Reflection

Being a teenager is had enough, adding a life or death disease to their lives adds on a huge amount of stress.  

THE PROCESS: 

Empathy: My sister was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on September 11^th, 2012. Every time she eats she has to; check her blood sugar, manage her diet, record the amount of insulin she gives herself, and track her highs and lows. 

Discovery: I completed interviews, surveys, and online research. 

Interpretation: New Problem Statement: There needs to be a way to help diabetic teens manage their stress levels to prevent long lasting health risks.  

Ideation: App-> Sports -> Diabetic Play

Prototype: Diabetic Play is an after school program for diabetic students. The purpose of the program is to have students play games and do activities in a stress free way

Test: I have asked people in my classes, high school friends, diabetic friends, and people in my dorm (all teenagers) which idea they like best and why.  The final conclusion was Diabetic Play was the better option because it was more realistic relaxing, and was a better way to make connections.

REFLECTION:

Over the course of the last few weeks I have been researching and designing a solution to relieving stress for diabetic teenagers. I have discovered some shocking facts that I did not know before. For example, I did not know all the health risks, what they had to document, and the amount of stress they have.  One thing I wish I did more of was taking to more diabetic teens.  

I wanted to start crying when I read about the health risks.  Diabetics are 2-3 times more chance of having heart disease, and 60% chance of dying from heart disease.  They can also suffer from nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, skin and mouth conditions, and have complications with pregnancy.  During the empathy stage of this process I felt helpless in their situation and more upset that there is no cure for this disease yet.

I never realized how much work each patient had to track when living with diabetes.  My original problem statement was dealing with a way to track all of the different aspects of the disease like diet and highs and lows.  During my research I realized that tracking isn't the problem because there are so many different ways of tracking.  There are mobil applications an

d booklets to help write down and monitor diet and blood sugar levels.

The last thing that shocked me was the amount of stress each teenager has.  All teens deal with school, work, family, and social life, but adding diabetes throws a curve ball into the situation. Everything is still manageable but there are some cases where health comes first.  

After following the next few steps of the process I came up with the idea of Diabetic Play.  I feel like this idea is a great solution for relieving stress.  I also think there will be a large amount of participation with 13-15 year olds that have no mode of transportation so they can take the YMCA bus to the Y.  I feel like this program is very simple and easy to participate in because it is only a hour and a half after school.  The social part of this project makes me really excited because it is a way for the students to have a therapy session with themselves.  I always feel better when I talk to someone who knows what I am talking about completely. Many of the people that I have talked to and have interviewed said the same thing. 

This project has taught me a lot about disease and what we can do to help.  They go through the same things we do everyday but its just a little bit tougher.  I still can’t believe how strong they all are and I want to help them in every way I can.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r46CcgLBqhQspVc1VPpWJuTdciLiePtX9NPSj9NApRk/edit?usp=sharing

  

Prototype

The Goal

The goal is to find a solution to help diabetic teens relieve their stress to help prevent health risks.  I have narrowed my ideas and came up with two final solutions,  The Blue Box and Diabetic Play.  Both of these solutions have stress relieving actives to help the teens take their minds off of school, family life, work, and sports teams. 

The Blue Box

-Who: All teenagers suffering from Diabetes

-What: The Blue Box is a box full of stress relieving trinkets to help them get their mind off of family life, social life, and school work. The box will be filled with things like; stress balls, coloring books, markers, a book, or aroma therapy.  There is only a limited amount of boxes per month.  

-When: A monthly subscription 

-Where: Anywhere in the United States and Canada

-How: A team of volunteers fills the boxes with interesting stress relieving items.

I really liked The Blue Box idea because it’s a fun, exciting box of fun stuff. I think it would start to get hard to fill the boxes with new items and to get people to buy them. It would be difficult because the items are things that you can buy in stores.

Diabetic Play

The purpose of the program is to have students play game and do activities in a stress free way.

