do not love yourself, and students cannot build community without a healthy sense of self and support.
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Directly showing students that you are invested in their wellness makes a significant difference in both their sense of belonging on campus but also their activity on campus through utilization of services.
This project grew into a manifestation of my passion for mental health and wellness. There is a loneliness epidemic across the country and it is crippling the socialization of my generation. Students need to know they are not alone and the Wellness Wagon is a great example of a way we can be directly invested in the lives of young people. Even if a student doesn't use or interact with the truck, its presence alone is a reminder that someone cares about them and that alone is what makes the Wellness Wagon valuable. Students often feel left to their own devices to survive in college, but investing in creating a community that supports student growth attacks that issue at its core.