Children felt that sex education provided in schools was a one-size-fit-all solution.
~“The syllabus doesn’t mention much about the topic”
Problem
Absence of a centralized, reliable, & accessible Sex Education Guide.
There is a strong lack of awareness of Sex education, along with a gap in the impartment of comprehensive sex education in schools, colleges, and other institutions in the country to adolescents.
Role
- UX Research
- UX Design
- Product Design
- UI Design and Prototyping
Project Details
- Type: Personal Project (Group)
- Duration: 6 months
- Tools:
Deliverables
- User Research Audit
- Interactive Prototype
- Testing Analysis
Solution Sneak Peak
1
A wide range of age-appropriate content curated and sourced directly from doctors and health professionals, ensuring that children receive accurate and reliable information.
2
Multi-Modal, Experiential learning and methods for adolescent
Provides content specially curated in various formats like podcasts, videos, and articles to help children learn about sex education. This ensures a comprehensive, engaging, and accessible learning experience for young audiences.
3
Parents' section to directly access healthcare professionals for guidance.
There is a strong lack of awareness of Sex education, along with a gap in the impartment of comprehensive sex education in schools, colleges, and other institutions in the country to adolescents.
Design Process
Desk Research
The first step was understanding the crucial aspects of the topic were important to set a right base structure for the project and identify crucial insights that summarize the secondary research
WHAT
Sex education is high-quality Teaching and Learning about various topics related to sex and sexuality.
WHEN
Sex education ideally should be imparted during a student's development ages from 13 to 21.
WHERE
Sex education is provided in Schools/Colleges to spread awareness and educate youngsters.
WHY
Imparting sex education early helps children make Healthier Decisions.
Insights:
1
Topic with Taboo
Teenagers face discomfort during discussions regarding sex and sexuality with parents or elders.
2
Lack of Awareness
Lack of awareness, and overall need and how sex education can be beneficial for teenagers.
3
Absence of Seriousness
Importance of receiving sex education at an early age is paramount and leads to a safe lifestyle.
Source: Books, Magazines, Research Papers, Internet Articles
User Analysis
We circulated a google form to understand surface-level problems and pain points related to the secondary research conducted. The following were some key highlights through the quantitative analysis.
1
Out of 40 adolescents, 62% users said that they had received sex education in school/colleges but
only 20% of users found it to be useful.
2
The remaining 42% that received sex education in school/colleges admitted to the quality being
poor, average or below par.
3
Apart from schools/colleges & parents, adolescents admitted to gaining Sex Ed from other mediums like
parents, peers, digital & print media.
Stakeholder Identification
The user analysis provided adequate in-depth insights that were beneficial to map and identify stakeholders involved in this process to solve needs for and understand the flow of information.
PRIMARY
The age between 13-21, called Adolescents are the main target audience to cater to.
SECONDARY
The main influences involved in an adolescent's life are Parents and Doctors who initiate conversations.
Primary Research
Method of Research:
Interview Type:
One-on-One
(Remote + Offline)
Avg Duration:
45 minutes
Stakeholders:
Adolescents
Total Participants:
40 Users (25 Females, 15 Males)
Stakeholders:
Parents/Guardians
Total Participants:
10 Parents
Stakeholders:
Medical Professionals
Total Participants:
15 Doctors
Objective of the Research:
Adolescents
- To gauge knowledge levels of adolescents
- To discover needs regarding the topic
- Experience with the topic in schools & the environment influencing them
Parents
- Expectations from schools regarding sex education
- Opinions, concerns, fears regarding their children learning sex education
- Preferences in learning methods/approaches for sex education
Doctors
- Observations, experiences for imparting sex education
- Importance of early and accurate sex education
- Sources of medically accurate sex education information
Findings of Research:
Parents have concerns regarding the age- appropriateness of the content available on the internet.
~“The internet is filled with content unsafe for my child”
Parents & Doctors felt there was a mistrust in the secondary sources of sex education for their children.
~“Children ask children for information about sensitive subjects”
Children felt that learning methodologies were too traditional for a sensitive topic like this
~“The sessions conducted are just a regular presentation deck with an anonymous Q and A”
Parents feel that there is ambiguity in the timing of sex education learnings
~“I am not sure when is the right age and time to discuss this with my child”
Doctors observe that there is a lack of consensus on the content, what should be included
~“There is no set curriculum or syllabus with regards to sex education”
Teenagers say they have a general curiosity about the topic and fear being judged in an open conversation
~“I am curious but ashamed to ask doubts during seminars”
Some parents showed concerns which were rooted in cultural, or societal beliefs.