-Who: All teenagers suffering from Diabetes

-What: An after school program for diabetic students

-When: Tue- Fri (Different activity everyday)

-Where: YMCAs across the country

-How: YMCA or American Diabetes Association workers to chaperone the teens and run the activities.  

Activities include

-Team Sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming), Yoga, Coloring/ Painting, and a Movie Night.

Team Sports- Team sports are a great way to stay active and make new friends.  The teams are put together at random and are strictly just for fun.  At the end of the year there could be a tournament depending on how many students participate.  There could also be a tournament between different YMCAs.  

Yoga- Yoga is a great way to help relieve stress and stretch your muscles.  Yoga also helps circulate blood flow which is very important is diabetics. 

Coloring/ Painting- Coloring is becoming a very popular pass time in adults and teens. The coloring book has not digital screen so it will not stimulate your brain and is a great way to relax. During this time the teens will be able to talk and make friends with new people.  

Movies- Movies are a great way to pass time with friends.  The teens will be able to pick a movie and watch it with their new friends.  They will also be able to invite a friend to the event. Water and “free” snacks will be provided to the teens as well. 

I really like this idea because it allows the teens to interact with each other.  They can all share stories and problems with one another because they can relate.  Each one of the participate knows what the others are going through so it is a safe environment and everyone should be comfortable with one another.  

Here is the Prototypes I made for a basketball court and yoga studio

Ideation

THE GOAL 

My main goal is to find a stress reliever for diabetic teenagers.  Over the course of a few weeks I have developed an idea that seems to fit their needs.  I have now expanded my goal to help teens with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  

THE IDEA

      The idea that combined all of my different ideas is Diabetic Play. Diabetic Play is an after school program for all diabetic teenagers. There would be several activities that the student could do to relieve stress.

      Thought the research I have conducted, I have realized that physical activity is a huge stress reliever.  I was thinking of having a diabetic sports teams that could play each other in a variety of different sports.  Some teams could be basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, or swimming.  The program could be held at local YMCAs across America.

      Coloring books are a great stress reliever that are becoming more popular in adults. The coloring books are simple and relaxing so the artist can color in a stress free way.  The diabetic teens would be able to reserve a room at their school or local YMCAs for coloring sessions with one another.  This would be a great way for teens to sit and talk to one another about their complications with their disease and receive their stress.  Being able to talk to someone that understands is a great way to vent out their problems. 

THE PURPOSE 

The whole purpose of these programs are to give these teens a way to stop thinking about the world and just have fun for a few hours of the day. If diabetic teens are under a lot of stress it causes their usual symptoms to intensify.  Some major symptoms are shaking and headaches.  If diabetic teens do not take care of their bodies then their health risks and complications get worse.  According to the department of heath the major complications include; heart disease, blindness, and kidney failure. 

THE CHALLENGES 

The challenges of these programs include the cost of the programs and how many students would participate in them.  Would their be too few or too many students? How much money will the programs cost? Would YMCAs offer the program? Will renting the rooms be a problem or conflict other YMCA programs? Will the teens like the activities? 

The programs would include additional YMCA workers to run the program and chaperone the teens.  A room in the YMCA building would need to be reserved for Thursday and Friday activities.  There would also need to have a TV or projector provided to screen the movie. Tables and chairs would need to be there for painting and coloring.  Paper, markers, colored pencils, and paint would need to be provided for crafts.  This program will be provided by the YMCA and its funding will be provided by local sponsors.  

Interpretation

Results

LEARNINGS

Over the past few weeks I have been gathering information about how teenagers deal with Type 1 Diabetes.  Over the course of surveys and field trips I have found some results that I never thought I would have found.  

First, I started with a survey from SurveyMonkey.com to get a few simple questions out and into the public. I asked if the teens tracked their diet, symptoms, highs and lows, and insulin intake on a daily basis. Next, I asked what some of the physical symptoms of the disease were.  Stacey, 19, responded saying she felt “shaky” and “confused” because of the lows in her blood sugar.  Then, I asked them what the hardest part of Type 1 was.  I thought it would be the physical demands of the disease but I was wrong. One teen said “Checking my blood sugar in front of my friends. When I'm with a group of people, I don't give insulin for food or check my blood sugar because I'm self conscious.” I never thought that the hardest part of the disease would be psychological instead of physical. 

