The Post-COVID University
This white paper, titled Campus Facilities and the Student Experience During COVID-19, addresses the multiple challenges and financial pressures of higher education institutions during and post COVID-19. My responsibilities included interviewing Higher Ed leaders as part of the research process, and ideating equitable design solutions and supporting graphics that preserve student engagement and culture on the physical campus and in virtual/hybrid learning environments. This paper was done in collaboration with PCL Construction while at Perkins and Will Los Angeles and was published on the Perkins and Will website.
Role:
UX Researcher, Visual Designer
Team:
Meena Krenek (Perkins and Will), Chris Waight (Perkins and Will), Paula Stamp (PCL Construction)
Timeline:
Sep 2020 - Feb 2021 (5 months)
Tools Used:
Affinity Designer, Adobe InDesign, MS Word
User Research
As part of the research process for the white paper, we interviewed nine leaders from higher education institutions in southern California. Some of the questions included:
What does the student/faculty/staff experience look like from the time they park their cars until they leave campus?
What does the classroom look like when participants are both physical and virtual?
Where do impromptu conversations happen?
Design outcome 1: “Drive-in” learning environments
WiFi strength is embedded throughout most campus settings and several times we see students study in their cars prior to and between classes. Many universities shared that WiFi is integrated into parking garages for this reason. So why don’t we use the parking areas and building façade to support for learning and engagement and at the same time keeping students safe?
Design outcome 2: Virtual culture
Virtual culture exists. We need to support the student generation with group learning platforms that allow students to connect, socialize and learn together. In the future, we need a deeper understanding of different workstyles so that we can engage virtually and physically with students and develop equitable environments. What if we enhance the technology to allow for deeper emotional connections between students and their peers and faculty?
Design Outcome 3: Pop-Up Meetups
What if we use social engagement platforms for outdoor pop up meet up in campus? All universities and campuses used Instagram in new ways during this global platform to keep student engaged and connected with information. This is a comfortable setting for students. But creating intentional hubs for students to socialize outside and study together seems meaning and are small interventions that can support the overall campus culture.