~”The subject is a very sensitive and delicate”
Doctors observed the lack of resources available for training of teachers and professionals .
~”There aren’t a lot of credible sources to refer to”
Children preferred to talk to secondary sources (friends or social media) over parents and health professionals.
~”I’d rather ask the internet over people. They might judge me”
Parents felt shy and less prepared while imparting knowledge to teenagers.
~”I am not sure what I am supposed to say to my child”
User Journey Observed
doubts and queries regarding sex education
uncomfortable about asking these questions to parents or doctors
uses the internet and social media for finding relative information
ends up consuming invalid information
Insights of the Research:
1
One-size-fit Method
Generalized content & one-size-fit method of teaching is used, which are ineffective.
2
Fear of Judgment
Fear of Judgment makes teenagers reluctant to ask doubts or questions to adults.
3
No Age and Time-appropriateness
Secondary sources of information lack credibility & age-appropriateness, that can be misleading.
4
Current solutions arent safe and anonymous
Safety and anonymity are key to creating an effective & accessible environment.
5
Lack of Credible Sources
Lack of accessible, credible sources of sex education and sexual health for teenagers.
How Might We
User Perspective
How might we ensure a way for users to directly access age appropriate and credible sex education related information to ensure effective learning?
Product Perspective
How might we ensure a way for users to directly access age appropriate and credible sex education related information to ensure effective learning?
Ideation
With all the defined how might we’s, our group decided to affinity map ideas on a broader level to define the possible outcomes that can be executed for the topic.
Idea Exploration:
On the basis of the above mentioned ideas brainstormed by the team, we created an user desirability vs feasibility graph to understand which idea would suit the problem the best.
1
An app would be accessible due to widespread use smartphones and growing internet availability.
2
An app could offer a safe, anonymous platform, encouraging engagement without fear or stigma.
3
An app can facilitate tailored content to individual needs and allow users to learn at their own pace.
Concept Development:
To further progress on the selected idea, our team used the MOSCOW technique to ideate and brainstorm in features and concepts to be integrated on the platform.
Mo (Must Have):
- Personalized learning paths
- Interactive and engaging content
- Expert reviewed information
- Privacy controls
S (Should Have):
- Gamification elements and rewards
- Parental resources
- Live expert sessions
- Multilingual support
Co (Could Have):
- Downloadable modules
- AI chat-bot
- VR based learning
- Peer communities
- Content sharing
W (Won't Have):
- In-app purchases for teenagers
- Social media integration
- User analytics
- Cross-sale/marketing
To be able to provide a meaningful product to our stakeholders, we feature mapped the concepts on the basis of two most relevant factors through our research. An impact (i.e. how they will consume the content) vs feasibility (i.e. depending on external factors) graph is presented below.
Information Architecture:
With all the defined how might we’s, our group decided to affinity map ideas on a broader level to define the possible outcomes that can be executed for the topic.
Final Concepts
1
Personalized Content for Kids
Educatsy covers a wide range of subjects within each main topic, aiming to personalize the experience for every child. This ensures the content is tailored to each child's specific needs.
2
Engaging quizzes that make learning interractive and fun.
The courses feature fun, engaging quizzes that let you test your knowledge and challenge yourlsef as your learn.
3
AI-powered chatbot designed to address doubts.
The ChatBot, equipped with carefully curated information, is designed to safely and securely address kids' questions and doubts, providing a trustworthy platform for gaining sex education.
Figma Link: Mil Jayegi
Visual Design
The design inspiration for using purple is to incorporate a playful, kid-friendly element. The iconography. illustrations, and font have been carefully selected to be vibrant, adaptable, and visually appealing, aligning with a colorful kids' theme.
User Testing
Due to time constraints, User Testing could not be conducted.
Learnings
During my 6-month design research project centered on developing an application to teach sex education to teenagers in India, I gained valuable insights and key learnings. Here are some of the important takeaways and skills I developed:
- Learned to adopt a user-centric approach to design.
- Understood crucial techniques to conducting primary research.
- Strategically integrated insights from interviews into the design process.
- Utilized "How Might We" questions to address and mitigate biases.
- Recognized the influence of personal biases in ideation.
- Testing offered valuable real-life insights into the project.
- Mastered planning and executing tasks within set timelines.
- Coordinating tasks among team members for efficient collaboration.
Designing an application to streamline researchers workflow
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