Over this summer I visited Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Massachusetts with my sister.  I remember the cold waiting room and just feeling nervous.  I had nothing to worry about but I do remember the small TV on the wall and a few magazines in the corner of the room.  There was no difference between this youth waiting room and the adult waiting room next door.  

I also checked out some online support systems. A lot of teen’s seemed to use social media as their diary/ venting source.  The Twitter account @type1girl and the Facebook group Teen Diabetic Support Group give great advice and inspirational paragraphs. 

THEMES

All the subjects talked about the same symptoms and had the same problems managing their blood sugar before, during, and after physical activity.  Another theme is that all of the subjects tracked their diet, symptoms, highs and lows, and insulin intake.  They also all agreed that there should be a more simple way to track all of these factors of their disease.  

INSIGHTS

I also realized that all of the subjects said that they were stressed.  Being stressed is a normal occurrence with teenagers, but after more digging stress can have long-term effects on theirs bodies.  Some teen’s blood sugar goes up while some goes down.  I didn't realize that stress was such a factor in the disease. 

HOW MIGHT WE’S

How might we create a way to track teen’s insulin, highs and lows, symptoms, and diet? How might we reduce the stress that diabetic teens have? Which question is more important? Are they equally important? Could one solution solve both problems? 

IDEAS

Some ideas that I have so far are:

• A stress reliever for teens

• Game?
• Toy?
• Therapy? Physical? Aroma?
• Support Group?
• Music?
• Physical Activity? Yoga?

• Tracking
• Symptoms

• Diet
• Highs and Lows
• Insulin intake 
• Doctors Appointments
• Supplies Tracker

NEXT STEP

In the next few weeks I plan on talking to the subjects and ask them some ideas of what releases their stress.  I also plan on asking friends and family what helps them to release stress and how they track their daily diet.

Discovery

DIGGING DEEPER 

It’s time to start understanding the problem. In this part of the Design Process I am discovering more about the problems that teenage diabetics have to go through everyday. 

What I Know:

I know that being a teenager is very hard, adding a huge life or death responsibility makes it so much harder. With a constant stream of hormones, the teenager bodies blood sugar fluctuates more often than adults. If they so not take care of their bodies, diabetics have very high health risks that will affect them in adulthood. According to the National Diabetes Education Program having “high blood glucose can harm blood vessels and cause heart attacks or strokes. It can also damage organs in the body and cause blindness, kidney failure, loss of toes or feet, gum problems, or loss of teeth”.   

Diabetic Medical Kit. (Left) Test Strips (Middle) Meter (Right) Needle to Insert Insulin

I also noticed that some people treat diabetes like a joke. They make fat jokes saying, “I just ate so much candy that I’ll get diabetes”. I think there is a social issue that needs to be addressed as well as a medical issue.  

I have also seen my sister’s diabetic kit that carries her test strips, meter, and finger lancet.  Then she also carries glucose tabs, giant smarties, in her bag that she eats when her blood sugar gets low. Finally, she has her pump that administers her insulin into her body. These three items are very important to all diabetics, old and young. 

What I Don't Know:

I do not know about the physical effects of type 1 diabetes.  I want to know if it makes them more tired, irritable and if it effects their sleep, mood, or other factors. Is it annoying to carry around a kit everywhere? Is it difficult getting supplies from doctors? I know that there are health risks but what are the long term effects on the body? Do you think they are doing enough research for a cure? Should there be more social awareness for type 1?  

Research 

Now I will start to identify sources of inspiration for research.  My sister will be a primary source for teenagers but I would also like to talk to doctors and nurses to see what they think about the disease. I could also see if I could go to a support group session or go to Joslin Diabetes Center. They could give me more scientific information then personal information. I could also make a trip to the local doctors office or pharmacy for more information.  

Next Step 

Over the next few weeks I will be interviewing and visiting several locations to gather research for my topic.  I plan on interviewing my sister and two other teenagers with type 1. I then plan on emailing one of the doctors at Joslin Diabetes Center and ask a few quick medical questions in order to get a doctors opinion.  Then I plan on visiting the local CVS and RiteAid stores to examine the supplies for diabetics like glucose tablets and medical supplies. The last place I plan on visiting is the doctors office to ask the nurse a few questions.  I also want to check out the atmosphere of the waiting room and where the patients go in the examination rooms.  

Type 1 Problem

HER STORY

It all started out when she was standing at the sink constantly drinking water.  She would drink 4 or 5 huge cups of water before sitting down on the couch.  She would hardly move from that spot all day during our last days of summer.  She was starting her freshman year in high school and my whole family just thought that she was really nervous for the new school year.  When classes finally started, volleyball started too.  The first few days were rough because we were so soar from practicing and playing so much.  I remember her barley being able to climb the stair case to get to our early morning classes. Then, she started to lose a lot of weight and we all thought it was because of volleyball. Finally, after a two weeks she told my mom that something was not right. She was thirsty for water all the time and she could barley walk because she was so exhausted.  That was the day that my family's life got flipped upside down.  

My mother took her to the emergency room and they took a sample of her blood.  When the nurse came back she took my family that my sister's blood glucose level was in the 500s.  That is extremely high because a normal person's blood sugar should be 70-100.  The doctor and nurses concluded that my sister had Type 1 Diabetes.   

The first few days were awful.  She had to learn how to inject herself with a needle and give herself the right amount of insulin. There are different ratios and mathematical problems that need to be solved before giving yourself insulin.  Over time, she was able to use a pump which injects insulin into the blood without using a needle every time.  The pump is easier, but there is still an issue of regulating how much insulin to administer, and keeping track of highs and lows. 

THE PROBLEM

The problem with this disease is that teenager need a way to track their daily carbohydrate intact and the insulin they give themselves.

Here is some advice from the American Diabetes Association: “It really helps to sit down and look over your blood glucose record at the end of every week. Keeping daily records is best.  Reviewing your records is the key to improving blood glucose control.”  

Items that need to be recorded are:

• Blood glucose checks 
• Carbohydrate amounts 
• Carbohydrate doses 
• Correction doses 

There needs to be an easier way for all diabetics, especially teenagers, record all this information and send it to their doctor.  This tracking will help them catch patterns and see if a dosage adjustment needs to be made.  With high school and college, the teenage years are very difficult. Diabetes puts more stress and responsibility on the teen and it makes their lives so much harder.  Youth Health Talk concluded that "Most of the young people we talked to said that they had found it very difficult to control their diabetes when they were teenagers. They said that their control often went haywire during puberty because their hormones were 'all over the place' and also because they didn't want to have to think about diabetes all the time.” If we can find a way to keep young diabetics organized, then their stress levels will decrease and they will be able to manage their disease better.

KNOW THE SIGNS

• Urinating often
• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling very hungry - even though you are eating
• Extreme fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Weight loss - even though you are eating more

          FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT HERE

CRASH COURSE IN DESIGN THINKING

          

       

       The 90 minute crash corse in design thinking school from the d.school from Stratford University is a very fast paced experience. Every step of the design thinking process is done under 10 minutes. Usually the process of coming up with and idea or solution for a client takes days, weeks, or months. This process was perfectly smashed into a fast paces, organized, crash course.  Here is how it worked.

First, my partner and I exchanged our gift giving experiences.  We both asked questions and got to know the other person within 8 minutes.  Then, in a second interview, we went deeper into an emotional side of giving a gift to another person.  After the interviews, I took what I learned and put it into a point-of-view statement.  My problem-statement was “John needs a way to give back because he feels good when making other people happy”.  Next, I came up with different ideas to help John give back to the community. I created the ideas of a teleportation watch, happy machine, and the problem remote.  All of these ideas are very out-of-the-box and not very practical, but they would solve John’s problem.  Then, after creating solutions, we had more interviews with our clients/ partners to talk about the products.  After the collaboration, it was time to pick one solution to the problem.  I chose the teleportation watch.  The purpose of the watch is to teleport yourself to your friends when they are in trouble or just need a friend to talk to.  Next, it was time to build my teleportation watch. I constructed it out of pipe cleaners, foam blocks, and tape.  The magical combination of all the supplies created the colorful and stylish watch for teleportation.  Lastly, I showed the watch to the client and we collaborated again to see what can be improved.  

Throughout the process of design thinking, using the feedback from the client made the product so much better.  Unfortunately, the product was never finished because the crash course was so fast.  It felt uncomfortable and embarrassing to show a client unfinished work.  On a positive note, the fast paced experience made me focused on the task and allowed me to get the product 75% done.  Usually when I work, I take my time on the problem and take time to develop a solution.  With this crash course I was able to think on my feet and helped me develop better critical thinking skills. If I could incorporate any element from the design process it would be the critical thinking skills and the communication skills.  Both thinking and communicating is very important in coming up with a product that will fit the clients needs.  

If I had to change anything about this process it would be my problem-statement.  I think I could have come up with a better and more creative statement like “John needs a way to make people smile because he is the type of person to make someones day 100% better”. 

Lastly, the d.school asked its participants to answers questions and share experiences on social media using #Dgift. One of the participants tweeted @skemp “Taking on the #designthinking process”. here. 

        This hashtag also represents the power of social media and how it can help connect people with similar experiences.  For more information about the d.school check out their blog

Design for Good

LIKE THIS BOX

“4 out of 10 homeless live in places not intended for people” - Supportive Housing Communities

         In a case study written by Trey Bates  talks about the social awareness of homeless people.  The project used graphic design to notify people that there are people living in cars or abandoned buildings.  The basic idea of the project is to solve this problem by having nonprofit organizations like Supportive Housing Communities step in and help the homeless.  Bates completed research that found “Mecklenburg County has the largest population of homeless in the state, and even more disturbing was the fact that a person working full time at minimum wage supporting a family of four cannot afford the rent on a one-bedroom apartment in any county in North Carolina.”  The fact was shocking and that's when the team of Bates, Linda Miller, and Ken Compton was born. All three came up with the idea to used billboards to help spread the message to uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.  The project is still ongoing to help people get off the streets and into good homes.  

 NOTHING

         In a case study written by NAIL Communications talks about how The Rhode Island Community Food Bank asked a team to help them with their advertising campaign.  Since the food bank took a huge hit with the 2008 recession, they have been struggling ever since.  The strategy of the campaign was to demonstrate the scale of the problem or "put the problem near the solution".  NAIL came up with the idea of “nothing”.  After a $100,000 donation from Citizens Bank, Nothing was launched in September 2011.  The campaign was, and still is, a success.  There were more that 14,000 can sales that generated $39,900 in donations.  Now, the project is licensed in three more states, Ohio, Vermont, and New Hampshire. To learn more information check out more information click here. 

LIVESTRONG

ISN’T ABOUT ONE PERSON.  IT’S ABOUT THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FACING CANCER WHO NEED SUPPORT AS THEY FACE THE TOUGHEST BATTLE OF THEIR LIVES

         In a case study written by Rigsby Hull, talks about the rebranding of the LIVESTRONG brand.  The foundation is a $50 million cancer foundation with 2.5 million members worldwide.  The foundation focuses on the survivors and not the research.  The foundation took a big hit when the seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong admitted to do doping. After the announcement the company had companies like Nike and Oakley drop their funding. In order for the company to bounce back, it would need some serious rebranding. The company hired Rigsby Hull to used reputation surveys and research to help find a new image. LIVESTRONG still wanted to be known by the foundation’s strong sense of itself and the importance of their story. The new rebranding launched February 28, 2013 and received media coverage from The Wall Street Journal with the article called “LIVESTRONG Foundation Seeks Life After Lance”.  Check out the new logo and website here.

^{OPEN GREEN MAP-A SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM} 

          In a case study written by Green Map System talks about how they wanted to create an interactive mapping resource that would be in a user friendly way for Green Map teams around the world to use and become a trusted resource of information.  There are over 845 locally-lead map projects have published more that 500 local and 325 interactive Green Maps that are used by millions to connect with green living, nature, social, and cultural resources near their homes and while they travel.  The goal of the website is to have a database of maps that show residents and visitors local nature, cultural and green living sources such as farmers markets, solar sites, bike lanes, and parks.  Currently the program is still growing and trying to find a way to keep the website alive.  To find out more information click here 

PAIN SQUAD- Mobil App to Help Young Cancer Patients Track Pain

        In a case study written by Cundari talks about how each year thousands of children with cancer are treated at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (or SickKids).  Unfortunately, pain is a part of these children's sickness and everyday, twice a day, the nurses ask the children to write in their pain journals.  These journals give doctors a better idea of how the children are feeling during treatment.  To have a more efficient way of collecting data, SickKids decided to ask help from Cundari to design a better method for the children to rate their pain.  The team researched how the children spend their free time. They concluded that all the children love to have fan and play games.  The teams strategy was to incorporate a fun experience with video games.  The teams goal was to make reporting the pain for fun but more efficient as well.  Since the completion of the app, the main journal compliance rate has been over 90%.  Here is a video showing the success of the new app. 

DeSgIn ThInKiNg

Design Thinking is activities that designers use and apply during the process of designing. There are also many different types of processes to use. 

This week I watched 2 TED Talks by Tim Brown and David Kelly.  Brown and Kelly both talked about the power of design thinking and how it can help change the way we see problems.  Design thinking is the specific actions that designers take during the creative process of coming up with new ideas. 

Tim Brown

Tim Brown talked about how design has gotten bigger and smaller throughout the ages. While the world was changing, we need new ideas to adapt to new dilemmas. The top designers were using design thinking to solve big problems. Brown referenced the Industrial Revolution, and how design became bigger and better than before. The designers took a problem and used a variation of a 7 step process to revolutionize the way products are made.

7 steps Process of Design Thinking:

-Define

-Research

-Ideate

-Prototype

-Choose

-Implant

- Learn

David Kelly

David Kelly talked about creative confidence as much as design thinking.  He said to trust the process and never be afraid to fail in the creative community. He pleaded not to divide the world into creative people and non-creative people. He also said that every person has the natural ability to be creative.  In my own personal experience, I have been told my artistic ability is lacking.  I fully know that my creative ability consists of drawing straight lines and stick figures. I never liked to color within the lines as a child. I would like to add on to the inked in drawings in the coloring books.  Does that make me creative or sloppy? Do I think with divergent or convergent ideas? 

Divergent thinking is the ability to offer different ideas that still fit into one theme. 
Convergent thinking is the ability to find the “correct” answer to the problem. 

Designers in the Industrial Revolution used divergent ideas instead of convergent ones.  They created choices instead of making them.  

Unlike analytical thinking, which is breaking down thoughts and ideas, design thinking builds up thoughts and ideas and makes them stronger.  It might not be one single idea but one outrageous idea leads to a whole new way of looking at a situation.  That creative outburst leads to more ideas that can be built upon higher and higher.  The point is not to think about the quality of the ideas but the quantity of ideas.  Another form is “question-storming” where one question is built upon over and over to get one main question.  This style of thinking is “out of the box” and a person can come up with a million ideas with one key or centralized point.

There are many positive attributes of design thinking that you can use in the professional world. 

• Collaboration- working together across different lenses of a situation
• Curiosity- the drive to be interested in concepts or ideas you might not understand
• Nonjudgmental- creating new ideas without judging toward another persons idea
• Open Minded- embracing a task with positivity

To become a better design thinker here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Use prototypes- physically create your ideas
2. Get the process out of real designers- create competitions with the community and create new ideas with them.  
3. Active participation within the community.